Decisions, decisions:- to go Saturday or Sunday; which rain jacket to wear; whether to wear shades or clear glasses; which direction to go; oh deary, deary me.
Fortunately through the wonders of democracy the decision to go on Saturday had already been made as we gathered in the gloom and drizzle for the G2 100 miler.
I had made a last minute change to the originally planned route direction and told the 7 stalwarts (Heidi, Jill, Dave, Stuart, Richard K, Nick and Rob) that we would be risking my dubious eastwardly navigational skills and heading away from the forecast thunderstorms (I hoped). What I didn’t tell them was that I had a risk mitigation plan in place - I had arranged to meet up at Penshurst with Sharon who could keep me on the right track (literally, see below) and help with the tea stops.
By Lingfield the drizzle had abated and we only had wet roads and the heat(!) to contend with, so a quick shedding of rain jackets was called for before heading to Penshurst. Here, not only Sharon but also John H joined us (he clearly has nothing else to do).
After about 10 minutes of “garden fencing”, with a reminder that we were trying to do the 100 miles in a day, we started the ride proper with the climb out of Penshurst to Paddocks Wood and Staplehurst.
Twenty two miles and two punctures later (both ably repaired by John “I never get punctures but I repair loads” H., one sadly mine “I never get punctures because I check my tyres every ride, however I’m happy to stand and watch an expert change my tube”) we arrived at Frankie’s Farm Shop for lunch in brilliant sunshine.
Lady customer, clearly impressed by my Redhill lycra (-clad physique?): “Have you cycled from Redhill?”
Me: “Sure have”
Lady customer: “Is it far?”
Me: “About 45 miles”
Lady customer: “That’s impressive”
Me: “Is the food good here?”
Lady customer: “Yes, the ham sandwiches are wonderful, but a bit expensive”
Well, she got two out of three right.
Pressing on via Biddenden, where we paused to let Heidi bag a BCQ question (see Bruce, they’re all at it) and onwards towards Frittenden. Unfortunately, a momentary loss of concentration meant I missed a fairly important right turn. Never mind I thought, we can take the next right.
At this point the legendary Houghton navigational team stepped in.
“See Rick,” said John “look at the Satnav – this road cuts through to the road we need”.
One mile later - when we reached the end of the road at Sissinghurst Castle(!).
“No problem” said Sharon “when we come here on Wobble (?) rides, we take a short cut out on a bridlepath”
“Isn’t that off-road Sharon?” looking at the skinny-tyred bikes around me.
“Oh, it’s not far, only the length of a field”
Four field lengths later of bumping, sliding and walking, we finally reached the road.
Anon 1:”That was fun wasn’t it?”
Anon 2: “Hmmph”.
Anyway, onwards and more smoothly upwards towards Tonbridge and the Hilden Golf club for a tea stop (thank you for suggesting there Sharon) again under blue skies and with beautiful sunshine.
“It’s only a mile to our house” said John, ordering a pint of lager.
“How far is it to the ‘drome, Rick?”
“Oh, only about 24 miles", ordering a cup of tea.
So, as legs were getting weary, we eased the pace back for an easy route home through Edenbridge, apart from a somewhat defiant sprint up Kings Mill Lane to the ‘drome.
For those of us who went back to the ‘drome – 7 hours 16 minutes, 107 miles and 14.7 mph (including the off-road section), a few more miles for those who peeled off to go straight home. We’ll forget about the awful amount of faffing about time.
Thanks to everyone for helping on the front, fixing punctures, navigating (!) and of course being such good company.
Well done to the Met Office for pointing us in the right direction and for being pessimistic.
Well done to century ride first timers, Nick and Richard.
And finally, good luck to Heidi, Nick and Stuart for the London 100.