Yesterday saw the undertaking of the 61 mile cycling challenge from London to Southend,Orginally the route was only meant to be 48 miles but as a lot of us found out that route no longer is viable to undetake as a cyclist and the new route involves a lot of "going around the houses" to avoid the big A roads but also means you get to see a lot more of the scenic Essex countryside.

When i woke up and looked out the window all i could think was hmmm,the sky was black the clouds were full of rain and angry looking and there was already a substantial layer of water on the roads,not what i was looking for.Although the weather wasnt feeling very generous at the start it didnt take away the heat which was still hot and humid and not very pleasant but hey thats life,Packed up my two water bottles and filled my hydration pack and added a banana and a few energy bars for the journey as well as adding in my waterproof and then had 6 weetabix's and was ready for the quest ahead.

On my way out of London i got as far as Strafford before the rain came down hard again and i was forced to get out the waterproofs and run at a much slower pace having to both check my breaking distance and try not to be blinded by the incredible amounts of spray coming off of the cars and buses in front and arond me on most of the roads as well as a large amount of surface water that made corning quite a tricky ordeal and it stayed like this most of the way through Bromley by bow,Canning town,Upton park,East ham and it was only when i arrived into Barking that it eventually decided to give me a break and i could get on with the job at hand.

Departing Barking i headed back out onto the A13 which allowed me to pick up the pace again and cover a lot of ground quickly again which was much welcomed after the stopping and starting ordeal which had preceeded me in the bad weather and the overcroweded shopping street traffic lights,passed through Dagenham rather quickly which wasnt a shame as it looked like something that you would see in a badly made up movie about a ghetto :p what a lovely place! but to its defence it did have a huge bowling alley with a mexican resturant next to it which had a big picture of food that made my stomach cry out as i went past,Leaving the A13 i then picked up the A1306 and followed that all the way to the end through Rainham,Wennington,Aveley,South Ockendon,Thurrock,Stifford,Grays and Chafford Hundred.

On reaching the start of the A1013 i was able to pick up the Southend road and follow this all the way to Stanford-le-hope where i stopped in the town to ravish the banana and that i had brought with me and take on some water.After a couple of minutes i continued again up the B1420 towards the Stanford road and onto the London Road which would be my last and final road for the rest of the journey but what a road it was.

Arriving into Vange there was a hill that was the equivalent of riding up the stairs in your house but with the added "bonus" that it was a constant climb at that angle which was about a mile long and to make it even more fun the wind was blowing down the hill towards me making it feel like i had a anchor dragging behind me,all i could do was shift down into the lowest gear and use the drop bars making myself as aero as possible and grit my teeth and bare it,eventually the summit became closer and i made it and was treated to quite a stunning view from the top of the lower lying towns and areas down below which was quite impressive actually.

I then continued along the London road through Pitesea and through the outskirts of Benfleet and Thundersley into Hadleigh which all allowed a fast pace spinning in the highest gears and a lot of coasting on downhill sections which was very welcomed after a long climb and also a lot of fun,Eventually i got to the neighbouring town to Southend,Leigh-on-Sea which some class as the better one but thats a matter of opinion where i decided to stop for a energy bar and a drink for a few mins and also a chance to snap a few photos,

At long last i was on the final stage of the journey now and could see the Welcome to Southend sign as i cruised past heading through the town centre and down along the front past all the amusements and seafront attractions onto the Esplanade where i eventually came to a stop at the seafront car park and took a moment to reflect the journey.

I then preceeded to head off to one of the food vendors on the front which i had previously used before and got the biggest Plaice and chips they had to offer and took it down to the seawall and enjoyed every bit of it :)

So the final view on the day was that funny enough it wasnt as hard as the 26 mile bikeathon that i did a few weeks ago even though this was a lot longer,futher and involved much more effort and hill climbing but then again i have had a lot more training and fitness increase since then so i think that may be the reason for that and the fact that im riding a Trek 1.7 now which is incredible in every way.

Final Summary:
Distance covered: 61 Miles
Total time taken: 4 hours 10 Minutes
Highest speed: 28mph whilst coasting