This is one of my favourites bike rides, and
I feel privileged to have been part of it.
It’s my favourite for two reasons.
Firstly, Southend was my first FNRttC a couple of years ago. And secondly, I was brought up in the
Southend area so the sights and sounds have other meanings for me.
It was good, as it always is, to catch up with old friends
and to meet ‘to-be’ friends under the arch. After all, the ride is as much about people
as it is about bikes.
The route and the events are not that important, but the
second half of the ride is great. We
rode past the house where my mother was born in Daws Heath, between which and
the Peculiar People’s chapel is squeezed the tiny burial ground where at least
half of the occupants are my ancestors; we rode past the ‘rec’ where I first
learned to ride a bike in; past the house where my parents were sleeping
unaware of the melee passing through just a few yards away; past the cockle
sheds where I acquired my hatred for cockles; past the Crocket Billet pub in
Old Leigh which was a regular from my school years; past a fellow cyclist taking pictures
of the ice cream in the café window in Old Leigh where I used to buy honeycomb
as a kid; past the spot on the beach at Westcliff where we’d go midnight swimming
with the gang from the ‘youth club’.
Memories all. Lots of them.
I was a ‘tail-end charlie’ for the second half and I take my
hat off to my fellow TECs for the fantastic encouragement they gave to those riders
towards the back who were beginning to struggle. Those of us who regularly do long bike rides
sometime forget how much of a challenge the FNRttC distances can be for newer
riders and help and encouragement like that can make all the difference between
finishing and not finishing. Enjoying it
and not enjoying it. Having a sense of achievement
instead of a sense of disappointment.
This was to be 50th ‘century’ ride, so I was
determined to ride back home afterwards.
Four of us set off shortly after breakfast and as we swooped down Bread
and Cheese hill the rain had started to ease and it had stopped entirely by the
time we got to Pitsea. Helped by a
tailwind, we were soon at the Dartford crossing, waiting only a few minutes for
a lift across, and the final leg to home.
I spent the rest of the day lunching, eating cake and drinking
coffee in and around Greenwich with my sweetheart Kim, which rounded off a
rather splendid day.
100.8 miles in total for the trip. My 50th Century.
