A cracking day trip into the countryside.

EVskij

EVskij

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My Wife and I rode this route last weekend, Something I have thrown together on my iPad using Google Maps.

Some parts of the route I have explored on previous occasions, and others have become a game of "join the dots" for an added bit of fun. Turned out to be a cracking ride and Wifes favourite to date.
We set off at around 11:00am on a Saturday, yet we had minimal amount of traffic to deal with apart from a couple temporary Traffic Lights causing a minor tailback.

It is an excellent ride, in total takes around 4:30 hours to complete, without stopping and covering circa 140 miles. There are plenty of places (pubs, McDonalds) to stop for lunch or a hot drink. Or take a picnic like we did if you can't be bothered with booking a table due to the current circumstances. allow a good 2 hours for your breaks.

Large and spacious carpark at Graftham Water but, it become paid for. So if you are planing on staying beyond free 15 minutes, then Payment machines do take a card. However, bikes can squish past the entry barrier but not the exit. If you want to dodge the payment, you will have to exit via entry. Don't ask me how I know:aidan

Plenty of cracking roads with minimal traffic, but beware the pheasant and other wild life jumping out in front of you.

Route can be previewed and GPX file for your Nav device can be downloaded HERE

Have a great ride.
 
Thank you. Proof that anyone can have a good day out anywhere *, with just a little bit of imagination and a touch of effort.

* Even in the crowded Home Counties.
 
I have a cross-county (bar a jump on the M11) loop that I use to run a motorbike in, over two days. Give or take a few miles it is not far short of 300 miles door-to-door London-to-London. It goes roughly: London, Chelmsford, Newmarket, Walkers cafe, Soham, Cambridge, Saffron Walden, London. Ride it twice over consecutive days and the 600 miles is complete. Or I just go to France for the weekend.

I’ll see if I can dig the route out.
 
If anybody would like to meet up to ride this route, then get in touch. We can always arrange something.
 
Wapping said:
I have a cross-county (bar a jump on the M11) loop that I use to run a motorbike in, over two days. Give or take a few miles it is not far short of 300 miles door-to-door London-to-London. It goes roughly: London, Chelmsford, Newmarket, Walkers cafe, Soham, Cambridge, Saffron Walden, London. Ride it twice over consecutive days and the 600 miles is complete. Or I just go to France for the weekend.

I’ll see if I can dig the route out.
Click to expand...

Be good to see what you got Richard.
 
Hello...

I am still at my mother’s, returning tomorrow.

I thought I had it saved on Dropbox but I can’t now find it there. I definitely have it at home and / or could recreate it pretty fast.
 
Wapping said:
Hello...

I am still at my mother’s, returning tomorrow.

I thought I had it saved on Dropbox but I can’t now find it there. I definitely have it at home and / or could recreate it pretty fast.
Click to expand...

Ahh, apologies Richard, I did not realise you were away for a length of time. No rush TBH.
 
Running in Route

Wapping said:
Hello...

I am still at my mother’s, returning tomorrow.

I thought I had it saved on Dropbox but I can’t now find it there. I definitely have it at home and / or could recreate it pretty fast.
Click to expand...

Hi Richard, I have a copy on my Dropbox which I could send across to you if you can’t find yours. Think I modified it a little after I rode it with you and Charlie as I preferred to start from my neck of the woods rather than zapping down to Chelmsford. The Red Lodge was still open in those days. Great route.
Regards Brian.
 
Thanks, Brian.

I am back home now and will go on the hunt over the next couple of days.

Richard
 
With thanks to Brian, for sending me my own route, as promised here is one of my running-in routes going from Chelmsford to Walker's cafe to Kimbolton to Chelmsford.

I have tidied it up a bit, breaking it up into the three legs, two at roughly 60 miles in length and one of about 80 miles. The final leg, Kimbolton to Chelmsford, I have routed past the Comfort cafe at Four Went Ways. I haven't been there since Covid raised its head, so I can only assume it is still open. I know it shuts at around 4 pm on a Sunday. The chief reason I routed it that way is that I know there is fuel near there, or at least there used to be.

I have included the fuel station near Walker's cafe and the station at the start at Tesco (where else?). There is not a lot of fuel stations between Walker's and Kimbolton nor Kimbolton and Four went Ways, though those with an uber-GSA will do all three legs, no sweat.

I haven't checked the routes in intimate detail though I don't think there are any glaring glitches. For each route I have included a via point (a point a GPS device knows it must pass through) a little distance from each of the start points on each of the three routes. I did this only to help bods who might use the latest generation of GPS devices, as they can select the via point as a destination from the list of choices, each route should then run normally from there. All the other points are simple shaping points.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q1fb22162hmav1s/Chelmsford run-in.GPX?dl=0

The route was created in BaseCamp (impossible, they cry) using the latest maps.

Richard

PS AS I haven't ridden (or even looked at my bike) since September of last year and as France is still shut, I plan to ride the three routes tomorrow (Sunday 16 May) rain or no rain, just to see if I have forgotten how to do it.

If anyone wants to join me, let's meet at 09:15 for an 09:30 departure, wheels rolling, from Tesco's Miami roundabout, Chelmsford, with a full tank of petrol, please. I am not sure if the New Sun Inn in Kimbolton will be open, so I'll take a packed lunch to scoff somewhere along the way.

Please ping up a "Yes. I'll be there, mate" in this thread, so I know who to expect and who to hide from.


NOW TIDIED-UP - GO TO POST 30
 
Hi Richard,
The Comfort Café has been shut for a few years now,
The owners had put the site up for sale.
If the Burger King just up the road by the filling station was under threat
 
Crikey, I haven't been there for I guess four years. Thank you, Neil.

There used to be a Little Chef there too, I think, but I seem to recall that closed a long while ago.

Next I'll discover that Walker's is no more.
 
Wapping said:
Crikey, I haven't been there for I guess four years. Thank you, Neil.

There used to be a Little Chef there too, I think, but I seem to recall that closed a long while ago.

Next I'll discover that Walker's is no more.
Click to expand...


Walkers is open and busy, with good grub, was there Wedenday with a few bikermates, maybe be there tommorow, :thumb
 
Well, it was still there and it started, which is an encouraging start….

ae7d854e72b031c2b2c12a56fe0f20da.jpg
 
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