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@pastry_bot
No weekend ride for me, spare some boring extended commuting to Redbridge. Miserable and wet.
Had a bit of work yesterday morning, and since the sun was due to shine I headed out towards Essex afterwards. Made a conscious decision the night before not to bother planning a route, or taking directions - something I've been meaning to do for a while, just to break the tedium of route planning. I hadn't been out to essex for a while, either...
It was a good decision, though. I pieced together various familliar bits, and was soon trundling through gently rolling countryside in glorious weekday (bonus) sunshine, with a gentle breeze in my face, surrounded by yellow rapeseed. The lanes were deadly quiet too. Had a great time forging through some flooded sections of road, as some others have mentioned above. The rest of the time, I was using the breeze to direct me and just burrowing into whichever lanes took my fancy.
The changeable breeze began to take its toll on the way back, as did the heat. I've gained a rather comical sunburn between rolled up sleeves and gloves. If I knew the area a bit better I could have tied in a slightly nicer route back, but I didn't really want to whip out the phone so took the boring way I know through Hainault.
No great wildlife spots, although I did hear a couple of woodpeckers. Packed in about 80 miles which isn't too bad for a working day. :)