On Sunday June 1st fourteen intrepid cyclists set of on the inaugural Tiptree Ton. Two groups set off, the first being the “famous five” the second was later to become the “knackered nine” five from Tiptree Velo and four guest riders from Colchester Rovers. The purpose of the ride was to cover a distance of one hundred miles as a commemoration for the advent of the outbreak of WW1 and to establish a one hundred mile route in the Tiptree Velo calendar. Les has kindly supplied his account of the “famous fives” journey (five get lost in Essex) in a separate post.
The “knackered nine” were blessed with perfect cycling conditions as the heavens provided a clear break in what has been some fairly poor recent weather. The route was an anticlockwise tour of north and west Essex taking in the best scenery the county has to offer passing through Sudbury, Steeple Bumsted, and Saffron Walden before heading south towards Stansted airport and back through the Rodings, the Easters and Pleshey and finally returning to Tiptree. The route master had meticulously planned the course over preceding weeks and had previewed sections of it with various Sunday rides but this was the first time it had all been joined up. With one or two very minor exceptions including a road closure and a major resurfacing program which added tar and chippings , and a couple of almost wrong turns we proceeded seamlessly around the county. Taking advantage of the ideal conditions the steady group had caught and passed the leisure group with only thirty miles covered, but speed was not important for either party as the conditions provided a perfect day in the saddle and in quite a few refreshment stops for some. Many of us were attempting their first ton, for others it had been several years since the achievement had last been made. The first sixty miles had plenty of undulations to contend with, followed by a reasonably flat run in to the finish except for the sting in the tail with a climb up Station Road into Wickham Bishops which had one or two cursing the route planner (loudly). As we returned along Grange Road we all clocked up the magic one hundred miles which bought about whoops of delight and a fantastic sense of achievement for each of us and a fitting commemoration for those who fell in the Great War and were unable to enjoy such liberty. The steady group returned at around 4.0pm The Exchange in the village threw open it’s doors to welcome us all back and provided a very welcome hub for us to reflect on the day. The leisurely gang returned three hours later and by their own admission several kilos heavier.
As an aside each rider made a £10 donation to this years Poppy Appeal kicking off the campaign with a healthy £140.