Filling in the Gaps

Having enjoyed Sunday's outing so much, I did feel a bit bad at having taken an alternative route for one section thanks to a bit of poor navigation on my part. So, as the sun once again decided to defy the BBC's predictions and put in a good solid performance, I decided to retrace some of Sunday's original route to see what I had missed out on. There was noticeably more traffic about on the early sections of the ride, but once outside the M25 it dropped right off and the Essex country roads were enjoyably empty. This time I managed to remember to turn left at Greensted and followed the empty roads out through Bobbingworth, Moreton and Matching Green before arriving where I had rejoined the route near Abbess Roding. At this point I turned right and rode the opposite way along my corrected route of Sunday down the B184 through Fyfield to Chipping Ongar. There I turned left on the A128 towards Sunday's inbound route at Kelvedon Hatch. I then followed Sunday's route through Navestock and Stapleford Abbotts before diverting again at Chigwell by continuing down to Woodford. The headwind on the return leg dropped by average speed to under 17mph, but still a very pleasant 55 miles.