It was a sunny
morning but still very cold for the time of year. I was in no
particular rush to get away so had a shave and wash before packing
up and setting off at 08:00. It was sunny but felt bitterly cold as
I rode towards Basildon. My first objective was to buy rail tickets
for tomorrow from Colchester back via London to Winchfield. I was
concerned about how busy the road was and even though it was
relatively narrow there were many large lorries. I had a couple of
steep climbs on the way and on the outskirts of Basildon there was a
steep descent. I modified my original route to call at Laindon
Railway Station to try and buy my tickets. It is about a mile to the
west of the main Basildon Railway Station. I parked my bike and went
it. The literature I read indicated I’d need to book my bike on the
London Waterloo train 24hrs in advance. I asked for a reservation on
the 12:12 tomorrow (Wed). The man said he could do a booking before
10am, it was currently 09:25. I’m sure he’d misunderstood the rules
that a bike couldn’t travel before 10am and not do the actual
booking. I then cycled to the Basildon Station and asked for the
same ticket. It turned out I didn’t need to book a cycle reservation
for the Waterloo train and would have to go first come first served.
I bought the tickets for the two legs, Colchester to Stratford
London and Waterloo to Winchfield. As I was leaving I realised I
hadn’t shown my Senior Rail Card and went back to the same lady
behind the counter. She smiled, refunded my original payment to my
card then reprocessed to the correct amount. With my tickets I set
of on my next leg to Maldon. I had a good tail wind at first but at
North Fanbridge I turned north on the B1018, firstly up a steep hill
and into a strong headwind. The gradient eased but the wind
continued.
I wasn’t complaining
because I’d done well with tail winds even though there had been
cold and rain showers. On the outskirts of Maldon was a roundabout
where the traffic is diverted round the town. I went straight across
and through the town centre. I crossed the bridge over the tidal
river Blackwater and was delighted to see a large sailing ship
moored.
Maldon River Blackwater
I returned over the
bridge and along the quay to have a closer look. Back over the
bridge I called at Tesco to buy water and some bread rolls for
lunch. I set of again through Heybridge on the B1026 to the east. I
still had the wind with me and a much quieter road. At Great
Wigborough I turned north and back into the wind. A climb took me up
to embankment across the Abberton Reservoir. I climbed another hill
through Layer Breton then turned right into a rural lane where the
rain returned.
Maldon
Big fields and big skies near Goldhanger
To right looked
like common land and would have been perfect for a camp. I decided
against it as there were too many houses about. The lane reached a
tee junction where a cycle track continued straight ahead. It was
muddy and tightly enclosed on both sides by brambles and fences. Id
originally hoped to camp in Cook’s Wood to the left but there was no
access. Where the track reached a muddy farm track there was Chest
Wood on my right. The ground was covered in blue bells and no
problems getting access. I wheeled my bike as far as I could to get
away from view and set up camp.
Return to
Whittle Wanderer
