It was a bit like the old days. It's Thursday and I got on a train to Wickford and had a bike ride. 66k approximately, involving 11ses (choc/fruit flapjack & coffee) at Paper Mill Lock and then an enjoyable 6 miles or so COR along the Chelmer towards Maldon.
I recalled that there was an annoying kissing gate to be negotiated at Hoe Mill so intended to take the bridleway shown on the OS map involving a footbridge north to Bumfords Lane. What I have never previously spotted was that there are steps approaching this bridge and then a bar across, the only purpose of which seems to be to make life difficult for equestrians and cyclists, all of whom have a right of way across the bridge.
http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=579033&Y=209340&A=Y&Z=115 refers. I carried on and when I reached the road at Ulting I decided to take the bags off my bike and lift it over the fence - not that easy when the bike weighs about 30kg and the fence is chest high. My weight training seems to have helped as I managed it with less difficulty than I expected.
I considered stopping for a skinny dip between Ulting and Maldon as the water looked clear and inviting. There were few people on that stretch compared to the relative multitudes around Paper Mill Lock but there were enough pedestrians, cyclists, canoeists and paddle boarders to make me feel uneasy about having my swim, so I didn't. I would have been constantly worried that someone would turn up just as I was emerging in all my glory. It would have been a slightly different matter had I had a companion as they could have kept an eye open for anyone approaching and I could just have remained in the water until the coast was clear.
I arrived at at the Queen's Head in Maldon at lunch time - how fortuitous! I ordered fish and chips and a pint of Broadside, and was told that there would be a 45 minute wait for food. "No problem", I thought to myself, "I can have a pint of Brewers Gold as a follow up." Imagine my disappointment when my dinner arrived after only about 15 minutes and I was just half-way through my pint!
There were two other cyclists at the pub, with heavily laden tourers with what appeared to be camping gear. One bike was a Koga Miyata, not sure about the others. Both had Ortlieb panniers and my guess was that the two ladies were Dutch tourists either just off the ferry or heading for Harwich. I thought about having a chat with them, but they were sitting well away from me and in the end I decided not to disturb their lunch.
I then had to decide whether to return to Wickford or head for Burnham and get the ferry across to Wallasea Island. In the end I chose Wickford as I had bought a return ticket and the ferry would have set me back £7 - £5 for me and £2 for the bike. It would also have meant that I would either have had to ride up Sutton Road, which I hate, or find some convoluted alternative. I arrived home shortly before 4pm.
The rolling stock on the Southend Victoria line has been upgraded. There are two carriages with signs indicating that they take bicycles, and there's an array of tip-up seats where the bikes go, and 4 different seatbelt type webbing straps to hold the bikes in place. All rather good, and a considerable improvement on what happened with the older rolling stock. No substitute for a guard's van though.