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@unityjon
Thanks for your efforts to help me out.i compared sustrans cycle routes and your google map webside.
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/map?searchKey=&searchType=search&Search=Find#607700,223821,3It could be a big challenge for us.
Otherwise we got knackered or rooted after the harwich-southend trip to our Guesthouse in Thorpe Bay.
I think the Ferry in Burnham on crouch to Marina seemed to be a big change.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/Burnham-on-Crouch.html#anchor78171
Thanks anyway for the counsel
Well,actually, is our mentailty at home the same as everywhere ,we use do take the bike on the trailer,drive to a bikespot,having fun for three hours
and drive home.
So this would be the first time in a foreign country,and therefore i`m a little bit nervous to do something
different. ,

Pollux, what day and time to do plan to arrive at Harwich ?

Hi unityjon
Thanks for your help anyway Our challenge is to discover Essex with a mountainbike.
A friend of mine ,is a hobby routes planner.
he got a software for openmtbmaps and he loaded up an mtb map of great britain.
Now i have more opportunities to find tracks next to the road.

I can`t image to ride the distance to Southend in one day.
If we get stuck,then we have to use the bus service.

Well,we will arrive Harwich on the 08.08 at 8pm .
Then we will stay up in Oakley.We will probably take the route to Brighling on sea to Malden one day later.

So mates,keep in contact and get on a party in Southend

Hi Olympic-Southend-Hadleigh riders.
@Andydd
Great job of the Hadleigh map and interested links with pics of the Hadleigh castle area.
I think .my imagination of the of your Sunshine state Southend is growing from time to time.

I think this(Belfairs, Pound Wood, Tile Wood, over to West Wood,Shipwrights)must be worth while
to have a look.
One of my bloody question:Where about is the entree of this Olympic contest.??In the front of the lake?
How about is the footpath, which start in Leigh creek and goes up to the castle,Is it open during the Olympic times??

Today ,the Southend Tourist Information Centre send me real goods material of cycle -walking routes over
whole essex.I think i can connect aplenty of different points.

The main entrance will be right next to the lake, currently this has a gate and security, there is a second footpath entrance about 20mtrs to the left of the lake which takes you right through the middle of the course down to the coast path and train track. The castle ruins aren't on the coarse they're further toward southend by a few minutes direct ride so should be open all the time but you wont see a great deal from there if anything.

The truth is, if you dont have a ticket you wont see a thing, i would imagine the day after the last event there the place will be abandoned, apart from local riders !

As Jon said, (by the way..we've already meet, Andy Daley here) it really will be fenced off so unlikel;y to see much but I think there may be a couple of spots where you might catch them going past for a few seconds, might ride up there if its a nice day.

When I went to the test event the main entrance was halfway down Castle Lane, by the Salvation Army cafe bit but there may be other entrances, I didnt go that far.

There have always been routes to the track from Benfleet and Leigh Stations but theyve widened the route from Leigh Station and made it more accessible (this is the suggested route for non-driving visitors) and if its the same as the test event, there will be various bike parks to lock your bike too.

Andy

The Olympic flame...coming to a street near you
8:55am Monday 19th March 2012 in News


The Olympic flame...coming to a street near you THE Olympic flame will be flying in south Essex, and you can see it in your town.

On July 6, the flame will begin its tour of the county, with it passing through Rayleigh, Southend, Hadleigh and Basildon to give residents a glimpse of the iconic beacon of Olympic spirit.

The torch’s route through Essex starts in Colchester before travelling to Hatfield Peverel, Heybridge and Maldon before arriving in south Essex
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9598370.The_Olympic_flame___coming_to_a_street_near_you/?ref=ms

Lucky Guys from Essex Area.
I wish to be there

Is anybody knows from a bike on the train during the Olympic time on Southend Victoria Railwaystation??




The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has named over 7,300 inspiring people who will carry the Olympic Flame as Torchbearers in the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay later this year. Beginning on 19 May, an average of 115 Torchbearers a day will carry the Olympic Flame during its 8,000-mile journey around the UK before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July for the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, signifying the official start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

You can take a bike on the train anytime except rush hour, there are carriages with spaces to stand them (the carriages are the same ones that have toilets), only folding bikes are allowed on in rush hour.

I live in Harwich and was brought up in Oakley, if you want any advice of the local area (or a lift to the danbury to cut out a huge bit of road riding) then im your man

I`m glad to meet someone from the Harwich location.I hope you have some good suggestions
for our journey.
At the moment I'm reading the map from essex walks http://www.essexwalks.com/lookup.html
It seems like there is a good trail from Great Oakley--- Mozes cross---Oldhouse fm----Beaumond hall--Thorpe green---Weeley--Great Bentley---and then I want to use the trail Frating Abbey to Brightling on sea.
Furthermore I'm going to take a boat to Mersea Island and then up to Maldon.
The Tourist Information Colchester proposed to take the way via Wivenhoe on the cycle Route (1)
Further:Tiptree – Maldon – Chelmsford remains Cycle route 1.

By our estimation you could pick up Cycle route 13, which look to us to be a proposed route….it goes through some nice Essex villages, notably Stock.

This continues to Basildon where it becomes Cycle Route 16 which takes the cyclist to Shoeburyness, travelling along the Southend seafront

I don`t know ,how it looks on the eastside to Brighlingssea
compaired to the other side of Tiptree-Chelmsford.
A : lift to the danbury to cut out a huge bit of road sounds like a brilliant idea! ,but how shall i explain this my wife

Quite an adventureous journey, not sure if anyone here as riden that far. Ive ridden South Woodham ferers and Chelmsford to Danbury which are nice rides and make use of a bit of the Cycle Routes I think.

On a related note, the Evening Echo paper has a story tonight about the legacy track.

Dangle that carrot.....

The last one I went to (specifcally about the MTB track) was full of grey old wrinklies....apologies if any EssexHerts fal into this catagory !

Andy

London 2012: Changes for Olympic mountain bike course
London 2012 organisers have announced alterations to the Olympic mountain bike course, after feedback from competitors in last year's test event.

Parts of the course, set in the grounds of Hadleigh Castle in Essex, will be widened to allow more opportunities for athletes to pass.

New features have been added to further increase the course's difficulty.

Continue reading the main story
“It is wider and higher than for the test event and with the stunning setting of Hadleigh Farm we are looking forward to a world-class Olympic event
”

Debbie Jevans

Locog's director of sport

The main climb has been extended and a new feature has been added with an extended climb to reach it.

Several parts of the course, including the switchback climbs, have been widened and a new climb has been added into the start loop which will be used on the first 4.7km lap of the races.

The changes came after feedback from the mountain bike test event last July.

London 2012 organisers, Locog, gave the riders a questionnaire to complete after the test event, and said amendments would be made after criticims that the course was too flat and narrow.

Debbie Jevans, Locog's director of sport, said she was confident the largely man-made course would be one of the most technically challenging courses at an Olympic Games, and as competitive as possible due to the increased number of places where competitors could pass each other.

"It is wider and higher than for the test event and with the stunning setting of Hadleigh Farm we are looking forward to a world-class Olympic event," she said.

Some 36 nations are expected to take part in the London 2012 mountain bike competition; the men's race on 12 August will have 50 riders, and the women's race a day earlier will have 30 competitors.

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Julien Absalon tests the Olympic mountain bike circuit
Other test events have also elicited complaints. At the Greenwich Park equestrian test event, while the cross-country drew praise, the surface inside the dressage and show jumping arena was criticised by some riders.

Show jumper David McPherson, who tested the arena, said the waxed sand and fibre surface was "nowhere near good enough", with British colleague Nick Skelton adding: "The ground is a little bit dead and dense at the moment."

And in BMX, concerns were raised at August's test event over the lack of protection from the elements on the straights, where BMX riders perform the majority of their jumps.

British medal hopeful Shanaze Reade said windy conditions made the Olympic Park course particularly hard for female riders.

Mariana Pajon of Colombia, the 2011 world champion, fell victim to the course at the test event, suffering a hard fall in the women's final and leaving on a stretcher.



@unityjon:
Nice track on Hadleigh area
Get on a ride,when we will be there---after a pint

The olympic park is basically a custom built confined trail, most of the 'features' are fenced off so you cant rid them although you can get on the site and navigate your way around the electric fences a bit to ride very short sections of the trail

there's a map of the area and shows the bits around it we ride....

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=2 ... 5fcb&msa=0

The course itself doesnt show on google maps as its too new ! its shown as a green open space. (with a big red pin stuck in it ! LOL)

Some more stuff about the Legacy track here (from the Echo).

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_n ... ck/?ref=ec

Although its not really what this club is going to do and whether it will be involved in any money raising activities or whether there will be a cost to ride the track (I doubt it).

Andy