Berries, beaches, and bikes: A ride around Kent

It's that time of year when good-weather riding days demand to be taken advantage of, as you never know which one could be your last for a long while.

A couple of weeks ago the forecast called for sunny skies and nice temperatures so we decided to head out and try another of the routes from the Lost Lanes book. After spending the previous few weeks looking longingly at the wild blackberries that seem to grow all over England's country lanes, we brought some tupperwares along this time. It turned out to be a great decision and a great ride.

Hyde Park in the early morning

We took the train to Canterbury where we set out to do the Crab and Winkle route from the book. We decided to ride it in reverse so as to be in Whitstable for lunch time, as we have a good friend there who we could visit with.

Cycling through a quiet Canterbury on a Sunday morning

We were barely 500m from the station when Alberto noticed a problem with his chain. He had changed the chain recently but had routed it wrongly through the derailleur. We hadn't brought all the proper tools given that it was only a 50km ride but we had enough to make it work, so after about 15 minutes we were on our way again.

Densely leaved lanes

The route took us out of Canterbury on bike paths and then onto country lanes. The sun was shining, the roads were quiet -- it was one of those days where you want to give the inventors of the bicycle a big hug.

Kentish sunshine

There weren't as many berries around as on previous trips, perhaps because we were in a different area or because it is later in the season. But we soon found enough to fill two large tupperwares. As we smugly picked berries on the side of the road I could see people passing cars filled with jealousy.

Roadside picking

The route was truly lovely and we soon reached the beach at Reculver. From there we cycled along the coastal path to Whitstable. The first section was truly excellent a lovely grassy hill above the sea. As we hit Herne Bay things got a bit more built up and the final section into Whitstable was along a promenade of sorts - nice views but with a lot of people to dodge and plenty of bumps in the pavement. Still it was lovely to feel like we were squeezing the last bits of summer out of the year by going to the beach.

First sight of the sea

We arrived in Whitstable at about 1pm and met up with our friend Carol for a quick lunch at her place and a coffee and freshly made donut by the beach. Then it was time to head for our train. Here we diverted from the last bit of the book's route (the Crab and Winkle Way, a disused railway line that heads all the way to Canterbury) and took the roads to the train station in Faversham in order to save time.

Whitstable

We got home and got to baking our blackberry cake and drinking our blackberry smoothies. A perfect way to extend our enjoyment of the ride into the week.

Ride report: The (artic) Man of Kent 200 audax

We are touring the Northwest of Scotland at the moment, but I managed to finish a report on my latest audax, just before setting off for Easter.

RRTY may not mean anything to you, but for the UK audax community those four letters certainly have some significance. When I finished my first Super Randonneur series last year, I thought it would give this other challenge a go. Basically, do a 200 km ride (or more!) every month, throughout the year.

I have somehow managed to keep it going, and so far it has been relatively easy. January was a funny month though, and I almost just about missed my opportunity to do one of these rides with the snow storms we got back then. Eventually I got one such ride in by the end of the month, and followed that by The Man of Kent permanent audax in early February. All good I thought - it should only get easier from now on, more daylight and warmer temperatures as we get into the spring.

For us Spaniards, the UK does not really have more than two seasons. Winter and autumn. Yet I always have hope that spring would come in March. Last year I rode the Dean 300 in just over 15 hours, 20 degrees and sunshine. But that was too much to ask for two years in a row. My plans to ride the Dean this year were made last minute, and got totally ruined came Friday, when almost all of us did not bother going to Oxford with the forecast of heavy snow and artic winds blowing from the East. As I type this, I found out only two intrepid riders finished in what was an epic ride for them.

Somewhere between Hythe and Ashford. There has been some serious snow falling here!

In addition, we also DNFed a 200 km ride in the Uts, again due to crap weather and a late start. With the Dean out of the equation, and the end of March approaching fast, I had not much choice left. With another guy we decided to ride the Man of Kent permanent, as the snow wasn't forecasted as far south as Kent. So with my first DNS of the season, the Dean, I went to bed with the alarm set for 6 am and the tourer ready for a potential day in sleet or even snow.

At 6 am I woke up to heavy snow in London. It was not sticking though, but the prospects of high winds/snow/ice for 11 hours did not appeal much and I had my second DNS of the day. That doesn't happen often...two DNS rides on the same day! My companion did manage to get to the start of the ride, but ended up bailing due to knee problems. However, he reported clear roads, which was gave me some encouragement.

Appropriately named pub

After a productive Saturday morning building Lucy's new tourer, I planned to attempt the Man of Kent again on Monday. The forecast wasn't great, but at least did not show snow. The temperatures wouldn't rise above 3 degrees C in the whole day, and the wind would blow from the East with gusts up 40 mph in the Sandwich area.

Monday 7:40 am and I found my way (wearing lycra) through the commuters getting into London. The start of the ride was unpleasant as ever, with all the morning traffic in Tonbridge, but I was soon out on the lanes and enjoying being back in audax mode.

The first leg of almost 40 km went to Charing. It was not particularly lumpy, but it had me on my lower ring a few times due to the high winds. I made slowish progress, with averages not above 22 kph, and got to the village shop shortly after 10:30 am. Two clementines were quickly eaten and I was soon on my way to the next control at Bridge. Earlier reports from other riders, who rode the calendar event on the Sunday, reported no signs of ice, and I was happy to confirm that the roads were pretty clear and were drying out nicely.

First control stop, at Charing

The traffic was very light. This is the first time in a long while that I've got the chance of riding on a work day, and you can really feel there's not much on the roads except white delivery vans and postmen. The Charing to Bridge section is lumpier than I would have liked, and with strong headwinds, I had a miserable time going up the hills. My hands and face were freezing cold, despite wearing a full winter kit. I did not remember being that cold ever on a ride - with the wind chill it really felt like -5 degrees if not less.

Progress was rather slow also, struggling up every single hill against the wind. I wish I had someone to share the winds with, but this time I was solo. With the hopes of getting a tailwind once I hit Sandwich, I just put my head down and carried on to Bridge. At the local convenience store, I bought yet more junk food as proof of passage, made some quick chat with the cashier, who suggested I ride fast to compensate for the cold temperatures, and left as quick as possible.

Nice quiet lanes on the way to Sandwich

Bridge to Sandwich is a nice section, a little rolling and with some fine vistas over the Downs. Once I got to Sandwich, which I keep telling to myself I should visit in less of an audax-rush, I got my ATM receipt and eagerly headed back into a gentle tailwind. It really felt the same as in February, with similar temperatures, more wind, and a little quieter being a working day.

I was soon rolling at over 35 kph with the help of the artic wind. The roads to Hythe, the next control, are really nice, wider than the usual, and very fast rolling. In no time I went past Sandling station and headed down to Hythe for yet another ATM receipt. As I did in February, I stopped at the conveniently located Station restaurant. This is a café that has not evolved in the last 30 years, surely. Not very exciting food-wise, but still, beans/egg on toast appealed. The smell of the place reminded me of my grandparents house, for some reason, and although the food is not great, I kinda like the feel of the place.

Staple UK cyclist diet

With a fuller belly, I headed back up the hill and onto Ashford. The views on this section are rather nice if you look backwards, towards the open sea. The roads too were nice, quiet and totally dry, except that this time there were tons of snow on the edges. With the tailwind and sunny spells, I even felt a bit warm at times, which was most welcome.

At Ashford, I quickly obtained my receipt, ate a bit of my sandwich, and pressed on to Headcorn. Again, quiet and fast roads made for a very enjoyable ride. The sun was starting to fade, but I decided not to turn into night mode just yet, as this was only a short 18 km pootle to the last control.

Headcorn was busy with commuters, and so I took it easy while munching on some crisps at the garage. Reported back to Lucy saying I was about the enter the last stage - which felt good. It had been a difficult month audax-wise, and I was happy to see I was about to finish this ride.

Heading back to Headcorn

Setting off from Headcorn I was wind-assisted all the way West to Tonbridge. It then got dark, so I turned all my lights on and put on some reflective clothing. I took it rather easy from here on, just trying to savour the last 30 km or so, through literally empty back roads. As I approached Tonbridge, the traffic got a lot heavier, and being completely dark, it was rather unpleasant as you get hit straight in the eye by powerful car lights.

Shortly after 7:30 pm I pulled into the final control, got my receipt and jumped on a train back to the Smoke. I had completed the ride in just under 11 hours, which given my lack of fitness due to recent crap weather, and the headwinds on the first half of the ride, was not too bad. Also, this permanent has 7 controls, which makes it inevitable to waste more time than I would like, but then again, on a cold day like today it was most welcome to stop and have a little rest.

I only hope the next two months left to complete my first full year of one audax per month are a bit easier...!

Our own "The Hell of the Ashdown"

 As some of you may already know, Lucy and I are not big fan of sportives, that is, rides that you pay (usually lots!) for in exchange of a pre-determined route and occasionally some feeds.

But, they do have their advantages, granted. The routes they usually take are well thought out, and involve going through scenic bits of this island. The Hell of the Ashdown is one such sportive that I've been wanting to ride for quite a while, just not with hundreds more of other cyclists (and without paying the hefty fee!).

March continues to be a cold month, much more than last year, where we were already cycling in shorts on a number of days. The forecast was not too bad though, just above freezing, but no rain and even some sun towards the end of the day. After a bit of fiddling with the official 2013 route, we took a train that dropped us to the south of Orpington, near the North Downs.

This ride promised to be on the hilly side of things, yet nothing too challenging nor Pyrinean, we hoped. With just over 1900 m of climb it would just be rolling terrain throughout.

Departing from Chelsfield was uneventful and quiet, yet climbing up gently for the first 15 km or so. Not sure why, but I felt super weak here, started to overheat and feared something was wrong. Perhaps too much clothing? not enough breakfast? I never knew, but just kept on drinking a bit of water, taking it easy on the hills (even for Lucy, that is!).

We soon went over the M25 and into the North Downs, with its continuous up and downs to keep things a bit interesting. I began to feel ok again, and carried on towards the Ashdown Forest without delay. 

Kent - The garden of England (not surprisingly!)

Quiet roads

 We had seen plenty of cyclists up until now, a good number of them from London-based clubs. Despite the fact that it seems to be a popular area for cycling, Lucy remained the only woman on two wheels we saw that day. Perhaps there's a reason behind it?

Lucy's feet were feeling too cold, even colder than usual. Her combination of two pair of socks (thick merino plus waterproof sealskins) did not seem to be working that well. One explanation she came up with had to do with her circulation being somewhat restricted by the tightness of wearing two socks and the cycling shoes? Whatever it was, she was not feeling too comfortable, so we looked around for somewhere hot to stop for a few seconds.

In Ashdown Forest

Not many places appear on the road when you most need them, but a quick stop in an off-license seemed to do the trick - for a little while. We then pressed on to the end, enjoying the fine views from the Ashdown and further on back on to the North Downs. Light was fading at this point, which gave us an opportunity to snap a few pictures along the Bough Beach reservoir.

Bough Beach reservoir

The last few hills towards Orpington were the most notorious of the day, having me on my lowest cog and struggling a bit. I need to put in some good (hilly) miles before the big rides I have planned in April (Yr Elenidh and the Dorset Coast 200) and May (Bryan Chapman).

It had been a good route, with most sections with very little traffic, despite this being one of the busiest areas of the UK. We did not record the stats, but from memory, we just did under 20 km/h average, which for this  time of the year, the climb etc was not too bad.

Roll on March.

Ride report: The Man of Kent 200 km audax (permanent version)

We are still enjoying a reasonable window of warm weather (for February, that is!) and so I took advantage of it to get my February 200 km  ride in. The Man of Kent sounded like a good one to do: not hilly and most of it on quiet lanes, in Kent (duh!), an area we don't often travel to.



A short train ride dropped me in Tobridge, the start of the ride. Without delay, I got my ATM receipt and started the first leg of the audax: a 53 km flat pootle to an small town called Charing.

An scenic place to take the train from: Shard tower

The lanes were completely deserted and almost totally dry, which made for a nice few hours of quiet riding. I always find the first two hours of any audax somehow difficult, as the prospect of a long (winter) day on the bike does not sound too appealing. As I was on my own this time (Lucy's still opposed to riding long distances when is cold out and I did not fancy any of the calender events) I had to try and put all the bad thoughts off and get going with it.

Nice deserted roads at the start

My aim for this ride was to finish below the 10 hour mark, so since the beginning I tried not to waste time with unnecessary stops. Also, I intend to ride the notoriously hilly Bryan Chapman Memorial ride, a 600 km route that traverses Wales South-North twice. Any time not spent eating or riding is time wasted on sleep! I have to somehow maximise my time on the bike to then afford some time sleeping.

In Charing I struggle to find an ATM or anywhere to get a receipt from at first, so I retraced my steps to the village shop that was at the entrance of the town. Audaxing does weird things to your body and appetite, and at 9:35 am, I fancied a can of coke, an apple and a banana. 

The next control was only a mere 20 km further East, to a town called Bridge, to the south of Canterbury. The roads were still quiet, but the routesheet recommended taking the A252 towards Bridge, a potentially fast and busy road. There was an alternative, on the Faversham road and then lanes, so took that option instead. Just after Charing, I was confronted with the first hill of the day, which was most welcome given the cold.

Rolling hills ahead on the way to Bridge

As I was pedalling along a nice country lane, I spotted two cyclists that looked like potential audaxers out on a ride. The organiser of this ride had mentioned two other guys will be riding the event on the day as well, and that I might bump into them...I got excited to find some company so was quick to ask if they too were doing the "Man of Kent" ride. They seemed a bit confused for a second, surely, as they were not aware of the other rider (i.e. me!) doing the ride. But yes, those were the guys!

Despite the fact that I was keen to have some company for a while, they had started much later than me and only set off from Charing and somewhere else after that, so were in for a long day. They also seemed to be taking it easier than me, so I pressed on on my own after a short chat with them.

Quiet lanes to Sandwich

Sandwich was my next control in the east coast of Kent, which takes its name not for one of UK's favourite lunch, but from Danish "sand place or camp on a beach" or "near the mouth of the river". It's also a well known town within the Pharma world as it used to be Pfizer UK base and where Viagra was discovered, apparently.  The seafront did not seem that accessible unless I took a detour, plus it was quite windy, so decided against it. An old lady recommended it though, along with the trail that heads down to Hythe, so perhaps I will return here sometime in the future. 

Leaving Sandwich meant heavy cross-winds all the 20 km down to Hythe, my next control. Traffic was still light, so it did not matter that much, but it worried me on the leg back up to Tonbridge. The arrival into Hythe was rather nice, with some good views of the sea and a quick descent down the Hythe Downs to sea level.

People fishing at Hythe seafront

At Hythe I made a quick diversion to have a look at the sea. It always feels nice to sea the water, and actually, the place itself seemed more pleasant than the average English town in the South. I refuelled with a rather salty bacon sandwich and a tea on my way out of town. I was making good progress up until now, but it would all come to a halt soon.

Leaving Hythe implied hills, which were welcomed to warm up at first. Once on the flatter sections, the wind was quite strong, surely around 30 mph or more. Even on the flat, I had to make use of my small ring and it did fell like an uphill, all the way to Ashford, my next control. My average dropped dramatically and I sort of gave up completing the ride under 10 h.

Flooded fields

Approaching Ashford meant some heavier traffic, but I was soon done with the receipts and back on the lanes headed for Headcorn, my last control. The sun was starting to set at 4:30 pm which afforded some amazing colours in the horizon, and as always, this was the highlight of my riding day. By 5:00 pm I turned all my lights on and pressed on back towards Tonbridge.

This does not justice, but it really was one of my best sunsets while on the bike

The wind died down on the last 20 km of the ride, possibly helped by the forested areas I encountered before Tonbridge. The clouds looked threatening for quite a while - it looked like rain was imminent. Legs were still feeling good so kept the speed up to try and avoid the potential shower.

The famous Kent houses

Getting into Tonbridge was uneventful, except for the last bit of road B2017 with its evening traffic. Although it was not too heavy, it really is annoying to be hit by powerful car front lights coming towards you, leaving you partially blind for a few seconds.

I got my final receipt just a few minutes past 6 pm, which meant a ride of over 10 h, but not by a lot. I blame it to the strong winds coming from the north on the penultimate leg, and also, a lot of faffing looking for appropriate controls. I reckon I could easily do an under 10 h ride if on a group or on a calendar event with manned controls.

Big collection of receipts as proof of passage

All in all it had been a very pleasant ride that I highly recommend to do either as a permanent or as calendar event. Luckily, my February ride is now out the way, and do not need to worry about the coming bad weather. The stats were as below:

A loop in the December Sunshine

The start of December was pretty miserable but last weekend the forecast suddently turned. A positively tropical 9 C (48 F) and supposedly sunny skies drew us out on the bikes on Saturday. I hadn't been on a long ride in several weeks, and we wanted to sleep in a bit, so we needed a shorter route than usual.

Fortunately, Alberto had just been sent some rides to test as part of a forthcoming book of cycle routes, so we were able to select a 48km loop out of Sevenoaks which seemed to fit the bill.

We got a late start but  after a train from Charing Cross, we were on the road in Sevenoaks by 11am. We regretted our lie-in when we saw how busy the road out of Sevenoaks was, but soon we were on quiet country lanes and all was well.

Wintry lanes out of Sevenoak

We had to stop at every junction to note the instruction for the book - which slowed us down a bit but was fun in that it provided us with a sense of mission. Until it started raining at about km 15 -- that did take some of the fun out of it.

Infamous Yorks Hill (going downhill, the easy way!)

Weather turned a bit nasty...yet still warm

Surprisely though, with the warm temperatures, we were not too miserable. It felt like a Spring shower rather than a winter storm. It helped to know that we were on a relatively short ride, so there was no chance that we'd have to cope with several more hours of rain, which is usually the case.

Another advantage of a short ride is that we didn't really need to stop for food - some chocolate on the bikes was all we needed to hold us over.

The route was fantastic - mainly quiet country lanes but passing through some interesting small towns as well. Had we not been worried about daylight we could have had a really lovely day out sampling the various cafes on the road. There were enough hills to keep it interesting, but none that gave any real trouble, despite the fact that I was out of shape.

Quick stop to shelter from the rain 

Rain sheltering

I don't think there are too many more days like that in our immediate future so it was great to enjoy it while we could!

Deserted lanes

Taking notes on the route 

First Friday night ride of the year (to Ramsgate)

Things have been quite quiet in terms of riding at night. Well, that's not including that most days I ride to and back from work at night. But it is in London, so it does not count.

The Friday night ride to the coast (Fnrttc, Brits love their acronyms!) has been hibernating since December, when they rode to Southend. For us, our last ride with them was to Brighton back in September, and we have been looking forward to the next one ever since.

The first ride of the 2012 season was set to be an almost non-stop ride to Ramsgate, in the Southeast of England (in the Kent county). The distance to cover, over 80 miles, with a midnight departure from Hyde Park Corner (or HPC!) in Central London.



I got the bikes ready over the week: lights, batteries, back lights, tyres free of glass, working brakes, gears, warm clothes and all the usual tools, checked. Weather was supposed to be below 10C and misty. Not too bad for this time of the year, as long as there's no rain. Left work on the early side and got a 2.5 h siesta, which really made a difference! We did not manage to get any sleep prior to our night rides last year, meaning sleep deprivation sometime during the night. But this time it was awesome, felt so awake without the need of caffeine.  Siesta it is for all the future night rides!

Past 11 pm and we were on our way to HPC. Roads were relatively quiet from home, although the drunk crowd in Camden made us realise that it was a Friday night. On to Baker St, crossed Oxford St and more drunk folk, via Hyde Park cycle lanes and arrived by 11:45 pm at HPC. We checked in and without further delay we were off with 25 others.

It's normal for people to shout at us asking what the hell we are doing on a Friday night with all those stupidly bright lights and lycra. But this time it was a bunch of Spaniards that were asking each other "éstos están locos! dónde cojones van? deben de ser un club, joder, qué ganas!!! - these guys are mental, where the hell are they going to, they must be a club, what motivation!!!" I replied with a simple "vamos a la playa! - or we're going to the beach". They did not know what to reply. Moments after this encounter with Spanish fellows, we cycled literally cm past Javier Bardem as he walked on a zebra crossing in Green Park at that time of the night.

After a few more cheesy night clubs along the southeast of the river Thames, we got to Bexley and Dartford, none of which looked particularly nice at night. The route ran alongside the A2, with occasional visits to the actual highway. This was a completely new experience for us...but luckily being in a big group and at 2-3 am made things easier. The shoulder was massive, but still, lorries passing by at 60 mph was definitely not the most pleasant experience.

Regrouping at silly hours

We encountered some bumps on the way, which is always nice when is cold at night. I particularly enjoy the view of other bright lights coming up the hills while in the middle of the countryside.

One of the very few hills on the ride

Past 6 am and daylight was back. The final road into Ramsgate was probably one of the best bits of the whole ride, although the fog did not allow us to enjoy the promised vistas of the cliffs as you enter the town. Oh well, next time maybe?

Wide and flat roads, 7 am or so

Lucy's pressing on for a well-deserved brekkie!

Shortly after 8 am, we reached the cafe on the seafront. English breakfast, as is tradition in this latitudes, was eaten within minutes. Having sampled quite a few of these, I have to say this one scored amongst the top with probably the first ever sausage that I've actually enjoyed in such breakfast.

Some seasoned machacas always head back to central on the Saturday morning ride back to the smoke. I decided to join this time as I felt very awake and capable. However, 50 km into the ride I could not keep up  with the guys and the roads at this time were not particularly nice, so got on the first train from Faversham and was home at 1:30 pm for lunch.

Overall, it was great to be out on a night ride, despite the route not being our favourite, with little (if any!) countryside and fast roads. I managed to clock up 180 km for the day (or night), at an average of ~22 km/h, 60 km/h max speed and 7:30 h in the saddle.