Essex and Suffolk Borders / Estuaries 200 / 100 from Manningtree: 2/4/2022

[farfetched]

Thanks for the info guys, now let's hope I haven't tempted fate and plunged us all into another lockdown next spring 

@psyclist - yes we met a few years back when you came over for a mini tour. Nijmegen if I remember correct.

[quixoticgeek]

If farfetched is who I think it is, then the 17km from Harwich would be completed by bike before those train times.

As for the return, the ferry is 23:00 or 23:30, so plenty of time to get back for that. When we've travelled in the reverse direction to do a DIY 200km, we get impacted by the later docking time in Hoek.

My plan is to get a hotel for the Saturday night, so I can have a nice roast dinner on the Sunday before coming back...

J

[Mick6830]

If this becomes a perm it’ll be my favourite go to perm as saffron walden is where’s I at at the moment👍

[αdαmsκι]

Contact Huggy as it already is a perm

[Mick6830]

Contact Huggy as it already is a perm

excellent thank you 👍

[drossall]

That’d make a good perm for me, starting Buntingford.  It’ll overlap the Stevenage Start of summertime lanes in places.  But plenty of different lanes as it swings down to (and up from) Manningtree. See it goes up via Wyddial . One of my favourite quiet lanes.

+1. I'm also a short distance from Buntingford, so travelling to Manningtree to start looks unlikely. But I'll put it on my list of perms.

[αdαmsκι]

Tested the route today and it's great.  Lovely route, loads of beautiful villages and towns, quiet lanes linked by excellent sections of B roads. It is quite choppy. RideWithGPS says 2000 m of climbing for the actual event, and yet there isn't one particular climb I remember. Pretty warm today, tho who knows what the weather will be like in April.

There is a few updates to the routesheet, but there isn't anything I want to change about the actual route.








This map shows the counties.
Blue = Essex
Pink = Suffolk
Cyan = Cambridgeshire
Orange = Hertfordshire

[αdαmsκι]

https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=9257 

Entries to open closer to the time.

[αdαmsκι]

I'm in the process of adding a 100 km version thanks to a great suggest from bhoot, called "Essex and Suffolk Estuaries".

https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=9534

This will be two ~50 km loops from Manningtree, with the first loop heading out through Essex to Harwich and back to Manningtree. The second loop will be 50 km around the Shotley Peninsula, with a stop at the Suffolk Food Hall.

I need to test out the routesheet, but everything is pretty much ready to go once I've ironed out any mistakes. As per the 200 km version I won't open entries until January.



 

[Bolt]

Looks great!  Can I ask what mapping tool this screenshot came from, I've seen it used before but have never been able to work out what it is?

[αdαmsκι]

https://www.gpxeditor.co.uk/map

[Tomsk]

  Looks good indeed! Two east coast peninsulas rarely visited by Randonneurkind - Shotley is especially off the beaten track. I'll be very tempted to ece, rather than tread more familiar ground on the 200.

[felstedrider]

Paul Fenton used to organise a lovely 200k that went in and out of the Suffolk Estuaries.   I remember it went to Shotley Gate and Felixtowe Ferry but not sure about the rest.   Must have been late 90s.

It's April so I may ECE the 200 but, as Tomsk says, an ECE of the 200 would at least take me further afield.

[peter simplex]

Paul Fenton used to organise a lovely 200k that went in and out of the Suffolk Estuaries.   I remember it went to Shotley Gate and Felixtowe Ferry but not sure about the rest.   Must have been late 90s.

Even earlier than that - 1991 -run  from Capel St Mary and officially organised by Colchester Rovers although Paul's initials are all over the Brevet card, with further controls at the wonderfully situated Ramsholt, Snape Maltings and Stonham Aspal.  On the day, the route turned out to be 20km short [!] so we had to do an out and back to Holbrook stores after "finishing".   
Actually the 100 would make a great 200 by reversing the loops, although it wouldn't quite work with info controls....

[Suffolk Born]

Looks like one of my DIY's - well done that man, the Shotley Peninsular is much underrated, wouldn't bother with Food Hall, prefer Pin Mill, Butt & Oyster, also good, is the Post Office at Chelmodiston, good coffee, cakes,etc. Good Fish & Chips at Shotley Marina, excellent Café at Alton Water. The route from Shotley to Manningtree is quite stunning following the Stour, but if there is a strong SW wind it can be tough. Those of you who have done Shipping Lanes Perm will know the route.
Hope to see this in the calendar next year.

Regards

[felstedrider]

Paul Fenton used to organise a lovely 200k that went in and out of the Suffolk Estuaries.   I remember it went to Shotley Gate and Felixtowe Ferry but not sure about the rest.   Must have been late 90s.

Even earlier than that - 1991 -run  from Capel St Mary and officially organised by Colchester Rovers although Paul's initials are all over the Brevet card, with further controls at the wonderfully situated Ramsholt, Snape Maltings and Stonham Aspal.  On the day, the route turned out to be 20km short [!] so we had to do an out and back to Holbrook stores after "finishing".   
Actually the 100 would make a great 200 by reversing the loops, although it wouldn't quite work with info controls....

Yes.  Thinking about it I first did it when I was living in Norwich which was 91-94, so earlier than I thought.

[αdαmsκι]

Interesting to read about the Suffolk Estuaries 200, although starting that from Manningtree would mean having to get through Ipswich at least once. (If only there was a bike path across the Orwell Bridge!) Something like this could work: http://tiny.cc/c7xkuz

@Suffolk Born: Yes, Butt & Oyster is lovely but it wouldn't work as a control location for the distance (and I am not sure how the pub would manage with load of riders turning up either). However I will make mention of the pub, plus the other suggests, when I send out information to the riders and then people can stop where they like so long as they also get some brevidence from The Suffolk Food Hall as well 

[felstedrider]

It’s a long time ago but I’m pretty sure we used to ride over the Orwell bridge on the Suffolk Estuaries.  There was an adjacent cycle path.  Has it been closed since ?

[αdαmsκι]

There's a narrow footpath that's covered in road debris.

No idea what the approach is because I've never seen anything obvious. Perhaps these stairs?





Having never fancied riding it myself I wouldn't want to plan a ride that sends riders over the bridge.

[peter simplex]

Having never fancied riding it myself I wouldn't want to plan a ride that sends riders over the bridge.

Me neither now. The distance from Shotley to Felixstowe was given as 38km - so maybe we did ride over the bridge on the main road - it was a  pre-commercial Sunday morning back then. And 30 years ago Felixstowe port was nothing like the size it is now and the junctions less intimidating. Perhaps Paul would remember. 

[Lightning Phil]

There's a narrow footpath that's covered in road debris.

No idea what the approach is because I've never seen anything obvious. Perhaps these stairs?





Having never fancied riding it myself I wouldn't want to plan a ride that sends riders over the bridge.

Another example where they’ve significantly reduced the path width by putting a car crash barrier on it then added a white line on the carriageway so drivers know where edge of it is 🤦

[bhoot]

It certainly doesn't look inviting to cycle, although it does form part of the Stour and Orwell long distance walk (with a longer option to go via Ipswich docks). I am sure the steps are the access route on the south side.

Talk of a Suffolk estuaries ride does make me think that maybe this new 100km shoudl be Essex and Suffolk Estuaries rather than Coasts (leaving the way open for a longer event visiting the seaside proper)

[αdαmsκι]

Easy enough to change the name to Essex and Suffolk Estuaries (or even peninsulas?)

[felstedrider]

Having never fancied riding it myself I wouldn't want to plan a ride that sends riders over the bridge.

Me neither now. The distance from Shotley to Felixstowe was given as 38km - so maybe we did ride over the bridge on the main road - it was a  pre-commercial Sunday morning back then. And 30 years ago Felixstowe port was nothing like the size it is now and the junctions less intimidating. Perhaps Paul would remember.

I'm doubting myself now, but the memory is pretty distinct and I did the ride at least twice.   It was 25 years ago, though.

I was talking to a potential client a few months ago who, it turned out, was a Colchester Rover and knew Paul.   I haven't seen Paul for years, though.

[Tomsk]

Yes, the Orwell Bridge is a bit rubbish isn't it - no view unless you're in a high-ish vehicle and prone to closure if it's slightly breezy. But a proper cyclepath across it would be good.

I like the Butt and Oyster - recommended years ago by a friend whose father discovered it when he was stationed at HMS Ganges for a time during the war. But it's advisable to book - very popular now!