We were only five on this beautiful ride in the September sunshine. The ride was medium difficulty with some steep but not long hills on mostly quiet country lanes
Thanks to Robin for the photos
Tag: Ride
Essex lanes ride 23 April
The weather forecast was rainy although the morning started bright as we met at Leytonstone station to catch a train to Epping to start the ride
We were six setting off from Epping station finding the quiet ways through the spring green countryside. The route tracked north east to Toot Hill taking in a few hills to warm up. After crossing the A414 at Bobbingworth the roads grew quieter with fewer hills. We went through Moreton, (1st stop on the DunRun), towards Matching Green.
Given the weather I took a detour, via Little Laver, to avoid the Ford which can become impassable in the wet. Ironically Robin and Jonathan took a chance on the Ford and it turned out to be drier than the detour….So we rendezvoused at Matching Green, some of us with wet feet. Turning left off Downhall Road led us past the pretty church of St Mary’s where we stopped for a photo
We continued on the bridleway past Matching Hall and to our lunch stop at the Fox in Matching Tye. Refreshed we took the lovely Faggoters lane south towards High Laver and back across the A414 at Tyler’s Green, avoiding the busy roundabout
Taking the back route into North Weald we detoured to the old railway station to see how public transport used to look
The route back to Epping was a reminder of how many B roads are less pleasant for cycling, we we even close passed by a police car.
Below is the route and statistics for this ride. The next ride is the Newham Nature Reserve Ride on 14 May, put it in your diary
2023 Ride Schedule
Newham Cyclists’ rides 2023 click on the link below
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14gftfYp1EfFQP8eHzV8-HeIRndGf__n497F4almq-NQ/edit
| Ride name | Date | Ride leader | Difficulty (distance & terrain) |
|---|---|---|---|
| International women’s day feeder ride | 05/03 | Steve | Easy |
| Newham Ride | 12/03 | Arnold | Easy |
| Essex Lanes ride | 23/04 | Steve | Medium |
| Newham Nature Reserve ride | 14/05 | Arnold | Easy |
| River Ride | 04/06 | Bill | Easy |
| Newham Ride | 25/06 | Arnold | Easy |
| Brewery Ride | 01/07 | Bill | Easy |
| Newham Ride | 16/07 | Arnold | Easy |
| Greensted Church Ride | 10/09 | Steve | Medium |
| Rainham Marsh Ride | 24/09 | Arnold | Easy |
| Newham Ride | 12/11 | Steve | Easy |
| Christmas Lights Ride | 10/12 | Steve | Easy |
Forest Gayte Pride Ride
On Saturday we were delighted to lead our first ever Pride Ride as part of the events of Forest Gayte Pride! Less than 10 miles of easy riding, but we managed to take in 4 historic LGBT venues in Stratford & Maryland as well as the only one still existing in the borough as we passed through the Olympic Park.
Numbers were a bit lower than hoped, as less than half of those who had booked actually turned up, but everyone who joined us – most of whom hadn’t ridden with us before -had a great time and the sun shone upon us!
Most riders really embraced the spirit – wearing rainbow colours (beautifully demonstrated by Steve and Anita!) and flags decorated our rider leader and all our marshals’ bikes.
Most of our route was on quiet roads – other than a small section on Romford Road and Woodgrange Road, where we were reminded of the lack of good infrastructure for cycling! However, we really enjoyed the majority of the ride which took us through LTNs and were a delight!
River Ride Report 21-4-18
Despite having to pull the ride day forward as we were clashing with the marathon we had another good turn out at the View tube on Saturday -with riders from Newham, south London, Elm park and as far afield as Brentwood! 20 of us set off on a very sunny day down the river Lee calling at Three mills & Cody dock.
For a change, after Bow ecology park, we crossed the bridge to London city island and navigated through the new open areas. After a quick visit to East India Dock we followed river through isle of dogs to Greenwich via the foot tunnel -here we picked up another south London cyclist then navigated the extensive diversions to the Thames path stopping for lunch at the cafe under cable cars -here we lost half the group to a local pub, football or gardening! However the rest of us continued along Thames path to Woolwich ferry -some exploring an interesting local Tor viewpoint & the site of the wreck of the Princess Alice boat on the Thames -with the loss of many lives in 1878.
Across the River back in Newham we followed river round to Gallions reach past the new Decathlon shop -offering cyclists free servicing discounts
We then picked up greenway & followed it back entering Olympic park via new ramp leading to Channelsea passage – ending with a welcome beverage at the view tube cafe!
The decision continue to the Tor & shipwreck added a few miles to ride but worth it! (thanks to riders for showing us these!)
We welcomed no mechanical problems this time and that no-one fell in the river!
Many thanks to all who assisted -esp. Arnie & Steve for back marking & Robin as ever for great photos
Christmas Lights Ride report (by Steve)
On the evening of Monday 7th December, Newham Cyclists toured the extravagant lighting displays of London’s West End. We met by the steps at St Pauls Cathedral before following a route that took in all the major shopping streets and some iconic London venues such as Trafalgar Square and Somerset House.
Bill joined us on Bond Street outside Burberry’s, had he been Christmas shopping? It was not clear, as he wasn’t saying. The route deviated from the plan and we took Regent Street instead of Piccadilly down to Piccadilly Circus. A minor route planning mistake by the ride leader caused a little confusion, but once regrouped we headed for the bright lights of Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square
The famous Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square looked as if it had been exposed to strong winds as it seemed to have a natural tilt, and the horse skeleton with the stock market data stream on the fourth plinth required some interpretation. Carnaby Street lights were impressively gaudy and Covent Garden had an excellent tree, as did Somerset House.
There were some challenges as the roads were busy and there were lots of pedestrians, however the evening temperature was mild and and dry and there was no wind. We returned via Winterville in Victoria Park, but the bike parking was woefully inadequate so we did not go in and diverted to the People’s Pub on Victoria Park Road for deserved and festive refreshment.
More pictures, courtesy of Robin here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rsstephenson/albums/72157662020002231