Lullingstone - Plaxtol - Tatsfield
After a sudden outbreak of 'who's the leader?', I wondered if this might be a solo ride, with nobody to half-wheel except myself. In fact, Carshalton Ponds spawned a brace of riders looking for a leader - Janice and Keith. After a chat about the merits of glucosamine sulphate, we set off apace, with J &K chasing my tail like a pair of playful Jack Russells - a pattern that was to persist all day. They would not get tired.
The way to Lullingstone was urban at first and mostly uprising. We passed the Croydon Flyover and West Wickham library, where my SERC clubmates were long gone after their 9am start. After Jackass Lane it was past High Elms and up to Chelsfield and Well Hill, to arrive at Lullingstone GC well before 11am. There were no additions to the family, but ample time for a very filling bacon sandwich. Off again, keeping to the tarmac, not the fairway, en route to Plaxtol. No risk of J or K half-wheeling me, so long as I kept turning left and right, as I was the only one who knew the way.
We passed through Shoreham (why are there always so many cars?), Twitton, Otford; followed the Pilgrim's Way awhile, then Seale, Stone Street, Ivy Hatch, Plaxtol and the Papermaker's Arms. Maybe the pace had been too easy, as our appetites were not that keen, blunted perhaps by the earlier intake, so it was straight into desserts. Janice was introduced to greengage pie. We ate outside, the skies still pretty overcast.
Well before the Pla
xtol parish church tolled two, we were off again, our tea-time target changed from Downe to Tatsfield. After Stone Street it was south of Sevenoaks, along Gracious Lane to Ide Hill, where Janice was disappointed not to clock up 40 mph on the descent to Brasted. After a further stretch of Pilgrims Way, we were struggling to make double figures on the ascent to Tatsfield Church. Tea and cake in the churchyard were followed by the helter-skelter down to Warlingham and Purley X. The heavy, aromatic fragrance of the lavender fields of Croydon Lane saw the parting of our ways. It had been a day of Kentish ups and downs with just under three score miles and ten recorded on the Cateye.
Jeff
Well before the Pla
xtol parish church tolled two, we were off again, our tea-time target changed from Downe to Tatsfield. After Stone Street it was south of Sevenoaks, along Gracious Lane to Ide Hill, where Janice was disappointed not to clock up 40 mph on the descent to Brasted. After a further stretch of Pilgrims Way, we were struggling to make double figures on the ascent to Tatsfield Church. Tea and cake in the churchyard were followed by the helter-skelter down to Warlingham and Purley X. The heavy, aromatic fragrance of the lavender fields of Croydon Lane saw the parting of our ways. It had been a day of Kentish ups and downs with just under three score miles and ten recorded on the Cateye.Jeff
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