Last weekend I purchased a book: Lost Lanes: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Southern England by Jack Thurston. I liked the cover, and the name and what it conjured up – beautiful day trips by bike, off in the quiet countryside, but accessible from London.
I’ve also felt it was hard to escape London by bike, even pointless, i’m hoping this book will prove me wrong. The idea is to try and fill the long gaps in-between longer bike tours I might go on. Fitness is a motivation, but also i’m just trying to find ways to stay in contact with a hobby which has always seemed difficult to fit into regular life in this particular city.
And so this weekend I gave it a go. I rode route number 25: The Joys of Essex – a circular loop departing from a tiny toy-town train station at Elsenham, Essex. I took an hour long train from Hackney Downs just after 8 in the morning. And was back in Hackney before 3pm.
Inbetween were 40 miles of cycling on narrow picturesque roads, underneath the morning blue sky air traffic taking off and landing at nearby Stansted.
I’d almost forgotten it was February. There was salt on the train platform and ice on the road. I rode with my hands deep in large fleece mittens and my head half buried in my jumper. I rode quickly and didn’t stop much or take many photos or think much but it was nice – partly because I didn’t do any of those things and just let the cold morning air freeze my brain and thoughts for a while as my cold legs did the work.
Overall a pleasant ride. Probably too early to set a benchmark since it’s the first ride of the 36 i’ve tried – but a solid 6.8 out of 10. Not exactly dramatic scenery (not that I was expecting that here in South East England) just mainly farmland and quaint villages with pubs and churches and the occasional tearoom or frozen pond.
It was good enough to make me want to do more of this – hopefully i’ll get lost down more lanes over the next few months.
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