Author Topic: Crab & Winkle Way  (Read 6062 times)

Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #50 on: 27 June, 2021, 10:23:58 pm »
Indeed. That was a ride strong on things to see. The inside of the Arsenal (last viewed by me in 1985), a fascinating route out of London, Chatham Castle, a murmuration of starlings around the gasometer, the noisiest frogs I've ever encountered in the UK, the submarine, the Sikh temple, Harmer Street in Gravesend and great views of the estuary. Oh yes, and a full moon (which isn't always a given).
Rust never sleeps

Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #51 on: 28 June, 2021, 05:57:29 am »
Did you use the canal path to leave Gravesend? Or did you go by road?

Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #52 on: 28 June, 2021, 10:13:47 am »
Don't recall any canalside. Up the main drag and left at the clock tower.
Rust never sleeps

Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #53 on: 28 June, 2021, 11:33:42 am »
No canal then. The canal follows the path of the railway or, more to the point, the railway follows the path of the canal which is home to North American bullfrogs which make a raucous din when they're having a sexy time.

Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #54 on: 28 June, 2021, 11:39:20 am »
Oh. We had the raucous frogs, that's for sure. I just don't recall that being 'not a road'.
Rust never sleeps

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #55 on: 28 June, 2021, 11:57:03 am »
According to m'colleague Martin's strava log, you went via the main road to Higham rather than along the canal path.

I've never done the canal path. What's the surface like? I don't go out that way often but I must try it some time. Lower Higham Rd is fine at night but can be a bit hairy during the day. Local drivers. Pah!

The FNRttC route to Whitstable seems to have evolved quite a bit in the several years since I last did it.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #56 on: 28 June, 2021, 12:10:17 pm »
Last time I did the canal path it was just about do-able on 23s- but I've not been down there for so long it is fairly meaningless.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #57 on: 28 June, 2021, 12:22:40 pm »
The last time I did it, the canal path surface was similar to the C&W - fine on touring tyres, and mostly doable on road tyres, apart from the odd dodgy bit.  Some of the undergrowth was getting marginal, and those who didn't have mudguards had to stop to pick bits of squished slug out of their front derailleurs.   :hand:

I think there were a couple of Silly Sustrans Gates™ that were a right pain for those of a flat-barred persuasion.

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #58 on: 28 June, 2021, 03:32:18 pm »
The only time I did the canal path it was fine (but then I ride with the Surrey and Sussex chapter of the Tandem Club, where COR on MIB is de riguer). I think Leggy raised an eyebrow at the surface. Jurek, elsewhere, in the Where The Wild Things are section, you can find a link to a recording of the frogs we encountered. Adrian reckoned they were American Bull Frogs , but then he has strange ideas about the steeple at Upchurch too. Croft, OTP, says they’re Marsh Frogs and the certainly sound like them.
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #59 on: 28 June, 2021, 03:43:00 pm »
I think there were a couple of Silly Sustrans Gates™ that were a right pain for those of a flat-barred persuasion.

Aye, you can just about make them out through the foliage on Street View.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Crab & Winkle Way
« Reply #60 on: 29 June, 2021, 11:13:38 am »
I think there were a couple of Silly Sustrans Gates™ that were a right pain for those of a flat-barred persuasion.

Aye, you can just about make them out through the foliage on Street View.
Just outside that first bungalow at the eastern end of the canal path is a good place for picking wild rocket leaves. I've managed to grab a few pretty much every time I've passed there.
Cheryl, partner of the late, great Barry Mason pointed them out to me on my very first ride to Whitstable. Over supper in The Duke of Cumberland later that evening she pulled them from her pannier and tossed them over her meal.

<snip> Adrian reckoned they were American Bull Frogs , <snip>
I think Adrian may've been correct historically. However, as American Bullfrogs are very damaging to other wildlife and their environment, proactive efforts are made to eradicate them. Which, I suspect, is what has happened here.