2009-08-09 Sun - Ride to St Margarets

You would struggle to get around in under 5 hours, if you had a good geared group who all knew the route you'd be in with a chance, but the road surface through the hills towards the end left you scrubbing your speed at the bottom of the descents (Gravel/pot holes/ blind corners etc) so you gained no momentum for the hills. (Geared riders on the granny ring came to a stop)

There were 3 or 4 stretches where we could get a rhythm together but not enough to claw back time. 5 hours would be a good challenge.. might be worth a revisit next year

i'm going to do the route sometime soon as it's not too far from my folks. if you don't stop and work together then it's certainly doable. me and another rider got to rye in 3hr20 so i was allowing another 1hr 40 for the terrain and the extra 12 miles.
a slightly bigger group (4-5) would make it a bit easier

i take it the cycle route over the medway was without any problems? it looks like it saves a bit of time and distance.