Kent: the final frontier. Our five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where hardly any Southwark Cyclist has gone before!
This was our ride for April 1st. But I won't be using Michaels Lane again, as there were only inches to spare to allow cars to pass me - a route via Fawkham Green, Ash and Hartley Bottom Road would be much safer.
On arriving at Meopham, I found that the windmill had lost its sails, but I did find another excellent café at the Meopham PYO Farm. The next port of call was the Winterdale Cheese Shop. Some of the roots suggested by Google Maps were off-road and even completely non-existent, so I gave up using maps, until I noticed that the road started to descend very sharply, which turned out to be Vigo Hill. I quickly turned back and found the right way to the cheese shop.
After all that excitement, I followed Labour In Vain Road and Terry's Lodge Road to the tranquility of the Pilgrim's Way. This took me to Otford, where I stopped for lunch. On the way back, I visited Magpie bottom to take a photograph for my collection. My Garmin recorded a 22% incline on Row Bow at one point, so it was nice to have a rest and savour the experience of looking at the Magpie Bottom sign once I got there. I then descended to Shoreham, clocking an average speed of 12mph at one point. It was then just a short ride back to Badger's Mount and Knockholt (Zone 6) where I took a train back to central London.
Nigel Bee