A trip to Whitstable is a firm favourite on the Foxgrove summer fixture list. It’s always a glorious ride through the rolling (aka hilly) Kent countryside in the wonderful company of lycra-clad club mates and a chance to indulge with just a modicum of guilt (or carefree abandon) in midway coffee and cakes followed by the traditional ride’s-end beer and chips on the beach.
A passing drone catches the Foxgrove Crew at the Sea Farmer’s Dive
This year we had a great turnout with several Foxgrove Cub members joining and a couple of ringers, the latter being Nick (who defected to somewhere called Penge last year) and Tania’s husband, James. Fully paid-up members (allegedly) included Stef, Roger, Liz, Dante, Helen, Matt, Steve, Tania and yours truly.
The route was cooked up by Stef who promised it would be ‘dreamy’. And so it was, as we rolled out onto the leafy green suburban streets of Beckenham under a blue sky and warming sun.
In all, we were eleven riders so we thought it best to split into two groups to avoid any unnecessary horn honking or mysterious expletive-coupled hand gestures from passing motorists. The front group went off with quips about ‘full gas’ and ‘I’ll have a beer for you when you eventually get to the beach’ but were tailed by a far more modest yet able group that found themselves mostly freewheeling to give the front group the impression that they might be travelling at some sort of speed.
Having left Beckenham we rode to picturesque Shoreham via some familiar Bromley roads which eventually petered out into quiet country lanes. After Borough Green we went deep into the countryside around West Peckham, the route often bordered by ancient hedgerows and mature trees, creating a tunnel-like effect which prompted strange whooping noises from those in the saddle.
The modest yet able group with some lovely flowers
Teston Country Park served as our halfway coffee stop, its broad green meadows nestling beside the River Medway. Here we found a picnic table in a shady spot to rest legs, refresh water bottles and down some coffee and cakes while admiring Matt’s myriad of electronic gadgetry.
After Teston, there was a bit of a climb which sloped off into gentle undulating tarmac all the way to lovely Lenham, a quintessential Kentish village with well frequented pubs and a tea room (but not by us unfortunately). There was climb out of Lenham at about two-thirds distance, and then it was generally downhill to the market town of Faversham and on through a moderate breeze to Whitstable.
The town was teeming with traffic and pedestrian day-trippers but we where able to whizz through the crowds on our slender two wheels to the Sea Farmer’s Dive, a seafront taproom offering all sorts of designer lagers and quirky sounding IPAs but not a flat bitter in sight (oh well).
After much drinking and back slapping after an epic 100km + ride we almost forgot the time and had to make not quite a straight line to the railway station to board a train that Roger had bought advanced tickets for (for some) at an amazing £3.27! Or was it the 3.27 we were catching for £11? Either way, despite the rush to get to the station, we somehow found time to again split into two groups, one of which procured three bags of chips and the other disappeared into Sainsbury’s only to re-emerge with a carrier bag weighed down with MORE lager.
At Whistable staation, striking a pose….with some chips? And another drone shot - even the bikes had seats.
As you can imagine, it was a merry journey home to Bromley South with much talk about future adventures (as well as boring stuff about the merits of wax vs oil on bicycle chains).
A fantastic day out and great fun had by all.
Andrew