#cbf 125

Hey all!

Well, seeing as it was a lovely day today; the sun was out, hardly any wind, I thought that I would take a trip out on the bike. I wasn't really looking for a long ride today as i'm running out of petrol and the stupid petrol tanker strike is making it a little harder to refuel so out comes the OS map of South Essex. On the first page of the map, I see "Hanningfield Reservoir" so I pack my tank bag with the necessities (Map, high-visibility jacket, phone, house keys etc) and off we go!

Now, it is a pretty boring journey to Hanningfield... the route I took lead me along the A127, through Southend, Leigh and Rayleigh all the way up to Basildon, then north through Wickford. A lot of boring dual-carriageways which, as any motorcyclist knows, are not really much fun. Apart from being cut up by a few blind cagers, nothing really exciting happened for the whole hour it took me to get there.

Not sure i'm on the right road, I start heading through a few little villages, some of which, were very quaint, all of which were separated with long, twisting roads. My favourite street sign (who has a favourite street sign!?) rolls up one-by-one; it looks like i'm heading for the S-bends. Finally, 10 - 15 minutes after leaving Wickford, I ride over the Dam of the Hanningfield Reservoir.

At this point, I have no idea where I am going. I didn't really look at the map in too much detail before departing Shoeburyness so my general rule of thumb is to keep the reservoir to my right as I am only looking to ride a lap around it. Anyone that has been to the reservoir before knows that after the dam, you hit some twisty (and very dangerous) single lane roads for a couple of miles before you even see the water again, so keeping to my rule of thumb, I carry on.

The most 'dangerous' road I hit was a long, single track road just North West of Hanningfield Reservoir. It was just wide enough for a car, let along 2 cars on opposite sides of the road. The hedge rows are too tall to see any oncoming traffic so I proceed down the National Speed Limit road with caution (a lot of caution, 30mph...) Luckily, I didn't see another vehicle on that road, but I can imagine that the slightest loss of concentration can cause a serious accident.

After taking on the few single track roads, I turn right back onto a main road as it opens up into another National Speed Limit zone. The road is a long straight which you can really get up some speed on (me being on a 125, got up to a good speed of 72mph). No speed cameras mean that if you were on a big bike, you could probably push 100mph down there. It was pretty fun to have the bike on full throttle for once!

The road then goes back into a long, twisty, country road, this time with 2 lanes. It was fun to really push my little 125 to its limits. Leaning the bike right over in the corners gives you a massive confidence boost, so after each corner, I approach the next a little faster than I normally would. That is one thing that the CBF is good at... despite the stupidly skinny tires, you can get some serious lean in the corners.

I pull up at the Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor's Centre for a quick rest up and to take a couple of photos before heading home. Overall, a very good novice ride. If you're looking for nice wide corners on quiet country lanes, then Hanningfield is the place to be, at least in South Essex.

Total Distance (Including traveling from and to): 48 Miles.