Romford to Whitstable 16th March 2010 via bloody everywhere as I was constantly lost!

Not done much riding over our awful winter we've had other than a 2.2 mile to and from work (even that stopped during the few weeks of constant rain) and riding about at work. Oh and the Romford to Rochester ride. So with not much riding done for a while, I was apprehensive about my fitness and whether or not I could reach Whitstable. At the least its warmed up a bit and the sun is out!
I set off at 0930 hours on Monday the 16th March 2010 and made my way through Romford, Hornchurch, Rainham and onto Thurrock where I went all over the place trying to find the road up to the QE II bridge at Dartford (including through a industrial estate and found myself on Lakeside retail park!!)
I eventually found the road and made my way to the control booth at the bridge, where I put my bike on the back of a truck and was taken across the bridge to Kent.
I made my along the road heading towards Bluewater and then into Greenhithe, Swanscombe,Northfleet and then into Gravesend.
Then this was where I got lost, trying to make my way to Rochester, whilst trying to avoid the A226. I ended up on an Industrial estate by the water and had to turn around and go back a couple of miles the way I came. I ended up having to use the A226 through Shorne ,Higham and then into Rochester.
Once in Rochester I became lost again trying to find my way into Chatham, Gillingham and the road out heading towards Sittingbourne whilst trying to avoid the A2. I eventually found the road out after having to backtrack a little and made my way into Rainham Kent and the road to Upchurch.
I stopped by Upchurch church a 14th century church. The church is also notable for its very unusual 'candle-snuffer' steeple: an octagonal pyramid appears to have been stacked on top of a square one as if they were a couple of inverted ice-cream cones.

From here I made another big mistake on navigation and turned left instead of right! I ended up going through Lower Halstow and into Iwade! and thinking what the hell am I doing by the water , I shouldn't be anywhere near the water!! lol After a correction I made my way through Kemsley and into Sittingbourne. Sittingbourne what a crap-hole, couldn't to get out of here ASAP!!! I was through the industrial estate and onto Murston and Tonge. I stopped by an old mill a few miles outside of Faversham.

Once in Faversham I passed by the Shepherd Neame Brewery founded in 1698 and stopped briefly by the St Mary of Charity, Faversham Parish Church ..

I then made my way on to Goodnestone, Graveney and then into Seasalter.

I have many memories here from when I was a kid as my Nan had a caravan here on the Blue anchor site which sadly has now closed although the pub is still open. My legs started to really give me problems about now and I thought they were going to cramp up, I walked a small stretch along joy lane to rest them, I was also seriously out of energy!!.

I eventually made it to Whitstable after 5 and a half hours riding and 69 miles, I had a well earned lager and a jacket potato with beans to restore some energy.

I then made my way home via train which took 2 and a half hours!! train to London Victoria, Tube to Liverpool Street and then a train home to Romford and a short ride home. Got home just gone 2000 hours. What a long day and to make things worse my phone went dead in Whitstable !! think that was down to constant use of GPS on the phone and taking photos!!

Looks like it may be time to think about a GPS for the bike!!

Romford to Rochester Kent 1st February 2010

This is my first longish bike ride for a while and a first on my new Fuji Newest 1.0 road bike.
I set off on Monday 1st Feb 2010 from Romford and headed off towards Rainham and onto Tilbury via Grays etc.
Once in Tilbury I paid my £3 fee for the Tilbury to Gravesend ferry and boarded the boat.

Once I disembarked at Gravesend I made my way to Rochester via Higham, Strood on the A226 etc...

I stopped off at the Rochester Vistor centre and took a few photos, they had a sign digital sign outside with a countdown to the 2012 Olympics. I then visted the Rochester Castle and Cathedral before making my way to Strood Railway station as I needed to be back home quickish.

I paid £8.40 for a ticket to Woolwich Arsenal, once there I made my way back home via the Woolwich Ferry to North Woolwich, onto Beckton,East Ham,Barking and onwards to Romford. Total riding mileage 45 miles.
Good ride even though it was cold :)

FNRttC (Friday Night Ride To The Coast) Whitstable 4th September 2009

On the 4th of September 2009 I made my way to Hyde Park Corner London for the Midnight Start time where I met up with about another 70 riders from Cycle chat, YACF forums and a few CTC members. Our destination was Whitstable Kent about a 69 mile ride.




We set off making our way past Buckingham Palace down Birdcage Walk onto Parliament Square and out onto the embankment crossing the Thames via London Bridge. We made our way along South of the river up to Woolwich and then onto Dartford, Crayford and past Bluewater. We then passed through Gravesend (which looked so much better in the dark lol).
We continued on until we reached Rochester at about 4am for a bacon buttie and a coffee at Andys Cafe which was much needed after a few hours riding. The Medway looked lovely at this time of night.


We set off again and made our way through Upchurch,Sittingbourne and onto Faversham where we passed the Shepherd Neame Brewery. This will need another trip sometime for a visit when its open.By this time it was dawn and a beautiful sunrise was seen over the Kent countyside.







We passed by loads of orchards and saw hops being picked and harvested. We then stopped briefly at a stone church in Faversham for us all to re-group.

From here we were told it's only 6 miles onto Whitstable and everyone made their way at variable speeds. We passed through Seasalter which bought back loads of memories from my childhood going past The blue Anchor caravan site which has sadly now closed, ontp Joy Lane and left and a downhill stretch into Whitstable for Breakfast at The Waterside Cafe.









After a time we left passing back through Whitstable High Street and onto the station home.
I had trouble staying awake on the train as I had been up for 32 hours and had a total of 87 miles for the day. My best yet.




More photos click here...........

Video here

BHF London To Brighton Bike ride 2009

We did it!!!

On the day I woke EARLY and waited for Dave and his family to arrive to take us to the start-line at Clapham common. We were driven to Clapham common and we started off towards to the start line ,when Dave was called back to sort out his car that wouldn't start. Thankfully the car was sorted as this was our way back from Brighton lol.

Anway we waited a short while to get through the Start and on our way............




We set off through London, I didn't recognize anything as I'm not familiar with this side of the river. However the roads were quite packed as the ride hadn't had a chance to thin out yet.



We rode along and had a few stops to refill out water bottles and to see to calls of nature. At almost all the hills required having to queue to get up the hill and had to walk the bike up which was rather disappointing.

How many hard hills, I'd say just two that I can remember ...Turners Hill....not too bad but not a breeze either...was going to have a rest at the top but again the place was heaving and we decided to carry on to the next pit stop where it was quieter....and of course Ditchling Beacon I only managed about half way up before giving in, but Dave managed it all the way to the top...Well Done!! :)






From the top of the Beacon was a quick downhill into Brighton I managed about 29 MPH down the beacon. We rode along Maderia Drive to the finish line and to collect our medals and meet our family and friends there to meet us. It was a great achievement and all for a worth while cause.
We spent a while in Brighton having fish and chips and a much needed beer or two.
Thanks to everyone's sponsors and support and a special thank you to dace wifes for the ferrying us to and from......


View from top of Ditchling Beacon


The only bad points to mention were the over subscribed ride (27,000) which meant having to queue for the hills that was a grind and a few peoples level of riding, I saw a few accidents where people had stopped suddenly on a downhill stretch with high speed cyclists coming up from behind ..ouch!! These were only a minor points to a very memorable and pleasant day.








We were then taken home , very happy but knackered.