Well, that was fun. Got off to a slightly shaky start but ended up having a fab day out.
The problems started when I tried to load up the course on my Garmin - for some reason it just wouldn't load. I suspect the file was too large (I'd made a track in ridewithgps.com and it came out as 2.5mb for some reason but I went with it anyway. Foolish.)
Luckily jsabine was on hand to point out that they had spare printed routesheets at the check-in desk. Phew!
So, I finally got going about 20 minutes late. Fortunately I wasn't alone, I tagged along with another group for a while, but as soon as we got to the first hill... disaster struck.
Well, perhaps disaster is overstating it but the facts are these: yesterday I fitted a new chain and cassette. It turns out I should have fitted a new small chainring too. The new chain just did not want to play with the rather worn out specimen that hadn't been changed since I bought the bike seven years ago. Ok, so I'm doing the whole ride sur la plaque. Lucky there were no big hills on the route.
However, the chain problems meant I was dropped by the group and soon after I compounded my misery by going off piste - the road veered left, I went straight on. It was about two downhill miles later that I twigged something was up.
Anyway, I got back on route eventually and then promptly missed another turning - not my fault this time. "$ Ightham" was only visible if you happened to look back over your shoulder after passing the turning.
The upshot was that by the time I got to the cafe at the first control in Headcorn, I was 8km over distance and at the back of a long queue for beans on toast...
Next stage went much better - mostly flat and with a welcome tailwind on the stretch across Rodney Marsh. However, despite passing at least 15 people on that leg, there was still a massive queue at the RHDR cafe, which clearly wasn't expecting a blitz of cyclists on a chilly Wednesday in February. After 10 minutes in the queue and no closer to being served, I sodded that for a game of soldiers and went to the Sainsburys round the corner (local knowledge) for a Picnic, two bananas and two chicken fajita pasties, washed down with a litre of Ribena.
Next leg was a bit lumpier and headwindy in places but again I made reasonable progress, making it as far as the Bluebell Hill services (188km) before needing to put my lights on. By that point, though, I was without navigational aids, having lost my routesheet on a descent and not inclined to go back and rescue it. Luckily I was able to tag along with someone who seemed to know where he was going. After a quick glug of something that superficially resembled coffee, I pressed on for the last 20km, finishing in the company of a couple of sterling fellows (though I suspect one of them may have been a lady cyclist) of the Dulwich Paragon. Slightly surprised to discover that only a few riders had finished before us - suspect a number of riders were still waiting to be served in Hythe.
Only slight downer on an otherwise fab day out was the poor chap I encountered in Hadlow, hobbling along and feeling the effects of a fall - his companion had come off on ice and taken him down with him, though the companion was apparently unscathed. Hope he's ok.
I don't think the temperature ever got into double figures for long but he combination of wind proof jersey plus gilet was adequate to keep the chills out. And the sun stayed out pretty much all day. Which was nice.
Also the route was much more pleasant than I'd anticipated. I've done a few of Tom's rides before though, so I shouldn't be surprised. There were a few less than lovely main road sections but it was mostly very enjoyable rolling lanes.
Finished with 218km on the clock so I'm pretty pleased to have taken not much over 10 hours to complete the ride.