A circular route starting at Ashford going south through Tenterden to Rye (dinner in a pub or fish and chips), skirting Romney Marshes and north through Appledore and back to Ashford.

This year's ride is longer than the one we did last year as we dip down to the coast between Fairlight Cove and Winchelsea Beach.

The ride can be cut short either at Rye, 40 miles or Appledore, 48 miles.

Last year's ride photos

This ride is entirely on roads and should be suitable for all bikes.

Report

There were 7 of us at London Bridge and 3 met us at Ashford.
The riders were Jane, Ruth, Kay-E, Ian, Tim, Samantha, Jez, Roy, Andrew and Trevor.

Out of Ashford we had a quick light shower which lasted less than 5 minutes and most didn’t bother donning waterproofs. This was the only rain all day; it was the wind was going to be the main weather factor today. I’m not sure how strong it was but on our way out it was in our faces and almost an ordeal.

The biggest challenge was for Jez who had come up from Brighton for the day and hired a bike from gopedal.co.uk. Unfortunately the bike was very heavy and only having 3 gears was unsuitable for the ride today which was over rolling country, no huge hills, nothing over 250 feet but totalling over 3000 feet of climbing and that was predominately between the 10 and 30 mile points.

The bike from gopedal which is really suitable for city and flat riding, see the photos, cost £32 for the day with a £150 deposit and was delivered to Jez at London Bridge.

Jez, Samantha and Roy left us at Peasmarsh to take the direct route to Rye.

Riding into the wind was slow going and when we got to Brede we had lunch at the Red Lion at about 2pm. Tim left us after lunch to make his own way to Rye because he needed to get back to London earlyish.
As usual the steepest hill of the day was just after lunch – there was a 1in5 just past Doleham Station that let you know you had eaten too much.

The road continued to roll until we hit the coast at Fairlight Cove. The sea was hidden from view behind the flood defences so we spent 5 minutes on the wall getting a look at the Channel.
All of a sudden the riding was so easy, we’d turned eastwards and northwards, the wind was behind us and cycling at speeds between 20 and 30mph was a breeze.

Through Winchelsea and we took the cycle route that goes along the 1066 Country Walk which saved us having to up another 1in5. Through Rye and up the side of the Royal Military Canal that borders Romney Marsh. Our 20mph+ was made to seem sedentary as a lycra clad roady blasted by.

At Appledore we said goodbye to Andrew and Trevor as they departed for planned session at the Black Lion.

For the four of us that were left the miles continued to zip by and we were back in Ashford at 17:15 and we were straight onto the train which was waiting on the platform with 2 minutes to spare. Kay-E managed to miss the train by opting for refreshments at the platform café.

It should be noted that the service to Ashford took 15 minutes longer than advertised because the train was taking a different route than usual due to engineering works between Sevenoaks and Tonbridge.

Stats
58.6 miles
3030 feet of climbing
6hrs 45mins total
12.2mph moving
10.0mph overall

photos

Ian Pendleton