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Sunday 7th June 2015 Aylesford to Dover I broke my fast at the Lower Bell with a fellow 65 year old Lancastrian and steam train enthusiast from Southport then set off at 9.08 with the weather once again smiling on me - it was sunny and warm with a few fluffy clouds to give occasional shade. I was following the Pilgrims Way, a cycle / walker route which uses quiet back-roads and green lanes - it's traffic-free apart from the odd off-road motor-bike. It was very nice - predominantly downhill or level, lined with trees giving plenty of shade and offering wonderful views to the west from its vantage point of being halfway up the North Downs.
Some of the bridleway stretches were a bit too loose and rutted for a loaded bike with road tyres but thankfully everything was dry today and not muddy at all, for sliding about in mud would have been a real trial. Even so it was slow progress on those rough parts. At lunchtime I came to the small village of Westwell and saw the Wheel Inn. It was 11.57 and the sign said the pub opened at 12.00 so I sat on the green under a tree and idled for 3 minutes then went in and got a potato and leek soup and apple crumble and custard which set me up nicely for the remaining 30 miles. It was all very nice and I had a cup of tea as well, which always refreshes the sweaty cyclist.
After that it was a nice, easy ride - a bit busy when I reached the A roads but all was ok and I reached the south coast at Hythe. Unfortunately there was an east wind blowing along the seafront at the time but I just slogged on eastwards towards Dover, pausing, as there was no rush, for a cup of tea at the Deck café in Sandgate near Folkestone.
At Folkestone there was a hard climb up to the top of the cliffs and I stopped briefly to check the GPS. Unfortunately I had halted just before a side-road joining on the left and a driver who wanted to turn in there seemed to find this a less than ideal situation. He opened his passenger window to enlighten me with his opinions which were along the lines of 'Oi! *@*!.... mate!'. Despite the chummy use of the word 'mate' I don't think the unintelligible first bit was complimentary but as I couldn't make any sense of it who knows?
I arrived in Dover at 5.04 and checked into the hotel, the Hubert Guest House, where Andrew had booked a twin room for us (£75 for the room). Andrew arrived a bit later at about 6.00 having travelled all the way down from Ramsbottom on the train. We ventured into town a bit later and got no further than a Wetherspoons pub, the Eight Bells, where I got a meal of 'superfood pasta' and Andrew had a vegetable curry… and several pints of beer. Tomorrow… La Belle France! Bike computer: 50.35 miles GPS: 51.5 miles 8.0 mph avg 28.9 mph max 5380 ft ascent | ||||||
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