London to Whitstable - 18 August (night ride)
Starting at midnight from under Waterloo Bridge on the Southbank (between the National Theatre cafe and the BFI), the first part of our escape from The Smoke is on some quieter roads, then we’ll pick up the new Cycle Superhighway to Deptford on this new Whitstable route for 2023. From Deptford we’ll leave the river and head through south-east London before rolling along the quiet country lanes around Swanley. We’ll have some magnificent views of the estuary as we descend thorough Dickens country around Higham before we arrive at our half way stop in Strood.
From that point on, the ride becomes ever more dream-like with quiet lanes and great views. We’ll cross the Medway at Rochester and head further east through Upchurch with its unusual church steeple. We bypass Sittingbourne by skirting the marshes over the atmospheric Raspberry Hill where we may spot a barn owl or two, and on to the ancient market town of Faversham. The road from Faversham to Whitstable runs across the Graveney Marshes, a delight that you can take at your own speed. We enjoy our breakfasts overlooking the sea.
There’ll be a castle, a cathedral, tanks, possibly a submarine, and almost certainly sheep.
A ride of 67 or so miles, with no leg breaking hills.