With a Caterham start it was too good an opportunity to miss the chance of a ride to Kent.
Looking for inspiration, I went through some of the early rides recorded on my Garmin and found one entitled ‘Kent ride, Surrey hills on way back’ which I had ridden with Cheam & Morden in 2014. It was probably a bit long at 91 miles (Epsom to Epsom) but provided the basis for a ride with some tinkering on ride with gps. The route passed through villages and hamlets in Kent that I hadn’t seen in a long time and on the return journey dropped south again through Surrey. Conscious of the fact that some of the group already have a long journey to get to Caterham I decided that I could ditch some of the more familiar Surrey section but that the Kent section should stay.
Dave Vine kindly offered to sub lead and when doing his recce worked out a slightly shorter (but just as hilly) route which gave me the perfect opportunity to offer a choice of longer or shorter rides on the day. Mark G kindly offered to accompany me on my recce, much appreciated thank you Mark as it would have been a long way on my own!
The forecast was perfect: no rain, sunny but around 21 degrees maximum. The Westway Centre was open, our first day centre in quite a while, allowing both A and B groups to meet and sit in the sunshine before departing.
Dave’s group left first and here’s his report.
Ride Report – Shorter Ride
At 54 miles this doesn’t qualify as a short ride but it did incorporate most of Janice’s excellent original, and with the benefit of a 10am start was eminently do-able even at my gentle pace.
Our programmed group of 6 was depleted by indisposition and changing holiday arrangements. So only three of us left the Westway centre fortified by tea and fresh croissants; what an excellent start, thank you Westway. We were warned that we would be ambushed by David Ward on Botley Hill, and there he was, dressed all in black, easily mistaken for an 18c highwayman but for the absence of a flintlock pistol.
Unlike a highwayman, David was excellent and informative company to lunch, pointing out the old Crown pub in Knockholt, once a C&M destination, now a private house, but unmistakeably still a pub.
Janice’s group overtook us shortly before lunch, and arrived there just before us, in time to sort out all the arrangements, so we were all seated together on the terrace, swiftly served, and well looked after.
David left us after lunch for allotment duty, so we were now the core group of Sue Chasty and Sue Foster. We stopped to take in the view of Bough Beech Reservoir from Ide Hill, and saluted the B’s finishing lunch at The Cock.
I had inadvertently omitted to mention to my group that there was more climbing after lunch than before, so it was no surprise that there were calls for an early tea stop. We wasted time trying to extract refreshments from the Velo Barn Café which stops serving at 1pm, a strange way of doing business with thirsty customers on the doorstep, but these are strange times.
We had better luck inthe Flower Farm Shop café in Godstone, where we lingered in the sun and were well looked after. This really helped on the final three climbs, and we all agreed that the final climb up to Banstead was easier than we had anticipated.
Thank you Sue, Sue and David for your determination and good cheer throughout, all excellent company and a pleasure to ride with.
My group of 9 left at 10.15, a larger group size than has been usual in recent times. Conscious of feeling safer in smaller groups we agreed to split into 2 or 3 smaller groups where appropriate, or into 2 sub groups with Neil C also leading if need be.
The ride started easy enough with the usual descent to cross over the A22 and a short walk through a flat closed road after which the route was either up or down. Past Woldingham Golf Club, a left to Tatsfield and then the pretty villages of Knockholt, Knockholt Pound, Halstead, Shoreham (no sign of the sea though) Otford, Seal and finally Godden Green where we had lunch in the super efficient Bucks Head. We’d had several passable closed roads which meant little or no traffic but also a lovely country road spoiled as it was jammed with irate drivers, cars and lorries unable to pass.
After lunch we headed deeper into Kent riding through Plaxtol before turning East again. The hills kept coming as we toiled up Yorks Hill and then a long descent from the top Ide Hill, which of course meant we had to climb again to reach the Pilgrims Way. My group voted to keep going past Velo Barn cycling cafe (that was fortunate as reading Dave's ride report I now realise that it would have been closed) and also past cafes in Godstone; however, at Bletchingley we had a brief stop at the village store to top up water bottles and consume energy bars in preparation for the final couple of climbs to Banstead.
We arrived at Pistachio’s around 4.30 for much needed ice creams or cake (or both). I was pleased that everyone was still talking to me and seemed to have enjoyed the ride out to pastures new. My total miles and elevation for the day were overshadowed by several with top scores by Dave B and Ged both recording a whopping 95 miles and around 6,000 ft. A great achievement and memorable day for all, all done with a smile!
My thanks to Ged for backmarking, the group for corner marking and Neil for being assistant navigator!
https://www.relive.cc/view/vMq5WWrwz8O
No comments:
Post a Comment