London Bridge at 08:48 - meet Trevor Hughes by the ticket office to get the 09:08 service to Pluckley - ETA 10:18

Or meet Andrew Fergar on Bromley South Station Forecourt at 08:45 for the09;02 to Orpington - where we change onto the train that our London Bridge contingent will already be on .

Ride details ...30 miles overall distance with 1051 foot of ascent and descent .

The only notable climbs on this ride are at the rides's start as we swing around the village of Pluckley ...and once we get to Egerton then there's a rather splendid bit of downhill ......villages passed through include Headcorn , & Hawkenbury ...before we get to the Bell & Jorrocks at Frittenden for a bite to eat and bit of rural atmosphere ...

Post lunch there's it's a splendid level(ish) ride back to Pluckley Station ...taking ion the extremely interesting village of Smarden en route ...I really savour the look of the place ...with all it's rustic charm .

This ride is one that pretty much anyone who's reasonably fit could manage

Report .

photos by Ian P
photos by Ian A
photos by Katie

At London Bridge – Catherine, Ian P, Jan, Tom, Trevor. At Bromley South – Captain Andrew, Burak, Katie boarded the train to Orpington where, after the train doors nearly took me and my bicycle apart, we joined Andy, Ian, Ibrahim. Last, but not least, we met up with Helen at Pluckley. Cue much 'aahhing' and 'oohing' at her fabulous tryke.

The sun shone upon us as we set off past that very old pub (The Dering?)at Pluckley and on towards Egerton. First impressions of the day was the wonderful birdsong and the great social element that a larger group of people brings, much quipping about the ongoing battle in mileage totals. Captain Andrew had also gone easy on us with less hillage than usual which was good, and we made excellent progress over the sometimes pot-holed roads.

The main highlight of the ride was lunch at the Bell and Jorrocks at Frittenden, which also has an active post office inside. The publicans are very easy-going and had kindly reserved some tables for us. The three ladies of the ride ended up on the same table, with a free spot available for any male to join us. Unfortunately Ibrahim had picked up a stool and naturally gravitated towards the male table where he was spotted and picked on mercilessly. He saw sense and sat down next to the ladies, where he chewed on his dry fruit as we devoured our lunch. After some jokes about how we should have a curtain between the sexes, a wary male (Ian) approached our table and sat down too.

After an hour in that wonderful pub we set off for the latter part of the ride, and were heading towards my favourite village in Kent – Smarden. Queen Bess was equally impressed with this place and during the 15th and 16th centuries many houses were built which forms the nucleus of the village. Andrew kindly gave us some time to be tourists and take lots of photos.

A few miles later we were back in Pluckley – most people got the train back, whilst 5 of us chose to cycle onto Tonbridge, and then the final 2 cycled towards the sunset in Orpington.

Many thanks to Andrew for leading such a fabulous ride and to everyone for a sociable pootle!

Katie Collis

supplemental

So the plan was after the 35 mile Pluckley circular we were to cycle on to Tonbridge with Helen, who has relatives living there, then on to Orpington and home (dinner was at 7pm). Volunteers were asked for to join myself, Helen and Andy.. 2 came forward, Katie and Tom.. so 5 of us for the onward journey.
We said our goodbyes to Andrew and the rest of the days riders and set for Tonbridge. No hanging about, we upped the cadence and pushed on West. Re-tracing some of the route we had travelled a few hours previous. It was a lovely afternoon, quite warm with the February sun & our fast work rate.
We were making good time so had a pit stop at Marden to take on snacks a water (and for a couple of us to take turns jumping into Helen's Trike to zoom around a car park (forgetting the laid back position would deposit any coins which one had in ones pocket being deposited on to the tarmac). On we cycled, this time non stop to Tonbridge, through small hamlets and villages. We missed the turning to bypass the very fast A228. No worries, we cycled carefully 200 yards along the pavement to get to the roundabout. At Tonbridge we said our goodbyes to Helen and her trike, and to Tom and Katie who decided to get the train back the last few miles. So it was now just me and Andy. We had to tackle the 4 miles climb over the Weald. It was a long and drawn out climb. Methinks it would have made Paul Taylor of Lewisham Cyclists parish very proud. It was hard work but we were rewarded with an equally long descent down into Sevenoaks and Riverhead and views of a most beautiful sunset. Over the M25, (Starhill Road and Knockholt climb?.. after Hildenborough?, no thanks, we took the easier option taking the relatively easier climb to Pollhill . Arriving at Orpington we had covered 77 miles for the day and the time was 6.45pm. So..we carried on. Down Orpington high street, dodging in and out all the funny, noisy, music blaring little hatchbacks cruising up and down, around the one way system and on to home. We had done it. 80 Miles exactly and home 7pm for a well deserved dinner. What a brilliant day's cycling.
Ian A.