https://www.strava.com/activities/9868228731
I’ve been a Cycling UK member for a long time, but I never joined any group rides until today. A few years ago, I tried riding with a local cycling club, but it didn’t work out for me. I won’t bore you with the details, but let me just say it wasn’t my cup of tea. Lately, I thought having some company on my rides would be nice. So I checked the Cycling UK website and found my nearest group, Southeast Essex. to me. I contacted John Steer, who gave me all the information I needed, and on the 17th of September, I showed up for my first ride at the café, which was the meeting point for the ride. John came over to greet me and introduced me to the rest of the group. They all welcomed me warmly and made me feel very much at ease.
We set off on the ride and had a lot of fun chatting and joking along the way. John told me about some of the CTC lingo, like oil up and oil down. I’m more used to saying car back and car front, but I’m getting the hang of it. I was impressed by how well John and the others knew the local roads. We rode for about 15 miles on quiet country lanes, some of which I had never ridden along before. It was a lovely route. We stopped for a welcome elevenses break. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for lunch, so I headed back to Wickford.