Lets go to the sea my wife said. 

Where? 

I fancy Mersea Island.

So off I went and planned a 35(ish) ride to Mersea, 'cos I wasn't that bothered about a full day there, but as a finish to a ride... why not.

Here is said ride. Although I only started at the exit from Great Dunmow having been dropped off near the Travel Lodge off the A120 junction. As a ride it works quite well until the end when your choice in roads is severely limited. The off road section at the start is 'interesting' to access down a dirt track that will dump you in a ford if you don't notice the footpath sign has a NR 16 sign on it. But once you get started most of it is either on NR 16 or NR 1. The B-roads at the end are a bit busy but not too bad. The navigation through Witham is a little stressful, and you need your wits about you just before the station to get on the right road. Garmin told me I was going the wrong way which made me think and go back and get it right.

Tea stops I hear you ask... I used Ellies food hut semi-attached to the farm shop near Ranks Green. It is in a working farm yard and most of the farm hands seem to use it. Then I stumbled across Braxted Bakery, good tea and the Apple and Sultana cake hit the spot, but did make the following hill harder than maybe it should have been. 

Enjoy... I did.