End-of-the-month Long Ride 25/10/2023

After weather forecasts for rain, Wednesday dawned intermittently overcast and sunny. The long ride headed west to Brett’s Country Restaurant, White Roding (42-mile round trip) and the medium ride went south to the Museum of Power (32-mile round trip). The short ride went to The White Hart, Great Waltham.

Peter Milner, long ride lead, gave us the health & safety tip for the day. After his recce ride, he made the sage observation to treat puddles with caution, as some of them would be concealing potholes.

The medium group headed south, along familiar roads to Hatfield Peverel. Then we took some fantastic quiet lanes through Ulting, down to The Museum of Power. There is a new logo outside the entrance, which I think is quite clever for a museum about mechanical engineering. The logo demonstrates how pistons moved power from up and down movement, to circular. I thought it was quite a clever logo, and I rather liked it.

When Neville and I did the recce ride, he commented that the stream running through the Museum of Power grounds was just right for learning to shoot the weir. Except it was running faster than usual and was more likely to be too shallow to negotiate at its normal level. Neville is a sea scout leader who spends a lot of time cycling and canoeing with his scouts.

The Museum of Power is halfway through a major refurbishment. They applied for Lottery funding, and after considerable delay, the money came through quite suddenly and more work could be planned than originally envisaged. The museum has been reworked, but the exterior remains covered in scaffolding, the café is awaiting redecoration, and the conservatory is yet to be started. It’s a good museum café for various groups to visit – there are plenty of walking and cycling routes from there, and plenty of parking. They will be closed from 16 December to the end of January, when major works are being done.

We pedalled back thorough Ulting, Crix, Terling and back through Notley.

32 miles, average 10mph. Well done all.

Cathy MacTaggart