I haven't done this one before and look forward to it. 73 miles directly East then West, with a light wind coming from the East forecast for the morning. Looking at it there's plenty of opportunities to turn for home early, Saffron Walden, Howlett End and Great Sampford all look like good turn back points. Not very hilly looking at the profile.
We may not have Vasco da Lawless with us tomorrow but I've downloaded the route into my Garmin, maybe Jez could too for back-up.
Have yerselves a coffee in Bosworth's when you get to furthest point Finchingfield - if the weather good. And make the motorbikers feel inadequate. Then you should have a nice tailwind all the way back. The route gets a bit wiggly in suburban Saffron Walden. And it's easy to miss the left turn to Wimbish as you might be fast and single file on the B road. And don't be tempted to go left too soon in Thaxted. You have to go up the hill and around the church. Great scenery. Flatish - yet somehow really quite draining!
Top marks for a truly delightful route Martin. The north of Essex has a charming chocolate box quality that is comparable to rural areas of other countries. I lost count of the village greens we passed along the way and we saw some alfresco living passing through the villages mid morning.
Quite an uneventful spring morning ride though, no punctures and although in Essex which always means a fleet of Range rovers on every road, we experienced zero road rage and didn't seem to annoy anyone. Probably due to the smaller numbers rather than tolerant motorists. Jez and I went round as a twosome after Dave turned round just after Elmdon.
We had the fortune to witness the BHF Cambridge to Southend 73 mile Sportive as we went out and back and crossed routes with them a couple of times. There were some weary looking sportivists quite early on! I hope they all made it to the coast safely.
Martin was quite correct in his summation of the route, although the profile looks smooth, there were some tasty climbs and the ride was consistently undulating, which indeed left me drained. Thank goodness for recovery drinks because I had the sorest pins when I got home to letchworth with 81 miles at 18mph average.
Jez, you're looking strong and if you got fed up with towing me for most of the ride, then just consider it excellent training for your forthcoming race!
Comments
bloody early, but will try to be there
jez- at least it wont be afghanistan.. mwahahaha
I haven't done this one before and look forward to it. 73 miles directly East then West, with a light wind coming from the East forecast for the morning. Looking at it there's plenty of opportunities to turn for home early, Saffron Walden, Howlett End and Great Sampford all look like good turn back points. Not very hilly looking at the profile.
We may not have Vasco da Lawless with us tomorrow but I've downloaded the route into my Garmin, maybe Jez could too for back-up.
The route gets a bit wiggly in suburban Saffron Walden.
And it's easy to miss the left turn to Wimbish as you might be fast and single file on the B road.
And don't be tempted to go left too soon in Thaxted. You have to go up the hill and around the church.
Great scenery. Flatish - yet somehow really quite draining!
Quite an uneventful spring morning ride though, no punctures and although in Essex which always means a fleet of Range rovers on every road, we experienced zero road rage and didn't seem to annoy anyone. Probably due to the smaller numbers rather than tolerant motorists. Jez and I went round as a twosome after Dave turned round just after Elmdon.
We had the fortune to witness the BHF Cambridge to Southend 73 mile Sportive as we went out and back and crossed routes with them a couple of times. There were some weary looking sportivists quite early on! I hope they all made it to the coast safely.
Martin was quite correct in his summation of the route, although the profile looks smooth, there were some tasty climbs and the ride was consistently undulating, which indeed left me drained. Thank goodness for recovery drinks because I had the sorest pins when I got home to letchworth with 81 miles at 18mph average.
Jez, you're looking strong and if you got fed up with towing me for most of the ride, then just consider it excellent training for your forthcoming race!