Another moving day; and the good news for us is that the threatened rains seem to have evaporated overnight. I was just pointing this out to Rachael before breakfast when I looked out the window and saw some showers making a liar out of me; but they didn’t last. By the time we left the White Horse Inn stuffed full of scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes, conditions were beautiful. We’ve really had exceptional weather for nearly a full month now.
The not so good news is that Rachael’s been struggling for the last several days with a return of her breathing issues. She’s assumed they’re the result of winds and high humidity, but yesterday we noticed that her face is puffy and a little discolored under the eyes, so something is happening with her health. Fortunately we’ll be in Ipswitch for the next two days and it’s large enough to have a wider range of health facilities. She’s scheduled herself for an appointment with an ENT specialist for tomorrow morning.
Leaving town we crossed a small waterway which I misinterpreted at the time. I thought we were crossing the Chelmer River into the other half of Maldon, but we’re beyond that. We’re in Maldon’s northern neighbor Heybridge now, and this is the short and short-lived Chelmer and Blackwater Canal, a fourteen mile long waterway that quickly made itself obsolete by facilitating movement of materials used to build a rail line that quickly took away all of its business. I didn’t know what I was looking at until trying to identify the odd-looking vessel on the canal.
The short Chelmer and Blackwater Canal passes through Heybridge and comes to sea just north of the mouth of the Chelmer.
Riding conditions continue to improve the further away from London we travel. There are a few short stretches on busier roads, but for most of the day we’re riding across a pretty agricultural region with very light traffic and the sort of dense network of minor agricultural lanes that we associate with France. It’s not visually dramatic - we’re in Suffolk now and it’s all low elevation country - but very enjoyable cycling.
Note though that even though we spend most of the ride fluctuating between just one and two hundred feet above sea level, it’s not as easy a ride as it sounds. The agricultural plateau sits at about 200’, but is scored repeatedly by small rivers that cut into it a hundred feet or more. There’s a lot of steep up and down, but fortunately Rachael’s doing better today and doesn’t struggle much with the ride.
In Suffolk, our third English County to date (Maldon is in Essex, which I neglected to mention at the time). A lot of the day’s ride looked like this.
There are some splendid old oaks here, some left standing isolated in the middle of wheat fields. It gives the land the look of a savanna. Say, we’re going to be on this island for a few months so I might as well know what we’re looking at here. An English Oak (Quercus rober), right?
We stopped for lunch at a park north of Colchester, watching a parade of magpies stride across the grass, and then this wagtail ventured close enough for a half-reasonable shot. Wagtails don’t stand still for long, as their name implies. Almost like trying to get a decent shot of a butterfly.
A day of short but steep ups and downs. Here we’re climbing up Gravel Hill after dropping to cross the River Stour I think, but we could as easily be climbing up Newbridge Hill after the River Colne; or Martin’s Lane after the Box; or Sulley’s Hill after the Brett.
Video sound track: Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone, by Grover Washington Jr.
We’re staying in Ipswitch for two nights, at another Premier Inn - economical, well located, let’s us take bikes in the room. The plan for the stay was to take a day ride over to the coast, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings with Rachael’s health and her early morning trip to the ENT clinic. For tonight, it’s enough to walk two blocks to the riverfront for dinner. Through a mix-up we’re eating at/in the Mariner, a fact that at first disappoints Rachael when she sees I’ve booked us there through a misunderstanding. I thought she had decided on this place, but she wanted the Waterfront Bistro instead. No matter, we’ll get it right tomorrow.
It was a lucky accident though because the Mariner serves us up a fine meal in a unique setting, inside a former Belgian warship. The gunboat S.S. Argus, built in Bruges, was launched in 1899 but went on to a troubled history before ending up here. I started trying to summarize it but it’s too complicated. Better to just read the details included in the menu.
Dinner in the Mariner is a unique setting, inside a century-old Belgian gunboat.
Ride stats today: 44 miles, 1,800’; for the tour: 279 miles, 12,700’
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km) Total: 279 miles (449 km)
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Suzanne GibsonRachel, so sorry to hear you are having problems with breathing again! Hope you can get it taken care of. I have my fingers crossed. xxx Reply to this comment 1 year ago
