I've just renamed this thread because of the splendid experiences and company I had, entirely unexpectedly, on this ride.
I'd done about 5 miles when I was overtaken by someone and after an exchange of greetings it dawned on me that it was a former colleague from HMC&E. He was on strike and was making the best of the day by riding to Colchester and back - he wouldn't have had any change from 80 miles. We got chatting and I told him that it had occurred to me only a few minutes before we met that today is the 16th anniversary of me leaving the service of Her Majesty. Annoyingly, I can't remember this chap's name.
I picked my way around the western foothills of Danbury (the last time I used these roads was with Jurek, in February) and made it to Paper Mill Lock in time for lunch. The place was crawling with baby boomers all blowing their pensions on cake, tea, ploughman's lunches, that sort of thing. I indulged in a ham ploughman's, forgetting to ask the waitress to avoid putting cole slaw on mine (cole slaw is a vile substance and deserves a thread of its own), and followed that up with an enormous chunk of fruit and chocolate flapjack, all washed own with two cups of tea.
On a whim I decided that, since NSTN wasn't with me, I'd ride along the towpath. The river was cleaner-looking than I've ever seen it, with some quite decent-sized roach swimming about, and no shortage of people swimming as well. At one point, by the lock between Paper Mill and Hoe Mill locks, there was a party of at least 20 people, all 6th formers form the local secondary school, who were taking advantage of their day off by swimming in the river, barbecuing burgers and generally having a lovely time. I stopped and nattered with them and they were very pleasant.
I chatted to a variety of people: a couple from Southend out for a walk, some people in a canoe, some people who had moored their canoe by Ulting church and were having a picnic, an angler trying not to get his line caught in the tree across the river. All in all it was perfect, fine weather and idyllic countryside. I'm really glad that most people's impression of Essex only really applies to the most southerly extremes of the county and that the reality is that much of the county is hard to beat. Betjemen described it as "sweet, uneventful countryside".
I returned via Edwins Hall Road and Rayleigh - 51.23 miles in 5h 13m.
