In Praise of Essex Part 8 – Searching for mountains in God’s own county

Essex is not exactly known for its soaring ice-capped, peaks. Let’s face it in a county where the highest point above sea level is just 480 feet (not quite 150m), local mountaineers are more likely to be found scaling the north face of the molehill.... It seems a little odd, therefore, that Essex has been chosen to host the mountain biking event when the Olympics come to London in 2012.

As I write, mountain bikers are scouring Essex for a suitable venue after the one chosen by organisers of the London Games was deemed too flat. A site inspection team from the International Cycling Federation ruled out the 500-acre Weald Country Park, which they say is not challenging enough for the world’s best riders.

Epping Forest is a possible alternative. London Olympic organisers want to keep the event in Essex. They had previously ruled out the Chilterns for being too far from the Olympic Park in East London. This may be a bit difficult as experts in the sport say that the minimum requirement is for a height difference of about 300 metres from the lowest to the highest point of the course.

Hmm, perhaps some of the billions being spent on the 2012 Olympics may be needed to raise the height of God’s own county....