It was a beautiful, bright and cold winter morning as we gathered outside the Parisienne cafe at Leytonstone station for our first ride of 2019. We took the tube to Epping and set off towards Toot Hill and Greensted. This section is known as the “rollercoaster”, as the road rises and falls in a similar fashion, a great way to get warmed up. St Andrews church provided an interesting stop and they also have a range of preserves for sale using an honesty box, which provided a shopping opportunity for some.
Unfortunately at the Mill lane turnoff some of the group were separated. Thanks to GPS and mobile phones we were easily able to identify a rendezvous point, the Top Oak pub, in Stapleford Abbots and this also became the lunch stop. Refreshed and sated we continued to Lambourne End then down the hill to Abridge, the intended lunch stop, over the river Roding at Passingford bridge and on to Theydon Bois. From here we had to carry our bikes over the footbridge to take the train back to Leytonstone.
It was a great ride with a good turnout, sixteen riders of different ages and abilities riding the scenic, mostly traffic free, Essex lanes under the bright winter sun.
Fantastic photos (as ever) by Robin can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rsstephenson/sets/72157704559216201