Unfortunately, there was a police diversion as we approached the Mercedes garage at Dartford. The road was closed before and after the railway bridge by the Gypsy camp so we had to turn right and decided to go with the flow, literally speaking. That took us out past Wilmington and Hawley and into open countryside a lot quicker than if we had continued on to Gravesend. I love the stretch from Gravesend to Lower Higham via the Lower Higham Road. It's a country lane with hardly any traffic which gives you the rare opportunity to ride side-by-side. With fields to the right and left you get good views across the Thames Estuary. You also know that the roads from here, whichever route you take offer perfect Summer cycling.
Anyway, we took the Eynsford Road (A225) down through Farningham and Eynsford on a gradual climb to Shoreham and Otford before a harder slog to Sevenoaks. You meet plenty of other cyclists along this road and there always seem to be bikes circling the village roundabout at Otford. At Sevenoaks we had time for a cuppa in the local Weatherspoons where my Bike App confirmed that the trip back would be pretty much downhill all the way - we had climbed 170m from Thames Road.
The run back seemed quicker and maybe that was because it was downhill "all the way!" The only snag was that the Thames road was still closed some three and half hours later which meant a diversion over West Hill which isn't downhill. At the Mercedes roundabout we got sight of the accident and a black car embedded into the brick arch of the railway bridge. It looked a tragic scene.
Home after four and half hours and I had covered 87km (55 miles). I wasn't fit for much else yesterday, so all good intentions of gardening went out of the window. it will get easier in the weeks to come.
I did manage to water the garden, but the wardrobe painting was lost in a sea of football and sunday papers. I did manage to cook a nice bit of sirloin with dauphinoise potatoes to restore some energy. I'm walking like John Wayne this morning though!
ReplyDeletePete - I would have given you some chips if I had known you had run out.
ReplyDeleteI take my cap off to you, as that is well over half my back route from Crowborough to Charlton, via my parents old house and avoiding motorways. I would invite you to come further, but as we are nearly 700 feet above sea level, i think that would probably finish you off. Still, may be worth it for a decent pinto fo Harveys.
ReplyDeleteHappy cycling
CA - a pint of Harveys is well worth some effort but not a 700 ft climb. Thanks anyway!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations...and when can we expect a visit...you can supply beer and a paddle in the sea too. We do have hills though!
ReplyDeleteSuze - hills in Norfolk? We all know that rising sea levels should give us a Premier League vacancy in the not too distant future!
ReplyDelete