Cycling East England: Gravesend to Colchester

My latest bicycle touring update: cycling in East England. Gravesend to Colchester. 54 miles. That was a much better ride today, although I’m still not up to my usual mileage. And I probably could have carried on cycling for a few more miles. But then I thought, I know what’s going to happen. My relatively easy day would turn into one of those long days where I’d struggle to find somewhere to stop. Basically, I was just being lazy!

This morning didn’t get off to the best of starts. After leaving the hotel early this morning, I had trouble finding the ferry that crosses the River Thames. Between Gravesend and Tilbury. It was only about a mile from the hotel, but do you think I could find it? After a lot of searching, I found a sign for the ferry pointing down a narrow alley, only to find that that was where the ferry used to leave from. It had now moved three hundred yards down the river.

Then once I’d found the ferry, which is only a small passenger boat, it stopped halfway across the Thames. We had to give way to a cruise ship, which was docking right next to where the ferry docks, and they take priority. We sat in the middle of the channel bobbing around for thirty minutes or so. My short five-minute crossing turned into a forty-minute crossing. I’d managed to cover two miles in an hour and a half after leaving the hotel. And even by my current pace, that’s slow.

Once off the ferry, I had a pleasant ride, mainly following the main A12. I know it doesn’t sound that great, but I was mainly on the old A12, which runs alongside the new A12, or on the cycle path that ran along the side of the road.

Tour Information

It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:

• Photos: See my photos on Flickr
• The route: Sussex to Norfolk
• Tour page: Ride overview

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