Ace Cafe to High Beech to Finchingfield

ACE CAFÉ to HIGH BEECH (Bert’s tea hut) to FINCHINGFIELD.

I have planned a European tour for this year and need to get some decent mileage under my belt before heading off. I like my normal rides, but sometimes I get fed up with the planning and leading.

I had joined a forum about a year ago called “Londonbikers.com”.  Every now and again I like to have a read and look at what others are up to, but I have never been on one of their rides. I was having a look at the ride out section and saw a ride leaving the Ace Café heading to High Beach (Bert’s tea hut) then on to Finchingfield. It was 125cc (learner) friendly so I thought “why not give it a go”. A few messages back and forth to the organiser and my brother and I had a 10 o’clock rendezvous at the Ace Café for Sunday morning.

I didn’t want to do a full blown big bike day as I have heard rumours that some are just a little too risky, unless you’re into that sort of thing. Each to their own. I wanted a nice gentle, enjoyable ride, getting used to riding in a large group, and getting some distance under the tyres.

 

 

Sunday morning arrived and for the time of year it was a lovely morning with distant white clouds dotted in a pale blue spring sky. We set off early, did the monotonous ride down the motorway to the Ace, fuelled up across the road then pulled in to the car park to wait for our group. I had no idea who we would be riding with, just that the guy leading the ride rides a white CBR 600 RR. I hadn’t worried about the lack of information until we pulled up and the car park was full of bikes, so many in fact that bikes were also parking on the other side of the road.

I parked my bike and walked down to speak to my brother, when quite by chance a white CBR 600 RR pulled into an empty parking space. I asked if he was from London bikers, to which he replied he was. Soon introductions were being made and a plan was hatched. There was time for tea, a bite to eat and an explanation of the corner man system before heading out.

The first part of the ride was around the North Circular, the A406, then through the suburbs of North London and finally into Epping Forest. This too be honest was not the best part of the ride. The traffic around the North Circular was busy and fast flowing and the group soon became fragmented. I soon became stuck somewhere in the middle of the group, with the faster more confident riders making headway while the less confident, slower riders falling behind. I decided that with the flow of traffic and the amount of speed cameras around the North Circular it was best to slow the speed. I had also lost my brother, and while I didn’t mind losing the rest of the group I couldn’t lose my brother, I never had and wasn’t about to start. I have also found that you should always ride to your own ability and speed, keeping up can and has caused accidents.  Several riders passed me then in my mirror I could once again see my brother.

The corner man system was working well, with every corner clearly marked by a rider. We finally reassembled at Gunpowder Park, Waltham Abbey, Essex. Once it was clear that everyone had regrouped and that the tail gunner had given the all clear to proceed, we headed off once more to the first official stop for the day which was High Beech (Bert’s tea hut). The lanes here were narrow and winding, the trees giving shade. There were several wet spots that kept you alert but the riding was much better than that of the motorways and towns.

 

Soon we were at the tea hut where we had time for a chat, a cuppa and to meet a few more riders wanting to join the group. The weather was lovely, bright clear skies and the forest was once again coming awake after its long winter’s sleep. The brown baron skeletal limbs now giving birth to fresh green shoots and leafs. Drinking tea means that there is the need for some relief so a short several hundred yard ride found us at the local public conveniences, which meant that the rest of the ride could proceed with no interruption.

After a head count we were once again on our way, leaving the forest we entered open countryside, the fields green with freshly shooting crop or yellow with full flowering rape plants and occasionally brown freshly ploughed fields dotted the landscape. We followed these country roads riding into, and then leaving villages which lined its way. The roads weaved their way around the natural lay of the countryside with gentle climbs and descents. At one of the larger villages we stopped so that some of the group could refuel and grab a snack if required. While we waited several bike groups of different sizes passed in either direction.

 

This was now the last road section before Finchingfield, our destination for the day.  There was more road now than village and with that came more twists and bends. The roads were great, just the sort I like to ride, fast straights with a good helping of tight bends. The faster riders who were marking the corners would soon wiz past once relieved from their duty by the tail gunner. It was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves, however as I came around a particular tight corner I noticed everyone had stopped.  Finding a safe place to stop I pulled up to see what was going on. It then became apparent that one of the group had become a little too confident and had over cooked one of the corners and had come off the road. He was ok, although a little shaken which is more than can be said for his bike, which had some considerable cosmetic damage.

Once everything had been sorted out and recovery was on its way, he insisted that we carried on. Something I must admit I was uncomfortable with, but he reassured us everything that could have been done was done. Once again we were on our way but the accident had put a sombre tone to our day, it also sobered some of the quicker riders. Soon we arrived at Finchingfield a lovely little village near Saffron Walden. Here we stopped for lunch and a drink; although I say lunch it was now mid-afternoon. We enjoyed the lovely weather, the bikes and some of the different cars that turned up. It was nice to lay on the village green and just chill out.

With the afternoon turning into early evening we decided it was time to leave and head home, so we rode to the next village and fuelled up. It was here we left the group, letting everyone know we were off, so they didn’t come looking for us. I knew that they would follow a similar route home, which would mean that we would then have a forty five motorway ride, something I wanted to avoid. So I set my Garmin to avoid motorways and we headed home. A trip that took us through some more of our country’s beautiful and stunning countryside. We arrived home at about 5.30pm just in time for a lovely prepared Sunday roast.

  

 

Sunday 16th Feb

Sunday 16^th February,

My off road riding was off to a good start and I was aiming to carry on my off road riding regime to build confidence, technique and fitness. Today I was aiming to ride with a couple of old friends and a new rider who had not ridden off road before. But that’s all part of the fun and we all have to start somewhere. I wanted to get a good day’s ride in, so I had arranged to start early and had set an 8am departure time from a local petrol station.

Josh a good friend turned up at my house around 7.30am on a bright sunny but slightly chilly Sunday morning, to un-ceremonially wake the rest of the family with roar off his 450 Husaberg. I was ready to roll and we took the 15 minute ride to the petrol station to fuel up and await the arrival of the other two riders.

 

 

Smokey2t was waiting at the garage when we arrived. He hadn’t ridden off road before and was uncertain if he would come along, but I had assured him, he had nothing to worry about, we were all out for the same reason and I wait for people because I want everyone to enjoy the day.

We fuelled up and then got to the introductions whilst we waited for Tony. Life’s a funny thing and the world is a small place, the new guy was in fact a person I had met before.

 I was travelling on the M3 when a car coming the other way lost control and hit the central reservation just as I was passing in the other direction, flying debris hit my car and smashed my windscreen. He was from the windscreen replacement company. Whilst he replaced my screen we talked bikes. Now four month later we had met again and I was going to lead his first ride.

Tony soon arrived and with everyone sorted, we set off toward the first lane. The sky was a pale spring blue, the hedges brown from the long wet winter, and the lane was wet, rutted and as slippery as an eel on a riverbank.

 

Half way along the first lane a large tree had fallen and blocked the way. The continuous winter’s rain had loosened the ground and the recent high winds meant that there had been a lot of wind blown trees. After a bit of shuffling around we managed to negotiate our way around the tree and finished the lane. We then headed down the road toward the next lane and the two river crossings. When we arrived at the first ford I looked and could see that the river was extremely high. We had a quick chat and decided that it wasn’t worth the risk. We had only ridden one lane, it was cold and we had the rest of the day ahead of us. So with discretion being the better part of valour we used the bridges to cross.

We were now back on tarmac and riding toward the next lane. The day has started well, but that was all about to change. I was approaching a right hand bend and noticed a large puddle covering most of the road; I could see the uncovered part of the road was wet. Being February and early it was also frosty . This all added up to a “NOT GOOD” situation. Before I had time to react it was already too late. It was a strange crash; I could see everything happening so vividly, not like the usual shut your eyes and hope. The rear wheel was trying to overtake the front, I was going down on the right, I could see the wheels slipping from under me. I felt ok at this point thinking the bike would slip from under me and we would slide for a bit. But then something unexpected happen, I don’t know how or why but the wheels suddenly kicked up and away from me slamming into the tarmac.

 

 

I lay on the cold hard tarmac, HURT! Luckily for the other lads they had seen the crash and had avoided the black ice. They were soon around me asking if I was ok and picked up my bike. As I lay motionless trying to catch my breath and gather my thoughts I could hear them asking me if I was alright. I thought to myself “you’ve seen me crash before and you know I get up” finally I got to my feet, struggling to breathe and my shoulder felt like  it had been hit by a sledge hammer.

The lads asked if I wanted to carry on, I felt bad that they had made the effort to come out and we hadn’t gone anywhere. After a few minutes I made the decision to carry on. The next lane was hard and I felt every impact. Every time the wheel hit a root or step up the shock travelled up from the wheel through the forks, past the handle bars up my arms then into my shoulder I could have cried. The next lane was quite flat. Lane three, I knew was going to be hard going so I pulled over and let the others go and said that I’d meet them at the end of the lane. About a third of the way up this lane yet another tree had come down, but we managed to negotiate our way around it. This was now the practice for the next few lanes, I would lead the road work, and then they would ride the lane while I plodded behind.

Lane seven was another technical lane, but they opted that I lead this one so they could follow my line, I started but saw a small tree across the track, I knew what was going to happen so I throttled off, stepped off the bike and let it fall. The lads laughed at the sad attempt. But I didn’t have the strength in my shoulder to be able to pick the bike up so Josh had to help me. Tony then said he’d lead this lane, so they set off Josh said he’d stay behind me in case I needed help. The lane went well until the end when another small thorn tree blocked our path. Crossing at the lowest part of the tree, the stump, Tony crossed OK! The new lad gave it too much throttle and although the bike flew across he was left sitting in the dirt, Josh had to get my bike over and then followed.  We made it to the garage where we refuelled, grabbed a bite to eat, and I dosed up on pain killers.

 

 

 After a short break we set off once more. A large tree had fallen across the main road blocking it totally, so we had a short road ride to get around it. Finally we were back on the lanes. The next sections of lanes went well although I was really feeling it. I was looking forward now to get to the next garage and have a rest and a short break, but as we approached it, it had gone, they had taken it away and were now using it to sell cars, BUGGER! I was now a little concerned about fuel levels. Josh was now near his home and decided to leave as he would now be travelling away from his house and he also wanted to see his kids.

 

 

There was now a fair bit of road work to do to get to the next section of lanes, which gave me a bit of a break, but it went all too fast. The lanes were nice and fast but I had had enough. This group of lanes had led us fairly close to where we had started, I pulled over and said to the lads “sorry can’t go on” it was now about 2pm I had been riding for 6 hours, they were more than happy with the day’s ride and were glad to go on their way. I then took a leisurely road ride home.

 

 

The day was good but hard. I ended up with several broken and fractured ribs, with both deep and soft tissue trauma to my chest and shoulder. The bike was put away dirty while I sulked J lol