Back in July 2015 I started a Facebook Group called......

 .....Cycling in Essex Plus, the reason I started this group was firstly I was unable to cycle for 18 months following an accident and secondly I couldn't see anything else on Facebook that had cycling News or Events in just Essex!

But after 7 years of posting up to 3 post everyday and spending over 5 hours a day on Facebook mostly on this group I decided to call it a day on 31st January 2023. Gave the members of the group all 560 of them a month notice and as nobody volunteer to take over running it, Cycling in Essex Plus is no more!

I still post occasionally about Cycling News & Events in Essex but in other Groups Facebook groups and spending a lot less time  on Facebook.

This Photo was taken in June 2014 and I used it for the cover Photo for Cycling in Essex Plus

                             

This drawing was done by the late........

 ,,,,Steve Ebdon a member of the Forty Plus CC and the C.T.C.

I can`t remember how many times I`ve ridden over that bridge that spanned the Cripsey Brook and into the the village of Moreton. I still find it a joy cycling through this village though a number of new houses have sprung up over the years! But then that`s like many of our Essex villages these days new housing build everywhere.

One Cottage I always make a point of going past which as a Blue Plaque on the wall in memory of the late Steve Marriott the rock guitarist with the Small Faces and later Humble Pie.  

                                      

When I first started cycling with the Havering CTC Section in the late 80`s Moreton was always on their Runs List on Boxing Day. The reason being was the two pubs in the village had a friendly rivalry going back to 1969 and hundreds of people went along to enjoy it too! A team from the White Hart and the Nags Head had an obstacle race in the main street and of course there was also beer involved in this!

Then it was a race down to Cripsey Brook for the tug-of-war and if you just a spectator you didn`t get too close to the Brook as not only did both  teams end up in the water they push anyone standing to close to water too!

Sadly the Nags Head closed down in 2016 and didn`t reopen again until 2021 with a new name the Dog and Pickle, so we don`t know yet if this Boxing Day event will take place in 2021?

                                                   

                                                   

 

I`ve been a member of Cycling UK since.......

 1980 when it was called the `Cyclists Touring Club` I joined because that`s what I was interested in and eventually that what I did cycle touring for many happy years! Later I became involved in a local CTC Section and the usually committee duties for 20 years, but no longer with that though I do keep in touch with my old club mates.

Six years ago I became a Senior (over 65) member and last year subs were £35.50, this year no Senior membership instead a new Standard individual  of £48, but what a slap in the face for us older that have kept the CTC going for all these years!

Back in the day the CTC had a bimonthly magazine (they still have one but its rubbish now and goes straight into my recycle box) which was always a good read plus a middle pull-out section about the local Sections around the country. 

I think most cyclists join the CTC or Cycling UK for the Third Party Insurance, but as I said before I joined of my interested in cycle touring! But their Insurance did come in handy after my cycling accident so paying the the new memberships subs of £48 is no problem for me just I do think the CTC sorry old habits Cycling UK have lost the plot over the years!

I`m also a member of the British Cycling because of the club I curranty belong to and my subs are £44.

As for renewal my Cycling UK subs I`m still thinking about!     

This was a great shock to me when.......

Dawes decided to end making the Classic Galaxy range of touring cycles which had been a favourite of touring cyclists since introduction in 1971.

I brought my Galaxy in 1980 when I first got into touring in those days they were manufacture in Birmingham! Unlike these days parts came from abroad and they are just assembly here.

I did some great touring on this bike until I gave it away to a neighbour in 1992 and have regretted doing that ever since!

                               

 

I finally got the Handlebars on the.......

Claud Butler Dalesman change from drops to straight bars, didn`t do the job myself or take the bike to a shop instead I had this guy come to me.

I was very pleased with the job done on my Dalesman by James Young, in fact I had him check over my other two cycles.

Had a 20mile spin out on it and apart from my normal aches & Pains when cycling these days it felt okay but will probably need a longer ride out on it.

I always find it amazing especially during the winter months that road........

Cyclists don`t use full length mudguards, I can only think they must enjoy cleaning their bikes and themselves a lot! I have full length SKS mudguards on all year round and would be lost without them.

I only take these mudguards off when in the past I`ve been on a Rough Stuff event, Rough Stuff is what cyclists these days call Off Road. Also back in the days gone by on club ride if you had no mudguards or even a rear mud flap and the roads were wet and mucky you had to ride at the back of a group.

 Normal size rear mud flaps have been around for years like the one above which I use today on all my bikes. But on club rides back in the day a lot of us made our own extra long mud flaps out of old large detergents bottles like the one below.

But these days you can now buy extra long mud flaps from a number of companies like this one from a London company called RAW at  http://rawmudflap.uk/about/

So with full length mudguards and mud flaps and even extra long mud flaps  there`s really no excuse these days for winter club riders getting themselves or their club mates covered in muck from the roads!    

I can remember as a 13 year old getting a.........

Raleigh bike for Christmas (second-hand of course) money was tight in those days! Sometime later I got one of those Lucas mileage meters with its annoying click-click-click everytime the front wheel went round. It didn`t stay on the bike very long!

Then when I started cycling again in 1979 and got into touring in 1980 I got one these.

Then of course when Cyclomputes came in I went for the Cateeye ones, and still used them today, the Echo-7 and the Beta-2.

 Don`t think I will ever change to all those new thingymajig that nearly all cyclists seem to have nowadays.
I`ve always kept a record of my day ride mileage but sadly these have now been lost, and it was only in 2006 that I started save my yearly mileage again.  So when I came across this club I thought if only I had kept a record of all my rides!
                                                    http://www.300k-cc.co.uk
I don`t know any of the current cyclist on the list but I do remember Doug Brunwin on the `Roll of Honour` list. Rode with Doug in the early 90`s when I rode with the Forty plus CC.