Well it was actually quite a few days ago but I mislaid my notes. However I enjoy reading other people's ride descriptions (and sometimes getting useful ideas from them) so I am going to post it late anyway.
The real Deal DIY...
We decided it would make a change to head for Kent from East London – all our DIYs so far have been mostly about Essex with a fair amount of Suffolk thrown in and the occasional foray into Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
The route took us south across the North Downs and the Greensand ridge to Edenbridge which appeared to be a suitable control point for us “luddites” relying on receipts. This is a reasonably uphill start reaching the highest point of the whole ride just past Biggin Hill (245m), before descending to Westerham and then ascending again. An 05.45 start at Greenwich on Bank Holiday Sunday meant we could stick to main roads without too much discomfort. Edenbridge did indeed tick the control boxes with a Tesco Express with cash point. In fact it ticked them more than once as Fhoot (actually on his Moulton not the front of the tandem this ride) forgot his receipt so we had to return for another (an extra mile or two and probably 15 minutes).
The next section was almost due east, sneakily following the railway line to Ashford fairly closely and so pretty much flat. We had some mild COR on the approach to Tonbridge and then mostly quiet lanes through to Headcorn. This was needed as a control point to get Mr Google Walk to comply with our desired route, and also provided a late breakfast opportunity in Costas. Ashford and a rapid visit to the International station café followed soon (this is a very useful facility – you can take your bike into the station, there are free toilets, and a cafe should you need refreshment – on the south side, opposite the normal domestic station entrance). Then we headed south to Appledore (yet another control - too many really but that was a function of steering the route along the flatlands between the North Downs and the Weald) – the village shop here performed admirably with good receipts and OK sandwiches.
On then to Dungeness, immediately after leaving Appledore the scenery changed to the Romney Marshes, and we passed the little church at Fairfield (
http://theromneymarsh.net/stthomas) on our way to Lydd. After that another scenery change to shingle and at last some welcoming cool breeze coming from the sea. We headed for the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway café next to the old lighthouse, to find it had been completely rebuilt since our last visit on the Hop Garden in 2014. By coincidence, fellow ACH DIY-er Joss arrived too so we swapped notes about our rides.
Our last leg was to the finish at Deal, no more controls needed as the geography of the coast sends Mr Google Walk around the edge here. However we did have to contend with busy seaside promenades and then two major ascents for us flatlanders. It’s a 170m climb out of Folkestone – depressingly you can see the street light that you are heading for way up on the top of the cliffs – and then a bit less out of Dover. We managed to save significant time between the first summit and Dover by not following the NCN (is there ever an occasion when this is not true?), instead using a good B road with just the right continual gradient to not have to brake but hardly have to pedal either. We had felt very up against the clock on this ride (too many stops, the return to Edenbridge, me being slow especially up hills etc) and it wasn’t until Dover that we felt able to relax a little and chill out eating ice creams. The descent from St Margaret's at Cliffe back to the coast down the delightfully named “Otty Bottom” surpassed my expectations. It’s been resurfaced along a lot of the length since I last rode it, so the last few miles into Deal was very enjoyable. We extracted our last PoP from the ATM, had a good pizza and then caught the high-speed train home to London. Probably one to repeat, but with a few route refinements and no forgetting to collect receipts first time around!
