Kelvedon Oyster 2019
Third time doing the Kelvedon Oyster for me, coincidently it is also the first Audax I ever did, so it will always be special.
Left the Railway Tavern just after 10 with Tom, Ian, Grant, Andy, Chris and Jan. As usual Jan was straight up the front and gone! The rest of us took a more leisurely pace. Unfortunately though we soon caught up with Jan as there was a disel spillage on the road, thankfully no serious injuries and Jan was abe to continue.
We got to Pebmarsh and Carl stamped our cards and then on the first pub stop at Rowhedge. During this stage we lost Grant and Andy. The wind was with us, which made for easy going and time for the first pub stop at Rowhedge. Whilst there a guy in shorts, a blue jacket and a distinct accent (we though was Polish, but we could be wrong) approached and said he didn't have a route sheet, map or any other navigation and wanted to tag along with us.
As we left we bumped into Andy and Grant, stopped to say hi and lost our new 'friend'. Moving on to Mersea island, I always like the road going to the island and waving to those that have already controlled there and are on their way back. Quick stop at Mersea, I didn't have the oyster but the cup of tea was welcome and I bought a slice of cake to each on the bench in the cold wind!
Next stop was into the wind to the King's Head in Tollesbury, thankfully though it wasn't cold as long as you kept moving. A quick drink and a packet of crisps and we were on our way to Heybridge Basin.
Once there we bumped into our 'Polish' friend and told him to follow us back to base. We were going to go off route and avoid the canal path. Somewhere between there and the arrivee we lost him! Anyway I was looking forward to getting back as I was starving and had spied out the red thai curry on the menu before we left.
Another good ride, so thanks again to the ACME guys, looking forward to the next one.