Sunday 27th April - London to Canterbury TDF Route

ed, can't say for sure at this point but get along for the spin. will know before friday for sure.

no can do. i am oop north.

but have a good one.

Ok thanks for the advice guys, gonna take the route closest to the river i think, going over shooters hill, theough strood, rochester sittingbourne etc, will make a list of turns etc for anyone who wants to come, gonna meet at the blackheath entrance to greenwich park at 10 on sunday for anyone who wants to come along.

[ blackheath entrance to greenwich park] Can you say where that is, I don't know that area.

nb: for all you big gear monsters, i rode this way to welling last week ,and shooters hill is pretty steep and long.

Sainburys Ed, that honestly won't be a very nice route. Pretty much industrial areas once you're out of London til the other side of Gillingham, then it's the busy A2 all the way to Faversham just before Canterbury. Not a very good advert of Kent!

Not sure about the weather either to be honest!

I would be definitely be up for arranging a ride to Canterbury in the summer along some of Kent's finest country lanes. Being a local I could guarantee a pleasant ride once past the outskirts of London :0)

I'm doing this on the weekend, camping and cycling home the next day.
Did the best route get resolved ^?
Any camping recommendations for Canterbury?

I'd like to ride a scenic route, feck all hills and a different route on the way back, also with feck all hills.
Day 2 of tour training. Will be fully loaded.

Have you seen this one, that Sam organised as a forum ride in 2009?
http://www.lfgss.com/thread8826-2.html (make sure you use the route on 2nd page of the thread)

We did it at the weekend. There are hills - you go up and over the Downs - but once you get properly outside London it's a great scenic route. We stopped for lunch at the Tickled Trout in West Farleigh, which has a lovely large garden

I'm doing this on the weekend, camping and cycling home the next day.
Did the best route get resolved ^?
Any camping recommendations for Canterbury?

I'd like to ride a scenic route, feck all hills and a different route on the way back, also with feck all hills.
Day 2 of tour training. Will be fully loaded.

I ended up going down the a20, wouldn't recommend it!

I just looked at the route in Sam's map. I can't comment for the second half as I've not riiden to Canterbury but it includes Bower Lane which is a long, long slog although not steep. Similarly the stretch between Footscray and Swanley is a bit of an uphill drag.

You could include some of this route (to Whitstable but in the same general direction for the first part) but it does include Well Hill which is short but bloody steep. I would definately avoid Hollingbourne Hill later in this route and investigate the gradients involved in Sam's route.

Cheers guys, will give it an indepth look later. Might like to avoid the downs as I'm not 100% fit atm and it's the day after ladies drinks.

Will defo avoid the A20!

As an alternative, there's the FNRTTC* Whitstable route which shadows the Thames / Medway and has no nasty climbs, just a bit rolling. Whitstable to Canterbury is about 6 miles.

*Friday night ride to the coast

Keep an eye on the weather as the prevailing winds in this area are from the West and riding back 60 miles into a block headwind isn't fun, especially when it's gusting into the 20's!

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/FNRttC-October-2008-Whitstable

That sounds alright ^ cheers. Seems quite blowy at the moment so will finalise the route tomorrow I guess.

Found an awesome campsite
http://www.yewtreepark.com/camping&touring.html

Can I take the Greenway on the way?

I'm sure Skydancer mentioned something about taking route 1 all the way to Kent.

Isn't the Greenway in East London or is there another Greenway?
Where are you setting out from?