Cycle Tendring cycle routes

I picked up three nice cycle route leaflets the other day providing a variety of routes across the Tendring Peninsula, aka The Essex Sunshine Coast.

There were three of them, numbers 2,5, and 6, and these three are also online on the Tendring DC website as PDFs. Mind you, you’re better off trying to get your hands on printed copies – they’re quite handily folded, and will be much better to take with you on a ride than several A4 sheets printed off at home! I wonder what happened to leaflets 1,3 and 4?

Map Number 2 provides one route that starts (or finishes!) in Manningtree, and finishes (or starts!) in Brightlingsea. The map does give you directions to get from Great Bentley back to Manningtree to make it a circular route – and making it very similar to the Tour de Tendring route. It also gives a 24 mile route from Brightlingsea up to Great Bromley and Little Bromley and Lawford, and back again.

Map Number 5 covers Clacton and Great Bentley. There’s a 27mile circular route around Frinton, Walton and Weeley. As it goes past the various railway stations, that would be an excellent one for getting your bikes on a train, getting off at one station and seeing how far you can get round, knowing that you will be passing other stations if you can’t do the full loop. Of course, check the trains before hand, you don’t want to be heaving the bike onto a Bus Replacement Service!

It also has four shorter rides. There’s an 8miler from Clacton to the Jaywick Martello Tower and back again. A circular ride from Clacton round to Great Bentley and Aingers Green and Weeley (great for finding a pub to stop off at lunch for!). There’s a 9miler just around Great Bentley, Aingers Green and Weeley if you want more time in the pub and less in the saddle! And 17miles that expands that ride to take in Wix and Tendring Green.

Map Number 6 has six routes around Harwich, Manningtree and Mistley, ranging from a 6miler round Harwich, to a 23miler around Harwich, Mistley, Wix and Great Oakley.