Adventures on my bike
A club run to Four Elms. Only five of us this time. The weather had threatened showers but we managed to stay dry. Not too hilly, we managed 16.4 mph over the whole journey, although the return leg had a good average of 17.3, and over the last 16 miles we averaged 18 mph, so basically we got much faster towards the end!
I forgot to switch my Garmin on until about a mile into the journey, so it was just over 56 miles in all. Nice one.
Went for a ride with the Fairies again, this time to Burwash. There were about 9 or 10 of us riding, and again the weather was superb – mainly sunny and not too hot. The main topic of conversation seemed to be last week’s ride to Medway Bridge, which I had missed. In particular, talk centred around tales of angst regarding Lockyers Hill, near Luddesdown. It is one of the few ‘double-chevron’ hills around here, boasting a gradient, according to the sign, of 25%. Damn! I wish I hadn’t missed that one. I’ll have to plan a route there myself.
We had a coffee (plus poached egg on toast) break in a nice café in Burwash called the Lime Tree Tea Rooms. Luckily we could park all our bikes down the side alley.
It was a fairly hilly route except for the bits near Marden. 52 miles at 14.4 mph.
I went for my third club run with the San Fairy Ann (SFA) cycling club. The day started off cloudy and cool, but by the time we got to Rye Harbour it was 25°C with a cloudless sky. Thankfully the temperature and the average speed were lower than on last week’s ride. There were five of us riding down to Rye and we met another rider there, so there were six of us on the way back. I got to meet a couple more members of the group. In fact I’m the only rider who has been consistently for the past three runs – not bad for a non-member!
We averaged 16 mph on the way down there. The route consisted mainly of quiet country lanes and a couple of steep (15%) descents, one of which had a dangerously tight bend halfway down. I wasn’t looking forward to climbing these hills on the return journey – luckily we came back using a different route! Rye Harbour wasn’t as characterful as I had imagined – in fact it was really just a place for people to launch their boats. We sat outside a café in the sunshine, sharing the available tables with some other bikers; when I say ‘bikers’ I mean the sort with leather jackets, beards, tattoos and Harleys, in somewhat stark contrast to us in our colourful lycra and silly cycling shoes. Luckily there wasn’t a stand-off!
The route back was less lumpy and started off dead flat as it followed the Military Canal for about 6 miles to Appledore. Quite a bit of the ride back was on busier roads, which are not as enjoyable as the lanes, but you do tend to get further, quicker. We averaged 15.4 mph back to Marden and had covered 58 miles in total. All in all this was a much easier ride than last week’s, and I had survived on just the piece of flapjack that I’d had at the café!
I went on another club run with the San Fairy Ann CC. This time I drove to Marden with the bike in the car. And I’m glad I did. The only stats you need to describe this ride are:
29°C+
56 miles
16.8 mph avg.
Very hot and sweaty!
I still enjoyed it though. The pace was fast considering the temperature, but it was a flat route. Stopped at a cafe in Wye for coffee. There were eight riders today so I got a chance to meet more of the group.
Today I went for a ride with four other cyclists from the San Fairy Ann CC, a well-established cycling club based in Maidstone. It’s the first time I have done a ‘club run’ since I was a boy. I cycled down to Marden and met the other guys there for 9 AM. The weather was very hot – 28°C, with a light breeze. This was the route:
Chatting as we rode I soon re-learned the etiquette of group riding. We travelled through some glorious countryside and wooded areas as we headed for a garden centre in Crowborough, where we stopped for a coffee. By the time we got there I was dripping, due to a combination of the lumpy ride and the heat. I enjoyed a toasted tea cake while others had a more substantial snack. The other guys were all experienced cyclists and had racked up various major achievements between them including JOGLE, London-Cannes, etc.
For this ride I did actually manage to pace my drinking correctly and I had drunk both bidons by the time I got home. Apart from the tea cake all I had to eat were two fig rolls and about 5 JBs. I found this ride to be tougher than I had expected. I peeled off before the end of the trip and took a less-than-optimal route back from Horsmonden, costing me a couple of extra miles. It would have been a lot easier if I had driven to Marden, thus avoiding Barn Hill on the return.
It was a nice ride through beautiful rolling countryside on a sunny day, in good company – what more could you want?
…except to then be able to watch one of the most exciting tennis matches I’ve seen, as Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic in the Men’s Final at Wimbledon!
