Over the last few years I’ve developed a bit of a love of the type of travelogue where someone wanders the countryside musing whimsically on not very much (think “Rings of Saturn“). So I thought I’d publish my own adventures somewhere, more to have a record than for anyone to really read! That said, I’ve occasionally found other people’s blogs handy when planning a parkrun or cycling trip, so you never know what may be of use to someone.
I haven’t been out on the bike much over Christmas so I decided I’d start small and see if I could get up to Epping Forest from my home in Tottenham Hale without having to cycle along any main roads. Although, this might have been easier if I had had a map.
It turned out not to be too much of a challenge, maplessness notwithstanding, although there were a couple of what I will choose to call ‘side adventures’. I biked up the Lea Valley past the Stonebridge lock and then turned off towards Walthamstow. I’d been up this way before for the Walthamstow parkrun (one of London’s most boring parkruns), so after a brief detour up towards the north circular I crossed at the Crooked Billett roundabout and followed the signs for ‘Chingford (quiet route)’. Simples!
It wasn’t a particularly interesting route – lots of suburban backstreets. However, it was fairly quiet. There was a section where cyclists were instructed to dismount, which I don’t think is really acceptable on a signposted bike route, and some of the signs were missing or turned around towards the Chingford end. The quiet route also finishes short of Chingford Station which is less than ideal.
The actual forest did not particularly lend itself to cycling at the current time of year. The roads that run through the forest at this point were quite busy and not roads I’d feel comfortable cycling on, and the forest itself was pretty muddy. I tried to stick to the marked trails to avoid getting lost, and these were just about OK for my hybrid bike, but I wouldn’t attempt on a road bike other than during the summer.
Unfortunately at one point I decided to deviate from the marked trail as it looked a bit muddy. Obviously that was the point at which I ended up getting lost. And then ended up getting muddy anyway.
Still, it’s pretty hard to get thoroughly lost when you’re on the edge of London, you can still hear traffic and you have a mobile phone, so I survived. I bought a map in the conveniently located visitor centre, for next time.
lardyarsecyclist.sport.blog 