Readers of this blog will know that a particular concern of mine is wind direction: cycling into a headwind can be a nightmare, whilst a tailwind is a joy. Imagine my delight therefore at today's weather forecast for a bright day with 45mph westerlies. Seeking an eastwards ride, I elected to follow my Ride D from Rye to Dover, much of it using the sea wall, which provides a wide, flat and reasonably smooth ride in close proximity to the beach and breaking waves. It is part of National Cycle Network Route 2 (NCN2).
I started by driving to Ashford International station and parking there, intending to take the train to Rye. Having parked in the cheaper car park (Car Park D, £5.60 per day), I bought my train ticket only to discover that my train, the 1133, had been cancelled and replaced by a bus service, which would not take my bike. I decided to figure out my options in the station buffet over a coffee and a sandwich (actually, a rather disgusting microwave version of a Croque Monsieur - this is the International station after all). I didn't want to wait an hour for the next train (which was running as usual - don't know why the 1133 was singled out: probably they knew I was coming). I could have cycled to Rye, but this would have added considerably to the distance, and also required me to cycle into that headwind, which would defeat the object. So I planned out a route on my GPS cutting down to the Coast at St Mary's Bay. Unfortunately this would miss out the first bit of the route, which was a shame because Rye is one of my favourite towns, but I needed to shorten the distance, and couldn't face cycling into that headwind. So off I set.
The ride across Romney Marsh was pleasant enough. At least the riding is on the flat but I had to be really careful of strong sidewind gusts. On a previous trip, I had done a circuit of the Marsh, visiting the many old churches which are a feature (they were the subject of a celebrated series of paintings by John Piper). Today, there wasn't time to revisit them though I did call briefly at one - Newchurch.
But having reached the sea wall at St Mary's Bay I fairly zoomed along downwind in the sunshine: it was more like land yachting than cycling. See a video here.
It really is an enjoyable ride under any conditions: you couldn't be closer to the sea and still have dry feet. Apart from a short 'no-cycling dismount-and-walk'' section at Dymchurch, and a diversion onto the A259 around the MOD shooting range west of Hythe, the wall gives a continuous ride all the way to Folkestone Harbour, which I seemed to reach almost too quickly. All was quiet here: much of the harbour area was left derelict by the loss of the cross-channel trade when the Channel Tunnel opened, but there are a few snack bars, fresh fish stalls and fish and chip shops. I stopped for a cuppa, then pressed on, making the only serious climb on the route, up past the white Martello tower, then on up the B2011 to the Battle of Britain memorial on the cliff top: always a moving place to visit. They have recently opened an impressive looking visitor centre and cafe.
I then followed the NCN2 through the village of Capel Le Ferne (resisting the temptation for more tea at the Cliff Top Cafe). The final part of the ride is dramatically along the cliff top path, passing one of the concrete acoustic mirrors built between the wars as a crude air defence early warning system, then descending to the bridge over the busy A20. The path is pretty rough and the descent fast, so care was needed.
A final puff over the Western Heights on the Military Road (did I say there was only one serious climb: this makes two, but it can be avoided by a more circuitous route via the Dover harbour sea front) brought me to Dover station where I was lucky that an HS1 train to Ashford was just departing. You can take this as far as Ashford before the premium HS1 tarrif kicks in. Arrived back at Ashford, I got a refund for my wasted Rye ticket, before heading back to the car at the end of a very enjoyable day.
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