Jam today…

It was obvious this was going to be a well-attended ride when I arrived at Liverpool Street station 15 minutes early and found about 10 cyclists already there. Group save tickets were purchased, and as each group of 4 were ready they were dispatched in the direction of the Clacton train, hoping that the phased arrival at the ticket barrier would stop the train staff worrying about so many bikes on one train. The final tally was 31 – an international group including three Italians, one German and one short stay Danish visitor on a hired bike keen to see the English countryside.

We alighted from the train at Chelmsford, and followed initially NCN 1 out of the town, along the Chelmer navigation towpath. As the NCN swung north we left it and cycled the country lanes through Danbury, East Hanningfield, Stow Maries and Purleigh heading for Maldon. With such a large group we got quite spread out and the last few miles in particular were into a tough headwind. With no morning tea stop (does this break Wheelers’ rules?) it was a hungry and cross-legged group that arrived in the Promenade Park and rushed to the loos! At this point we split into two groups - one to have a shorter lunch stop and then follow a 20 mile route around Abberton reservoir to the Tiptree jam factory, and the other to enjoy a longer lunch break, take a shorter route and arrive earlier for a longer tea stop – seemed like an obvious choice to me, but strangely more went for the longer option.

Team B was slightly delayed leaving Maldon – some had chosen a pub lunch and were waiting for their fish to defrost! On the river front we posed for a photo with a small girl on a bike who wanted her picture taken with the “proper cyclists” (is this the first time Wheelers have been called this?). We took an ad hoc diversion along the Chelmer towpath to arrive at its end at Heybridge Basin, which was the nearest we got to the sea (well estuarial mud). The tea shop here is also run by the people from Tiptree and a very pleasant place it is to sit on a summer day. We however had a destination to reach and it was important to get there before Team A, so we cycled off along some country lanes taking a more or less direct route (directly to tea and directly into the wind). Mission accomplished, we settled in for tea and scones, and then some retail therapy in their shop – the range of jams, marmlades and chutneys is very impressive and not found in other outlets.

We left the jam factory in two groups, mindful of potential difficulties getting 31 of us back on one train.  The 7 or so miles back to Witham station is mostly attractive country lanes and for the first time in the day the wind was behind us. So we sailed happily along to the outskirts of Witham, where we took the signed cycle route. This includes a couple of unmanned but light controlled level crossings. We wondered what the gap between trains would be – the answer was just enough time to get 21 cyclists across before the red lights started flashing again. Fortunately there were no issues getting on the train, and the second group caught the next train a mere 15 minutes behind, so all arrived safely back in London.

Thanks to Alex for organising and leading, and to those who so ably acted as mobile signposts to keep the group all going in the right direction even when a big gap opened up between the head and tail of the ride. Good to see some new faces, some old faithfuls and some recent new recruits returning.