ACME Winter Brevet Populaire Series

[huggy]

The Knights Templar Compasses & Cross route has been slightly finessed to avoid private roads  .  The first hour or two of the ride will be on winter friendly, if not entirely quiet and traffic free, roads.  It gets a bit more rural after Margaretting.
The route sheet is drafted and just needs to be ridden now....maybe on Monday....

[Oscar's dad]

 

[huggy]

Following a good drive round today and barring an attack of CBA overnight I will be cycling round the KTC&C on a route check tomorrow.  Probably leaving the Battesford about 10am.
Looks to be a bright and chilly day.

[tedshred]

First things first Mr Huggy, let's not forget the penultimate ride of the series on the 21st January, the Kelvedon Oyster.  Subject to my glamorous assistant, Fandango, checking it, the route has been finalised.

Arrangements are in hand so that we will be starting and finishing in a pub - the Tavern in Kelvedon    The oysters are on order for the half way control and it's all systems go.

The ride itself takes you from the majestic Essex highlands around Pebmarsh, through Britain's oldest recorded town and its modern garrison and on to the eerie marshes of the Essex estuaries.  The route sheet and final gps should be available shortly.  In the event that the weather turns a bit more seasonal, I have an alternative route available that sticks to gritted roads almost exclusively.

[redfalo]

as the AUK entry for the Kelvedon Oyster doesn't give the org's email address, I post the following here.

As part of a DIY 200 (sadly, I cannot to the Oyster, as the weekend does not work for me) a few friends of me and I today rode parts the route - the bit between Colchester and Maldon. It's a really lovely route, but there is one short bit which is a bit unimpressive. Approaching Tolleshunt D'arcy, the track leaves the main road and goes on a path/bridleway which is either unpaved or full of gravel. Really not ideal at this point of the year. We stuck to the main road, which adds maybe 500 meters but is much nicer to ride. 

[huggy]

The Knights Templar Compasses & Cross route has been slightly finessed to avoid private roads  .  The first hour or two of the ride will be on winter friendly, if not entirely quiet and traffic free, roads.  It gets a bit more rural after Margaretting.
The route sheet is drafted and just needs to be ridden now....maybe on Monday....

The route was indeed ridden on Monday 2nd January following the route sheet and was found to be good (with minor updates).  The link in the quote has been updated to point to the as-ridden route on RwGPS also CLICKY HERE and it's now downloadable from the AUKweb calendar page too. The route sheet will be uploaded to AUKweb soon.

[tedshred]

Thanks Redfalo.

Yes, it looks like there is a glitch on the GPX at Tolleshunt D'Arcy which I will sort, probably by replacing it with an as-ridden track next weekend. 

Info sheet, fresh GPX and route sheet should be available during the week leading up to the event.  Postal entrants should receive their packs by the 17th.

[Oscar's dad]

I am perhaps being exceedingly dim but I am struggling to find a gpx for Saturday's Oyster ride.  And exactly where in Kelvedon does it start?

Thanking you in advance.

[huggy]

I am perhaps being exceedingly dim but I am struggling to find a gpx for Saturday's Oyster ride.  And exactly where in Kelvedon does it start?

Thanking you in advance.

The key word here is - patience!
Depart & Arrivee is The Tavern pub.

[psyclist]

Depart & Arrivee is The Tavern pub.

Thanks Huggy, that's the info I needed to get the ECE planned, but was being patient

[Oscar's dad]

I am perhaps being exceedingly dim but I am struggling to find a gpx for Saturday's Oyster ride.  And exactly where in Kelvedon does it start?

Thanking you in advance.

The key word here is - patience!
Depart & Arrivee is The Tavern pub.

Sorry, patience isn't one of my strong points 

[Oscar's dad]

I am perhaps being exceedingly dim but I am struggling to find a gpx for Saturday's Oyster ride.  And exactly where in Kelvedon does it start?

Thanking you in advance.

The key word here is - patience!
Depart & Arrivee is The Tavern pub.

Sorry, patience isn't one of my strong points 

And another fing, when you say The Tavern, do you mean The Railway Tavern???

[huggy]

I am perhaps being exceedingly dim but I am struggling to find a gpx for Saturday's Oyster ride.  And exactly where in Kelvedon does it start?

Thanking you in advance.

The key word here is - patience!
Depart & Arrivee is The Tavern pub.

Sorry, patience isn't one of my strong points 

And another fing, when you say The Tavern, do you mean The Railway Tavern???

I mean The Tavern, formally known as the Railway Tavern 

[jiberjaber]

Will they be doing breakfasts ?

[huggy]

Will they be doing breakfasts ?

Paging Ted, Ted please pick up the red phone, paging Ted

[Oscar's dad]

Will they be doing breakfasts ?

Paging Ted, Ted please pick up the red phone, paging Ted

You told the chappie you emailed earlier today they were doing breakfast!

The chap I just referred to is the same one you sent a gpx to that included a scenic tour of Witham    Are there bonus points available?  Perhaps it's a treasure hunt?  Maybe AAA points are available for ascending Chipping Hill and Powershall End. 

[huggy]

Will they be doing breakfasts ?

Paging Ted, Ted please pick up the red phone, paging Ted

You told the chappie you emailed earlier today they were doing breakfast!

The chap I just referred to is the same one you sent a gpx to that included a scenic tour of Witham    Are there bonus points available?  Perhaps it's a treasure hunt?  Maybe AAA points are available for ascending Chipping Hill and Powershall End. 

sssshhhhh!  You're not supposed to talk about stuff you've been bcc'd on, that could get me in to trouble with the Organiser for spreading gossip, besides on a public forum the info should come from the horse's mouth    like answering the next question about enforcing mudguards.
Talking of horses you might get bonus points for using the horse bridge over the railway line in Witham.

[Oscar's dad]

What?  You make it sound like I won't get bonus points for taking the train to and from Witham to Kelvedon 

[huggy]

What?  You make it sound like I won't get bonus points for taking the train to and from Witham to Kelvedon 

As is usually the case in these things, the bike will be quicker than faffing around with the train for one stop journeys to/from Witham.  Just think of it as a 20 minute warm up, you'll need it for a January ride 

[Oscar's dad]

 But in my youth Jimmy Saville just to tell us to "Let the train take the strain" cos it was the "age of the train".

[tedshred]

Everything you wanted to know about The Kelvedon Oyster but were too afraid to ask:

The route check was done yesterday and the route rode well (even the section along the canal at Heybridge), despite the torrential rain yesterday and the bad weather of the last few days.  I rode it on 25s and Tippers on fixed without any issues.  The weather looks much more settled this week so hopefully it will be dry on Saturday.  We have also resolved the "Redfalo Diversion" and the route now sticks to the road.

The route sheet, information sheet and GPX are all available on the event page.

The Railway Tavern are opening at 8.30am for us and will be serving a limited breakfast menu (bacon rolls, sausage rolls, beans on toast etc) and tea and coffee.  You can claim your oyster at The West Mersea Oyster Bar at about 62km.

It looks likely that there will be a 9.30 start available as well.

The ACME shop will be open at Arrivee for those must have ACME accessories.

[Nim]

I rode it on 25s and Tippers on fixed without any issues.

Cheers for this very specific info - I'll be riding fixed on 25s!

Looking forward to trying a native oyster having only had rock oysters before. See you Saturday.

[jiberjaber]

Everything you wanted to know about The Kelvedon Oyster but were too afraid to ask:

The route check was done yesterday and the route rode well (even the section along the canal at Heybridge), despite the torrential rain yesterday and the bad weather of the last few days.  I rode it on 25s and Tippers on fixed without any issues.  The weather looks much more settled this week so hopefully it will be dry on Saturday.  We have also resolved the "Redfalo Diversion" and the route now sticks to the road.

The route sheet, information sheet and GPX are all available on the event page.

The Railway Tavern are opening at 8.30am for us and will be serving a limited breakfast menu (bacon rolls, sausage rolls, beans on toast etc) and tea and coffee.  You can claim your oyster at The West Mersea Oyster Bar at about 62km.

It looks likely that there will be a 9.30 start available as well.

The ACME shop will be open at Arrivee for those must have ACME accessories.

 

[Oscar's dad]

Oh deary me    I haven't checked ted's gpx yet but an unofficial version I have seen misses out a nice bit of COR just before Bures.  The ACME Pathfinder Division clearly needs some retraining - I will do my best to sort the matter out 

Although, praise where praise is due, they have included a canal towpath - well done chaps.

[tedshred]

The canal towpath is actually part of NCN1 and looked a lot worse than it rode.  Routes need variety 

The original route near Pebmarsh had gone from being a bit skoggy but ok before Xmas to beyond COR by Saturday.  The route we rode yesterday was after some last minute changes on Saturday night.  The route is now a bit over distance as a result but you can save the distance by not going to the Oyster Bar at West Mersea and controlling at Spar - which would be a silly thing to do as there is plenty of time and I am promoting oysters as a new audax snack.