Crikey, that was a brilliant ride; totally unplanned, but then the best ones often are. It was sunny and mild this lunchtime, so I jumped on the Langster and took off down the A2.
I'd originally intended to do a 20 mile loop, but by the time I got to Keycol Hill I was having so much fun with a nice tailwind and the sun warming my back that I carried on along the A2, which is pretty much arrow-straight, apart from the ugly kink that took me through Shittingbourne. Through Teynham and Faversham, and then down onto the old coastal road that follows the south shoreline of the Thames Estuary.
Graveney marshes were quiet and peaceful, with just the gentle purring of my tyres to keep me company. Through Whitstable, and the horrible speed-humps of Herne Bay, before dropping down into Reculver and along the Thanet coastal path, a concrete and tarmac-topped sea wall which seems to be getting increasingly popular with cyclists.
Of course no ride can be totally perfect, and the faeries whose name must never be spoken were lurking in the shadows, waiting for me. They failed to ruin my cheery mood, however, and I soon had the pinch-flat sorted and I was on my way again.
Hoorah, the local council have put tarmac over what used to be a gravel and stone track leading from the eastern end of the coastal path. It's lovely and fast now.
A short while later, and after 44 miles of continual tailwinds I was in Margate station (bugger riding all the way back into that wind), a cup of coffee in one hand, a Cornish pasty in the other.
Flipping marvellous.