About me
Hello, I’m Tony, and welcome to So Tyred.
This blog began in 2007 when I rediscovered the simple pleasure of cycling after many years away from the saddle. Like many riders, I needed a goal to get me started, so I entered the London to Southend Bike Ride and began recording my training and progress online.
What started as a training diary has gradually evolved into something much bigger.
Today, So Tyred is my personal guide to recreational road cycling in Essex and beyond—a place where I share memorable rides, quiet roads, welcoming cafés and the lessons I’ve learned from thousands of miles in the saddle.
Everything you’ll find here comes from personal experience. Every route has been ridden, every café visited and every opinion is based on real-world use rather than sponsored content or marketing material. My aim isn’t to tell you what to buy or how fast you should ride. Instead, I hope to help you discover enjoyable places to cycle and make planning your next ride a little easier.
As the site continues to grow, you’ll find:
- Ride Reports that tell the story behind each journey, not just the statistics.
- The Ride Library, a growing archive of routes organised by distance, destination, café, season and ride type.
- Recommended Rides, highlighting some of my favourite routes and hidden gems.
- Café Guides, celebrating the coffee stops that make long rides even more rewarding.
- Route Planning articles based on my own experience of planning everything from relaxed weekend rides to century rides.
- Gear & Reviews, featuring the bikes, clothing, navigation equipment and accessories I’ve genuinely used and would happily recommend.
Although I occasionally write about cycling technology, equipment and wider issues affecting the sport, the heart of So Tyred has always been the ride itself. I believe cycling isn’t only about speed, power or chasing personal bests. It’s about exploration, fresh air, quiet lanes, good conversation, discovering somewhere new and, of course, finding a great café along the way.
My hope is that this site becomes more than just a chronological blog. I want it to grow into a useful resource that helps cyclists explore Essex with confidence, whether you’re looking for your first 50 km ride, your first century, a scenic coastal route or simply somewhere new to enjoy a cup of coffee after a morning in the saddle.
So whether you’re an experienced cyclist, returning to the sport after a break as I did, or just looking for inspiration for your next ride, I hope you’ll find something here that’s worth exploring.
Thank you for visiting, and I hope to see you out on the road one day.
Tony