Having had no takers for a long ride to Thanet, I turned up at the shop and discovered Harv was planning to head for, er, Thanet. Oh well. Some of the Saturday regulars were missing, presumed either on holiday or resting ahead of the time trial on Sunday. Karl had got back in the early hours from a holiday in Cornwall, gone without sleep and breakfast and still turned up. That’s dedication for you. We had Michael out for the first time, who’s just moved into the area and found us on Twitter; also among the usual faces (and in Ali’s case unusual moustache) were young Matt, Dave an interloper from Wigmore CC and Fraser wearing a very bright orange jersey.
The morning was cool but humid. Simon was clearly optimistic about the weather having brought out his Cinelli which is allergic to rain, while Martin was riding his Sunday-best Cervelo, so light it almost goes up hills of its own accord even though the frame is almost big enough to drive a bus through. A group of about 20 proceeded steadily enough along the usual route towards Stede Hill, until just past Bredgar the first attack went: our guests from Team Bottecchia UK and Sittingbourne, never to be seen again as they went off to do their own thing, plus Sam Farley who remembered it was a group ride and waited at the water tower.
At Lenham Heath, Mick changed the proposed destination for his group of six, including Kris Taylor who we’d met at Stede, to Chilham via Charing Hill and sent the rest of us on ahead. Consequently we were quite surprised when, after Hart Hill and a literally back-to-front through-and-off down the A252, we saw the six ahead of us at the foot of Molash Hill. Much puzzlement ensued, but in fact we’d done two sides of an elongated triangle to their one.
Along Chartham Downs the group split up completely; apparently Simon was just too strong. When I arrived at Street End on the B2070 Martin was sitting on a bench conveniently located to provide rest for the elderly. We then managed to stay together until reaching our designated stop, on an old farm just outside Bekesbourne. Very pleasant it was too – although weirdly named. Lucky we all paid cash, as “Mama Feelgoods” on a credit card bill might have taken some explaining for the husbands present. A group from Adalta CC turned up and even among our combined encyclopaedic knowledge of cycling, no one had a clue where they were from. They told Harv they’re based in Westgate, an old club revived by the resurgence of MAMILs (as we might have guessed from looking at them) – although their website suggests their smart kit is a key selling point of the club…
We passed Howletts, with the usual jokes about an absent friend being supplemented by comments at Karl’s expense. Then it was onto the smooth, quiet roads of Thanet, in a big loop around Canterbury. Harv decided we could all do with some more miles on an increasingly warm afternoon and directed us up to Tyler Hill. This prompted Simon to suggest a water stop at the Londis in Blean which had cafe-style chairs outside. Somehow I can’t see that idea taking off at the Rainham branch, but it was handy for Martin to put his feet up again.
The group was still 11-strong and riding well together. Karl flew up Mount Ephraim in a manner that suggested his previous week’s training regime of steep hills, plentiful beer and body boarding was one we should all adopt. Matt had a little dig on the next short climb and Simon got on the front for most of the run between Faversham and Teynham. Dave Mayes’s bike was making an alarming rattling noise but it turned out to be a Coke can loose in the bottle cage, and remarkably we did the whole ride with no punctures or mechanicals. For me it was 86 miles, 18mph average and sunburned arms, again
