London to Canterbury aka Ashford
My very obliging hubby drove me down to Paddington yesterday so I didn’t have to lug a suitcase and bike bag on the train which made life much easier for me, if not for him in bank holiday traffic. I rode Bob the bike down to London last weekend so walked over to pick it up and cycled back to Paddington via Oxford Street which was a novel experience. It wasn’t exactly a speedy ride!
Instead of going for the group dinner, I had a yummy burger and catch up with Katie in Notting Hill. She then came to the hotel this morning to ride to Kent with me. It looks like the Italians are going to drop the 5 day isolation rule in time for her to be able to ride the last week of the tour, so we will meet again in Venice!
The ride started with a bit of London tourism via Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Westminster, fortunately before most of the other tourists and traffic had arrived.
We then headed into the areas less visited by the average tourist, Peckham, Eltham, Northfleet etc with apparently traffic lights that magically turn red when Katie or I cycle towards them. It was not a fast ride! Coffee stop was at Ebbsfleet and from then on the cycling became much more enjoyable. Rochester castle was very impressive but I am still really terrible at taking a selfie.
Heading south through Kent, it got hillier and prettier, past fields of horses, vineyards and picturesque village pubs.
Our final destination was a newly opened Hilton hotel opposite Ashford train station, very handy for Katie heading back to London but my room wasn’t ready at 5pm confirming my opinion yet again of that hotel chain. I sadly said goodbye to my lovely cycling partner and began the familiar bike tour routine - charge gadgets, wash cycling kit, wash human, stretch complaining body, try not to fall asleep…
Instead of going for the group dinner, I had a yummy burger and catch up with Katie in Notting Hill. She then came to the hotel this morning to ride to Kent with me. It looks like the Italians are going to drop the 5 day isolation rule in time for her to be able to ride the last week of the tour, so we will meet again in Venice!
The ride was supposed to go to Canterbury but at the last minute the hotel was commandeered by the UK Government for Afghan refugees, so we headed to Ashford instead.
The ride started with a bit of London tourism via Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Westminster, fortunately before most of the other tourists and traffic had arrived.
We then headed into the areas less visited by the average tourist, Peckham, Eltham, Northfleet etc with apparently traffic lights that magically turn red when Katie or I cycle towards them. It was not a fast ride! Coffee stop was at Ebbsfleet and from then on the cycling became much more enjoyable. Rochester castle was very impressive but I am still really terrible at taking a selfie.
Heading south through Kent, it got hillier and prettier, past fields of horses, vineyards and picturesque village pubs.
Our final destination was a newly opened Hilton hotel opposite Ashford train station, very handy for Katie heading back to London but my room wasn’t ready at 5pm confirming my opinion yet again of that hotel chain. I sadly said goodbye to my lovely cycling partner and began the familiar bike tour routine - charge gadgets, wash cycling kit, wash human, stretch complaining body, try not to fall asleep…
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