Pig Meat!

Set off on Sunday with my good mate David Pearce for a pleasant ride following the line of the North Downs via the Pilgrims Way to Westwell near Ashford (Kent).

The Pilgrims Way is a favoured route of mine, gently undulating and beautiful scenery, the Downs on one side and views ove the farmland on the other.

Despite seeing paragliders on the escarpment on many previous occasions, this was the first time I had seen them doing anything other than sitting down! I wondered if they may be beginners as the three that took off were only in the air for about a minute, gently circling around the take off zone and landing in the same spot - thereby saving them a walk back up the hill!

The familiar route took us through Hollingbourne before crossing the A20 at Harrietsham and heading for Sandway, Lenham Heath and Charing Heath. This was the same route I took to Dover about a month ago so remained familiar.

Ordinarily on leaving Charing, the main road takes you up Charing Hill, a nasty nasty climb of about 2 miles to the top of the Downs. We rode up Charing High Street with the hill ahead off us but thankfully we turned off towards Westwell before having to ascend.

A quick map check saved us taking a wrong turn up the hill!

Our destination was The Wheel in Westwell. Westwell (like Lenham and Stalisfield mentioned in previous blogs, and all located within about 10 miles of each other) is another hotbed of Vants from the bygone days. On this occasion I wasn't on a family tree search, just a drink.

Unlike my fellow sore saddlers who seem to have developped an alcohol dependency and an obsession for chips on their training missions(!!!), we limited ourselves to a couple of pints of diet coke and a roast pork baguette.

Roast pork is a special treat for me as both Ali (my wife) and Nick (son) are allergic to roast pork and so this pleasure has always been denied me.

Dispensing with the bread and the green stuff people insist on putting on the side, the meat with a tad of stuffing and apple sauce was devoured in a matter of seconds.

I suppose the lack of alcohol and chips means that a saddle scoring would not be consistent with other scores however, being a Shepherd Neame pub, I know the Master Brew (my drink of choice) would have scored very highly! Chips were not available on a Sunday but the pork scores 4 saddles. The pub itself probably has to score 5 as the hosts were extremely friendly, welcoming and helpful.

These wagon wheels have been crafted into beautiful outdoor seats and, given the name of the pub, were crying out for a photo opportunity.

We basically backtracked as far as Sandway before veering off towards East Sutton and again following a well trodden route. The purpose of this was to add a few more miles and ensure we kept off the main roads.

In fact in the whole ride, I did no more than 300 yards on a main road. The discovery of all these country lanes within easy reach of home is just adding to the fun of the training. I can really see myself continuing with these rides long after the P2P has been completed.

I had targeted a ride of 40 miles and, without manipulating anything, hit 40.08! Average speed 14.5 mph.

Next week it is off to Girona in the north eastern corner of Spain with the bike to continue the training and explore the inland plains of the Baix Emporda, an area often featuring in the paintings of Salvador Dali. May sit on the beach for a couple of days too!!