Off on a Channel-hopping hol at the moment, so called in at Castle Donger, our country residence, on the way. (Actually Leeds Castle in Kent). Got up and out before 07:00 this morning and snuck a quick look at the moat (Though cycling in the grounds is frowned upon,there was nobody else around).
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Did a nice little 16 miler before breakfast, looping around anti-clockwise from Leeds Castle through the North Downs. Not sure what I expected to see, but Kentish oast houses were on my wish list. Didn't have to wait long:
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Passed quite a few spectacular bluebell woods on the way:
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And some nice little villages, like this one (Lenham):
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Unfortunately, cossing the godawful A20 just after Lenham somewhat spoiled my ride. Car after car, spaced out evenly and doing about 50mph made it an almost impossible task to cross the road by bike. I ended up getting off, pushing it about 20 yards to my right (across the road I was on), sprinting across to a traffic island after about 5 minutes wait, then sprinting across the other half of the A20 and pushing the bike across the road I wanted to be on. All in all had to push across 3 roads to get across one. Nightmare traffic. Soon improved, though, as I got into the North Downs proper and the hedgerows got higher and the grass started to grow in the middle of the roads. Though lovely, some of these lanes are still quite a commuter rat run at 7ish in the morning.
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Some lovely rolling North Downs countryside, and the rat run traffic started to die down by 8:00.
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Came back via another nice village, Hollingbourne, before making a big mistake. As I was turning left into a little lane a couple of miles from "home", I paused to let a local bus go by. He gave me a cheery wave and a hoot of the horn by way of thanks .... then almost immediately got stuck in a nose-to-tail traffic jam in both directions that brought all movement to a halt for about 10 minutes while people reversed out of the bus's way. Must have been 30 vehicles held up in each direction down a tiny little lane. Does this happen every day around here?
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No sooner had I got out of that mess, than I had to cross (and join) the A20 again to get back to Leeds Castle. Fortunately this was easy enough as the A road was ground to a halt too. Half cycled, half scooted my way along the inside of the traffic for about a quarter of a mile, overtaking at least 100 cars in the process.
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Got back to the castle in time for a quick shower and a hearty breakfast. Have to say I liked the countryside around this part of Kent (to the east of Maidstone), but I thank my lucky stars I do most of my cycling in Gloucestershire. The early morning traffic around here must be morale-sapping for any local cyclists .... Couldn't hack it on a regular basis. Off to the other side of the Channel for a couple of days now ... and I
know the roads will be quieter there. Can't wait.
Cheers,
Donger.
.
Still, at rush hour it is the safest and easiest way to where I needed to be. On the way, I said a 'hello' to a fellow cyclist, and as we were heading in the same direction, we rode together. A it transpired, he was the chairman of the local CTC club, on his way to join some others for a pedal up to Whilton. His meeting place was about 100 yards from my mates house, so it was good to have a chat on the way.
