Rainham to Upminster: Saturday Essex Adventure Ride

Overview

Our first Saturday Adventure Ride of 2026 takes us to the borders of East London & Essex. This is quite a short ride, with no significant gradients, so a great start for those who haven’t done much cycling over the winter. Most of the route is traffic-free, as we explore several country park and nature reserve areas. We will be going at an easy pace, with plenty of time to look around. We will be riding on shared paths, some sections of which might be muddy if we have had wet weather.

The Ride

From Rainham station, we have a short ride to the shared path along the Thames estuary. We will stop to admire the Diver sculpture https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-diver-regeneration-312325 and a line of oddly humorous gravestones, before reaching the RSPB Visitor Centre on Rainham Marshes https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/rainham-marshes , where we will have a brief pause.

Riding on, we turn inland, mainly following the route of the London Loop. We explore a green chain of country parks on former industrial sites, linked to one another with short stretches of shared path alongside major roads. We will find horses grazing under a motorway flyover and wildlife enjoying the conservation areas.

We will have a refreshment stop at the Ingrebourne Valley Visitor Centre https://www.essexwt.org.uk/nature-reserves/ingrebourne-valley , before riding into Upminster, with a brief pause to look at the windmill https://www.upminsterwindmill.org/ , before reaching the station.

Travel Arrangements

Our outward and return journeys are both on the C2C rail service from London Fenchurch Street https://www.c2c-online.co.uk/ . Contactless and Oyster are valid for the whole journey, so you do not need to buy any tickets in advance. Bike reservations are not required.

Outward Journey
We will take the 10.07am departure, reaching Rainham at 10.31am. To get to Fenchurch Street, you can take the Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street, from where it is a short ride to Fenchurch Street. It is also a short distance from Aldgate. Please note that you will need the main station entrance on Fenchurch Place for lift access to the station concourse.

Return Journey
There are C2C services from Upminster to Fenchurch Street every 10-12 mins, journey time 24 mins. You could also take the slower District Line from Upminster to Whitechapel, then change onto the Elizabeth Line.

Easy-going train-assisted ride, along the Thames estuary and through country parks.

Mostly off-road, shared paths, some potentially muddy areas; some short sections on shared paths alongside busy roads.

Stops to view sights of interest. Refreshment stop at Ingrebourne Valley Visitor Centre.

Contactless card or Oyster for train journeys. Money/card for cafe stop. Water/snacks; maybe bring your own lunch as cafe has a limited range of food. Lock for your bike.

First-timers welcome!