Update on cycling Route D (Rye to Dover)

This previous post describes a ride along the coast between Rye and Dover. This week, on the hottest day of the year as chance would have it, I cycled part of it with a friend. We had intended to do it East to West to take advantage of an easterly wind, requiring that we park at Ashford station and get the train to Dover. However a blockade of Calais by revolting Frenchmen meant that Operation Stack was in play, under which the M20 is turned into a lorry park, hence we would face horrendous traffic problems trying to get to Ashford Station. Thus we drove instead to Rye and attempted the ride West to East. We got to the Hythe military ranges, then gave up heading East due to the strong headwind, and instead headed across Romney Marsh to get the train back to Rye at Ham Street.

Despite record breaking temperatures inland, the breeze which caused us so much grief did cool us down: this part of the coast always seems cooler, and, at Dungeness, there seems to be a permanent sea mist, albeit very thin, to add to the cooling effect.

Anyway, there are a few tips to pass on:

Major engineering works on the coastal defence between Camber and Jury's gap mean the sea wall is closed to cyclists (or anyone else) till December 2015. However, when these works are completed, the resulting sea wall should be as good for cycling as that around Dymchurch.
We tried an alternative to the main road between Lydd and Dungeness, namely Dengemarsh Road. This provides excellent cycling along, but outside, the 'red flag' perimeter of the Lydd military firing ranges, lined with plenty of summer wildflowers. We reached the sea west of the power station, hoping to be able to get along the beach eastwards to the public area around the lighthouses. However, the shingle was too deep for cycling, and we had to do a two-mile slog on foot pushing our bikes on/through the shingle. Not recommended.
We tried to cycle along the Royal Military Canal westwards from West Hythe: there is a good cycle track (part of NCN2), but after a short distance it returns to the roads. The rest of the towpath appears to be 'no cycling' footpaths.