Events in 2011

This page shows details of events organized by us each month.
More information will be added as it becomes available.

January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, December.

For a list of all tandem events in and around Kent, click on the Diary 2011 page where (as well as our events) you will also see events and rides organized by both the Tandem Club South East London and the Tandem Club Surrey & Sussex.

Event Date: Sunday, 16/01/11

Minnis Bay, Birchington, Kent

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: approx.35 miles
   contact: Cliff & Pauline - 01732 750885 or 07976 363439
   email:



Coffee at wildlife park, lunch at Preston then back to Minnis Bay anyone wanting drinks can then use the cafe.

Event Date: Sunday, 20/02/11

Otford, Kent. Joint SEL/Kent regions, North Kent

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 30-35 miles
   contact: Cliff & Pauline - 01732 750885 or 07976 363439
   email:

Coffee stop at Ightham, heading up across the downs to Harvel for lunch before returning to Otford.
Please let us know if you are coming so we can book the pub. Thank you.

Event Date: Sunday, 20/03/11

Groombridge, Kent.

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 35 miles
   contact: Dave and Caroline 01737 766649
   email:

Lunch probably at Mayfield.



Twenty members of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex and South East London regions, with 11 machines, met on a cool but bright morning at the Harrison's Rocks car park near Groombridge. Perhaps the promise of a hilly route was the attraction?

Some had difficulty finding the car park, so we started about 30 mins later than planned - this had the side effect of cancelling the planned coffee stop in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

The steep climb out of the car park got everyone warmed up, only to cool down again on the fast descent towards High Rocks. Entering Tunbridge Wells on the path accross Hungershall Park, we headed up the hill through quiet backstreets to Hawkenbury, then out into the countryside for the up and down sawtooth profile route to Wadhurst, just catching a glimpse of the dinghies on Bewl Water in the distance.

After Wadhurst the countryside opened out and we had a long descent through Stonegate before a short steep climb at Witherenden Hill, a short descent then a long 4 mile climb to lunch at the Rose and Crown, Mayfield.

Filled with food and drink, if not fully refreshed after the mornings exertions, we left Mayfield following National Cycle Route 21 past Fir Toll to reach Castle Hill. Here a choice was provided - short route via Rotherfield with little climbing or a longer route via Jarvis Brook and Limekiln Wood. Most took the longer hilly option, with a few weary souls (including the leader!) enjoying the fast descent from Rotherfield.

All together again we went through Eridge before making a brief stop to allow Christopher to operate the hydraulic (or pneumatic?) railway crossing barriers to Forge Farm. Yet another steep climb, a long descent into Groombridge, over the Spa Valley Railway then back to the car park at the start for a picnic of tea, coffee and cakes, with the help of various camping stoves.

Report by: David Wilde

Total distance (full route) approx. 32 miles, 3317 ft of climbing!

Event Date: Sunday, 17/04/11

Whitstable, Kent

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 40 miles
   contact: Jim & Kate - 01227 740964
   email:





Kate and Jim’s first time as lead got off to a good start. Kate had ordered the weather and we had a perfect day of sunshine and light winds just to cool you down after a few small hills. Shorts were the order of the day and for many the first airing of the legs.

We started in Whitstable with 8 tandems and 2 solo’s and got off to an early start as every body turned up bang on 9-30. The ride started with a leisurely ride into Canterbury along the “Crab and Winkle Way” a disused railway taking you through the beautiful Blean woods. Once into Canterbury, we followed the cycle route and picked up the new Stour Valley cycle route into Chartham. This new cycle path follows the river Stour and creates a leisurely flat ride with just the odd cattle grid to wake you from your day dreams of watching the water flow by and being nosey into people’s great gardens which back onto the river.

Once at Chartham we stopped for a short outside coffee stop, with a quick survey on the difference between coffee with milk and a latte, it was decided latte has a bit more milk?? After a few danishes and a whole giant packet of nachos (solely by Jake) were devoured whilst watching the local football on the green we saddled up and set off on country lanes and attacked our first hills. At the bottom of every hill you could hear the cry of “Come on Murray” from Jake and Mark who set the pace up most of the hills. I didn’t see Murray take up the challenge, but at the end of the day he did confess to having a cunning plan to increase his uphill speed. He has put Angela on a 3 times a week training regime. I’m still trying to convince Kate the merit of the plan.

We headed out across to Selling taking in great views of hop farms and oast houses, with most of the country roads being quiet of traffic allowing us to take up the whole road. Once through Selling we reached our first granny ring climb up Hogbens Hill and then onto Sheldwich were we crossed the Ashford road travelling towards Painter’s Forstal. With the bluebells out and the rapeseed fields shining yellow in the sun we had a colourful ride. At Painters Forstal we had our second hard climb with Jake and Mark racing off at the front with Liz on her solo chasing hard, lucky for us I forgot to tell them to take a right at the Pub, so we beat them to the top by default. I don’t think the extra distance up hill did them any harm!

It was just a quick ride across the A2, just past Faversham and picking up the national cycle route that took us through more quiet country lanes and out to our lunch stop at Oare in the Castle pub. Arriving early due to an early start and no punctures, we had to suffer and sit in the beer garden sunny ourselves with a favourite tipple. Once lunch was served no one was disappointed with a choice of roast supplied with enough roast potatoes and veg to satisfy the biggest of appetites.

After lunch, feeling slightly stuffed we set of for our final leg back to Whitstable. This took us along some of the cycle paths of Faversham which contain the most tandem unfriendly gates we have come across. The path which leads along the creek became the most entertaining with gates which really got the brain thinking and although brute strength was an option it was found easier just to wiggle your rear to get through.

Once we got back on the road we had the pleasure of a strong sea breeze directly in our faces through Seasalter and back to Whitstable, this certainly burnt off a few calories from the large lunch. Back at Whitstable it was tea and cakes and a quick rest before the drive home.

Thanks to all that came along.

Jim and Kate.

Event Date: Sunday, 15/05/11

Hawkhurst, Kent

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 40 miles
   contact: Keith & Jane - 01323 761575
   email:

The ride will start from Hawkhurst, Kent

There will be tea/coffee and breakfast for those that want it before the ride starts, there is no mid morning stop so there will be no rush to get away from the cafe. Lunch is at a pub just West of Beckley and then we return to the finish for tea and cakes. I have also organised the weather and it will be nice and sunny so that we can sit in the pub garden and outside at the cafe looking at the lakes. The route is undulating, with not many flat bits, but it is only 30 miles!!





9 tandems met at Hawkhurst Fish Farm Cafe, which was the start point for the ride, on a sunny but chilly morning. It was great to see Chris with his daughter Millie join us after riding to the start from Northiam.
The Fish Farm was a hive of activity with breakfasts being served and many fishermen dangling rods into the lakes in intense competition with each other. Tea, coffee and bacon sandwiches were had before we moved off in a north easterly direction, sticking to small ‘undulating’ country lanes, skirting round Sandhurst into Rolvenden Lane, through Wittersham and then south making our way to Beckley. Chris and Millie stayed with us for a drink at lunch, which was taken at the Rose and Crown, before riding back down the hill to their home in Northiam.

After lunch we rode into Northiam before turning south again and criss-crossed the beautiful, and somewhat lumpy lanes, making our way, via Bodiam Castle, back to the start point. Drinks and extremely large portions of cake were devoured in the late afternoon sunshine just as the fishing competition was coming to an end.

30 rather hilly miles covered, only 1 puncture and the weather was kind to us. I am not sure about the others on the ride but I was glad that I was riding a bike for the day as opposed to sitting on the bank dangling a rod trying to hook a fish!

Many thanks go to the owner of the Fish Farm who made us very welcome and kindly allowed us to park our cars at the site for the whole day.

Keith and Jane

Event Date: Sunday, 19/06/11

St. Margaret's

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: approx. 40 miles
   contact: Nick and Simon - 01304 364657
   email:

To download the route as a gpx, right click on the map and choose save target as.



The ride will start from St. Margaret's, Kent

The ride will be about 43 miles, with 700m of climbing (almost all the hills we will do in the morning.) Most of the ride is on small roads but about 10 miles will be on tarmac or gravel cycle trails. The route will take us through Dover and up the other side to a coffee stop in Capel . Then inland slightly before heading towards Whitfield for lunch at The Kittiwake . Then on to Sandwich for a tea stop (or ice cream stop if we are running late and the tea room has closed!) then back through Deal to St Margarets.



Fourteen people with seven tandems met at St. Margaret's. The car park was also being used for the 10am church service and by some walkers but we all managed to squeeze in and set off towards Dover in reasonably dry weather with not too much of a head wind. There were a couple of good descents into Dover (with a small climb in between) and then we negotiated various cycle paths round the traffic to get onto cycle route 2 climbing up ( and up and up!) towards Folkestone. We paused briefly at the entrance to Samphire Hoe before continuing up to the Cliff Top Cafe at Capel where we sat outside overlooking the Channel and Folkestone. We then swung inland before heading East back towards Dover and to the planned lunch stop at Whitfield. The climb up to Whitfield was long and became increasingly steep as we climbed. Eventually we struggled through a gate and onto a disused road that was so steep that only one team managed to ride up it (well done Mark and Liz!) ... all the rest were walking by the top! I feel the morning was a real success as we managed to get Mark and Liz into “granny gear” and I even heard Cliff complain about the hills! I have never known either of these two things to happen before!

During lunch at The Kittiwake the heavens opened and it poured with rain but this had eased off to a gentle drizzle by the time we set off towards Sandwich following more or less the course of the old A256. This was probably the easiest and fastest leg of the ride as it was gently downhill with the wind behind us for about ten miles, the rain even stopped after the first five! We had a brief tea stop in Sandwich and sat and watched various boats try to get under the bridge at High Tide. Some successfully and some not! We sat out another major downpour in the cafe and managed to get five yards from the bike racks before the cry of “puncture” was heard from Mark and Liz. The puncture repair committee made swift work of the repair and Cliff managed to separate his fingers from each other after Liz had stuck them together with rubber solution! The route back towards Deal was past the Royal St George’s Golf Course where preparations for next months Open Championships were well underway. Then it was along “the ancient highway” across the Royal Cinque Ports course which was done in the rain and into a head wind. The rain stopped again as we passed through Deal and along the seafront before one final climb as we followed cycle route 1 back into St. Margaret's where the sun was shining.

The total mileage was 44 miles and we had been successful in dodging the worst of the rain storms.

Nick Ferrar

Event Date: Sunday, 17/07/11

Ditton

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 40 miles
   contact: Mark & Liz - 01732 848432
   email:

Come and join us around our lovely Kentish lanes





Although the weather looked bleak for our July ride, we had a good turn out, as including ourselves there were 11 tandems.

We set off from Ditton Community Centre at 10am heading towards a black sky, however we were very lucky as we managed to stay dry for the 6 miles it took us to get to Spadework in Offham.

The service was excellent at Spadework’s cafe, as the chef was cooking sausage rolls ready for our arrival. We were spoilt for choice as there were also lots of lovely cakes that he had baked. As we were tucking into our food, the heavens opened, so we took our time eating and waited for the rain to pass before setting out again.

From Spadework we travelled 21 miles through Crouch, Plaxtol, Hadlow, East Peckham to eventually arrive at ‘The White Heart’ in Claygate for our lunch. Unfortunately, the rain came just before we made it to the pub so we were all slightly damp when we arrived.

The food and service that Sarah provided at ‘The White Heart’ was excellent and we were looked after really well. We weren’t so lucky when it was time to leave as the rain was pouring down and although we had stayed longer than planned, it certainly didn’t look as it was going to ease off. We had no choice but to set off on our homeward journey in the pouring rain.

The showers came and went for the 14 mile ride home, which took us through Marden, Benover, Yalding and Wateringbury. Jake made the ride home more interesting by encouraging others to participate in a sprint and a hill climb up Red Hill.

After cycling 41 miles, we all came back to our house for tea and cakes. Thank you to all those that made this such an enjoyable day and welcome to Richard and Helen on their first outing – we hope to see you again.

Liz and Mark Noble

Event Date: August

No ride due to clash with National Rally at Lucton - see Tandem Club Website for details

Event Date: Sunday, 18/09/11

Biddenden

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: approx. 40-45 miles
   contact: Maurice & Rita - 01580 713887
   email:

This ride will be fairly flat, across the marshes. So come and join us for this September ride.





Twenty of us met up at Biddenden and a phone call to the coffee stop café produced a disbelieving “There’s how many?” shock response! She was worried that we would displace her regulars! “Well, if you’re prepared to sit outside…” It was a lovely day, if slightly chilly, so we were prepared to sit outside.

Just as we were about to leave the car park somebody called out, “You can’t leave those cars there all day, there’s a 4 hour limit.” So everybody had to move their cars to another place just up the road.

Once on our way we proceeded via Tenterden, Small Hythe and Wittersham to Appledore where, in spite of her apprehension at our numbers the lady served us happily and quickly with our coffee and cake. From here we took to the Marshes and wound our way through the glorious flat and almost deserted lanes.

New members Richard and Anne punctured here and we lost more time. Continuing on we didn’t arrive at our lunch stop at Old Romney until 1.30, somewhat later than anticipated. The landlord had previously told me he could easily cope with up to 20 without the need to book, but then he was expecting us to arrive between 12.30 and 1.00. When we did arrive we found the restaurant at its busiest for weeks and choc-a-bloc. So it was turned 2.30 before we actually got served. Still, the staff were friendly and the food was good and plentiful when it finally arrived so nobody really minded.

By the time we left we would normally have been approaching the end of our ride so it was deemed necessary to modify the afternoon route. Back through Ivychurch, Brenzett, Appledore and Tenterden we got back to Biddenden at 5.30 having covered almost 50 miles.

Event Date: Sunday, 16/10/11

Staplehurst

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 40-45 miles
   contact: Colin & Mon - 01732 844292
   email:





It was a misty and very cold (+2 Celsius) autumn morning as 12 tandems and a solo departed from Staplehurst Bell Lane Car Park. Considering the amount of fruit falling from the trees, the back lanes looked amazingly cleanly swept. After what seemed like no time at all, we arrived at Headcorn Village Tea Rooms where tables had been reserved for us. Coffee and scones always go down well here.

Emerging from the warmth of the building, we found the mist had virtually disappeared and the sun shone in a clear blue sky. We continued on through some lovely quiet Kentish lanes on a circular route which was planned to use mostly flat terrain. Then what is this, a hill? Has Colin slipped up on his navigation? No, the only way to get to the lunch stop venue is to climb up to Egerton where the George is located. Here, the sun shone on the decking terrace, but we had tables reserved inside. This pub caters for the Wednesday Wobblers from Maidstone so they are used to large numbers of cyclists arriving. After eating, Jake had to go and play Korfball and Tricia drove off with him.

Some clouds were beginning to bubble up as we departed from the pub and rolled down the hill from Egerton on another wide circumnavigating route. The tea stop was taken at Grafty Green Garden Centre where Shorn the sheep can be found in their car park. This is the monstrous concrete planter sheep which used to reside in Maidstone High Street. We were made extremely welcome in their tea shop where yet more inches were added to the waistline. It seems that we were eating and drinking for most of the day, with just a little exercise on the tandem for improving the appetite. We arrived back safely at Staplehurst after having enjoyed a pleasant autumn day’s ride. Distance covered was 42 miles with an ascent of 1063ft.

Colin and Mon

Event Date: Sunday, 20/11/11

Tonbridge


   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 40 miles
   contact: Cliff & Pauline - 01732 750885
   email:





Riding to the start in thick fog, we found that parents bringing their children to a big rugby tournament had completely filled the car park. One of those unfortunate things that one cannot plan for. Tandemists found space in other local car parks and we eventually all managed to assemble outside Tonbridge Swimming pool. Sustrans local route 12 starts from here, with their trademark cycle unfriendly barriers designed to ensure that traffic free routes remain free of all traffic, including cycles. Unperturbed, a combination of lifting, leaning, twisting and pushing through the barrier and we eventually set off along the river Medway, on what would have been a pleasant route, if only one could see through the fog. We soon left the route to follow a disputed footpath (well I dispute it) and the outskirts of Tonbridge before heading north away from the river, with the hope that the higher ground would take us above the fog. This proved to be the case and by the time we reached Sevenoaks Weald we were bathing in sunshine with clear blue skies above. We then headed back downhill to Bough Beech reservoir and stopped for tea at the visitor centre.

After circumnavigating the reservoir we headed for Chiddingstone and then the long climb to Mark Beech for lunch at the Kentish Horse. By now, it had become so warm that some riders sat in the garden until their food arrived.

We then headed back to Penshurst where we once again picked up the cycle route through the Penshurst Estate, but deviated onto roads at the river to avoid any more silly cycle barriers. It was getting towards dusk when we reached Haysden country park, but they had not yet locked the gates, so we could re-join the cyclepath back to the swimming pool, where the café gave us an option to stop for a coffee.

Cliff and Pauline

Event Date: Sunday, 04/12/11

South East England Joint 3 Region Christmas Ride and Lunch at Woodlands Manor Golf Club, Kent

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: approx. 15 miles
   contact: Angela & Murray - 01322 294984 or 07889031310
   email:

Our Christmas lunch will be a joint affair with Kent and Surrey & Sussex Regions. It will be held at Woodlands Manor Golf Club, Kent at 1pm, preceeded by a short ride with coffee stop. This event must be pre-booked by Monday 14th November. For further details please contact Liz & Ken Gates Tel: 01323 735620 or 07866468840 / e-mail:



The excellent ride and lunch was well attended by members from all three regions. For a full report and pictures visit South East London website