Kent Corners200 / Kent Fruit & Veg 100 05/07/08

[nuttycyclist]

Chilli and Fruit Salad was great.

Full ride report to follow once I've thought about it.

Short version is :-
Hot.  A struggle to pedal.  Good ride.  Didn't see much scenery was focussed on staying conscious and not collapsing.

[Martin]

OK, I'm confused now...

Right. Just had another look at the draft timetable at southeasternrailway.co.uk and it seems there's going to be a service from St Pancras to Faversham (albeit not really a "high-speed" service because they're stuck behind the regular service for most of the route

I really should know more about this as a gricer but don't  ; I know that they can switch from HS1 to good old thid rail clickity clack at Ashford but I've not even checked the track layout at Ebbsflett so I assume there will only be one way off HS1 for the hybrid trains and there won't be any services via Rochester etc. The only high speed bit is from AI to SPA the rest is all normal line.

[citoyen]

I assume there will only be one way off HS1 for the hybrid trains and there won't be any services via Rochester etc. The only high speed bit is from AI to SPA the rest is all normal line.

Just looked on Google maps and there appears to be a new link section connecting the high-speed line to the the old Gravesend line between Ebbsfleet and Gravesend. According to the draft timetable, the Faversham service goes St Pancras-Stratford-Ebbsfleet-Gravesend-Higham-Strood-Rochester-Chatham-Gillingham-Rainham-Sittingbourne-Faversham - so only "high speed" for a small part of the route.

Sorry... weren't we talking about a bike ride?

d.

[nuttycyclist]

We could talk about that great big jet that took off 

[Martin]

We could talk about that great big jet that took off 

yeah much more interesting; I think it was a freighter

[Martin]

even more OT; streetmap shows the spur off HS1 onto the North Kent line as diverting off before Ebbsfleet Int; so how can they stop there?    will be doing it whatever as HS1 and Higham- Strood are the only bits of track in all of Kent I've never been on (not including joke preserved lines)

Streetmap - Homepage+[Station]&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf

[Martin]

just sent off my entry for the 200 (and also Tim's Hengist's Hills); one of the nicest rides of last year weatherwise (unless this Saturday's beats it)

any more for any more?
 

[aregister]

any more for any more?

Unfortunately, this falls on the holiest of holy days in the family calendar (wife's birthday) and I'm not allowed out on the bike.
So I'm doing the Bethersden 200 one week before.

[Martin]

going back OT to trains; will I be able to get a high speed Javelin train there?

[citoyen]

Yes - you can get the Ramsgate train that goes via Ashford. This is high-speed from St Pancras to Ashford and stops at Canterbury West (the 6.24 gets in at 7.39)

You could also get the Faversham train, which is only high-speed as far as Ebbsfleet, then switches over to the slow line. If you get that one, you have to change at Faversham for a train that goes to Canterbury East (get the 6.24 Faversham train from St Pancras to get to Canterbury East at 8.00).

It's a ~10min ride from either station to the start - if you like, I'll meet you at the station and ride over with you.

d.

[Martin]

a lovely ride again; the hilly bits are mostly confined to the Hythe to Dover stretch as per.

Citizen Smudge was on a flyer (or a promise) and I ate his dust at the first control and not thereafter. Rode with Ray Kelly of Willesden for the ride occasionally bumping into Phixie and Teapot. No heroics here just a ride round 200 to keep RRTY burning as my legs are still shot from the Pyrenees.

lots of GPS ECE today; about 11km extra around Smarden.

the bar at the hockey club was open at the end    and the Javelin was a quamtum leap from the normal train (clocked it at 228kph max)

[citoyen]

a lovely ride again; the hilly bits are mostly confined to the Hythe to Dover stretch as per.

Yes, lovely indeed. And a good turnout from Team AtoZ, who made up 15% of the field. 

I haven't done this ride for a couple of years but it's nice to be reminded of why I like it so much. The stretch down from Tenterden to Rye, over the Isle of Oxney, is particularly lovely. And the grind up from Newington is always worth it for the view over the Channel Tunnel terminal to the sea. Great weather for it, too.

I'm slightly bored of Romney Marsh now, though - five of the seven audaxes I've ridden this year have taken me across Romney Marsh one way or another. In fact, the Fairies 300 includes two crossings of Romney Marsh.

Citizen Smudge was on a flyer (or a promise)

How I wish it was the latter... 

Don't know what got into me, but I was really up for it. Didn't even feel like I was pushing that hard for most of the way round. And felt surprisingly fresh at the end. I don't think I'll be making a habit of riding like that, but it's nice to know I can do a 9hr 200 when conditions are right.

lots of GPS ECE today; about 11km extra around Smarden.

What happened? I know there are a few tricky turnings round that area, but how do you manage to go off course when you're following a GPS? 

the bar at the hockey club was open at the end    and the Javelin was a quantum leap from the normal train (clocked it at 228kph max)

There are a few decent watering holes nearby and had the ride panned out differently, I might have suggested stopping off at the excellent Fordwich Arms for a pint of Harveys. Maybe next time.

As it was, since I got back to base so early, I thought I'd better get home to look after my wife, who now has the cold that I picked up last week. Felt a bit guilty about that. 

d.

[Martin]

lots of GPS ECE today; about 11km extra around Smarden.

What happened? I know there are a few tricky turnings round that area, but how do you manage to go off course when you're following a GPS?  

I was perfectly happy following the GPS route (which gave a total distance of 216 but I put that down to it having to navigate on road between Westgate and Reculver) but shortly after Teapot did a L $ Smarden we followed him and then it all went pear-shaped,

my route was just that; a route, no track, no waypoints (despite putting loads in  ). It was only happy with recalculating when actually on the route; if you tried it when off route it came up with various purple spirals of about 15km total distance; but once past Ebony (which I certainly didn't use last year) it was fine.  One thing you learn with Garmins is that there are many small lanes which are tarmacced and shown on the GPS but it absolutley will not allow you to ride down, Voodoo maybe?

[citoyen]

we followed him

There's your error, right there. 

I made a similar mistake the first time I rode the Kent Corners, in the same area. I fell in with a club group who were riding together. Then they dropped me. And that's when I realised I didn't have a freakin' clue where I was... 

By the time I found the main road to Tenterden, I'd done a bonus 15km.

d.

[Martin]

I presume you were too quick to catch the scooter cavalcade at Rye?

hundreds and hundreds of them, a real treat (apart from having to breathe in the 2 stroke smoke whilst riding around the one way)

[citoyen]

Excuse the thread necromancy...

Does anyone have a GPX or eg Strava log of the Kent Corners? Or even a routesheet?

I can recreate most of the route from memory plus brevet card, but there are a few bits I’m unsure of. And I fancy revisiting it as a diy. 

I can see from going back through this thread that I created a course on bikely many moons ago, but that no longer exists, alas.

[GdS]

Can't find it anywhere on my DIY DVD backup but it looks like half of it is here;

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14713810

I've searched his profile for the other half with no joy

[citoyen]

Thanks! That's a good start.

Although I'm sure the last leg went inland from Sandwich via Plucks Gutter to a control at Westgate, rather than round the coast - perhaps this is a route variation from one of the years I didn't ride it.

The bit I'm least certain of is the stretch from Lenham down to Rye. I have a vague recollection of going through Tenterden but some of the details are a bit fuzzy. In any case, if I do get round to reviving the route as a DIY, there are a few bits I might change - eg avoid the main road from Rye through Brenzett, which I think has become even less cyclist-friendly over the years.

[rob]

I’m pretty sure you approached the control at Tim’s old house inland, as you say and then followed the sea wall to Reculver on the last leg.

Probably follow the military canal road from Rye and then cut across to Brenzett ?  Doesn’t add much distance.

[citoyen]

Probably follow the military canal road from Rye and then cut across to Brenzett ?  Doesn’t add much distance.

Yes, exactly what I was thinking.

[GdS]

I think it followed the Crab and Winkle out of Canterbury to an info NW somewhere but that may have been the Invicta 200 that Rob used to run. I think KC also went to a pub near Dover before heading North so the RWG route is not correct either.

I have Tim's email somewhere I'll see if he has it, It's a shame so many Kent rides have fallen by the wayside (including Tim's, The Invicta, Kent Hop Garden? and some El S calendar events)

It would be a good perm to set up Citoyen 

[citoyen]

I think it followed the Crab and Winkle out of Canterbury to an info NW somewhere but that may have been the Invicta 200 that Rob used to run. I think KC also went to a pub near Dover before heading North so the RWG route is not correct either.

The first bit was straight through the middle of Canterbury. I can't remember the exact route out of Canterbury but I'm assuming up St Thomas' Hill rather than the C&W (which would not have been in a fit state for road bikes in those days). The first checkpoint was near Dargate - the first year I rode it, Tim handed out numbered tokens (wine corks) at the start and you chucked them in a bucket held by Mrs Tim standing at the roadside as you passed. It became an info control in later editions.

After that, it was through Faversham and basically the reverse of the MoK towards Lenham. From Lenham, I recall it going down through Smarden to Tenterden, then possibly via Wittersham. That's where it gets a bit vague in my memory.

I have Tim's email somewhere I'll see if he has it, It's a shame so many Kent rides have fallen by the wayside (including Tim's, The Invicta, Kent Hop Garden? and some El S calendar events)

I never did the Invicta 200 - it went before my audax career started. Hop Garden was good but I much preferred Tom's route to the later iterations.

It would be a good perm to set up Citoyen 

I'll do it as a DIY initially, but yes, it would be a good one for a perm.

[akin]

One issue to consider, I went on a DIY recently where I used some of the Oast and Coasts 300km route as a guide for that section. The toll bridge at Sandwich is currently not a bridge, there would need to be a diversion - the marked diversion sends you the long way round out of town and onto the A256.

I just looked at a picture of the notice by the bridge and it estimated 11 weeks from 21st September 2020.

[citoyen]

The toll bridge at Sandwich is currently not a bridge

Good point. I went through Sandwich recently and saw the signs warning that was happening but had forgotten about it... Thanks for the reminder! The route I was thinking of goes inland from Sandwich anyway (via Richborough).

It's a bit off though - if you're heading towards Ramsgate, the only options are taking the A256, which is really not suitable for cycling on these days, going a very long way round.

[rob]

I’m pretty sure you did do the Invicta 200, citoyen.  I recall letting you start from home and you joining the start in Otford.  Since we didn’t have a child then it must have been 14 or 15 years ago.