Events in 2018

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

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

For a list of all tandem events in and around Kent, click on the Diary 2018 page where you will also see events and rides organized by the Tandem Club Surrey & Sussex.

Event Date: Sunday, 25/02/18

Canterbury

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 35 miles
   contact: Cliff & Pauline - 01732 750885 or 07507 398397
   email:

Our first Tandem ride of the year will be starting from Canterbury city council offices, Military Rd, CT1 1YW. meeting at 9.45am for a start at 10am. heading towards Wye for a coffee stop and Elham for lunch. We look forward to seeing you. Please contact us if you can join us or if you would like any more information. Here's hoping for a nice sunny day.



Starting from Canterbury, we were surprised by Ken and Liz turning up on singles. They had a crack in the frame so hired solos so they could join us.

We started SE from Canterbury to Chartham Downs and then down to the attractive village of Petham. A gradual climb over seven miles to the top of the North Downs and then lost the height within half a mile down to the Pilgrims Way at Brabourne. Following the Pilgrims Way to Postling allowed us to cut through the Downs to Lyminge for Lunch.

Following the Elham valley north to Barham and then to Aylesham. Liz and Ken took the direct route to coffee at Gibsons Farm near Wingham, while the rest of us headed via Nonington and Goodnestone.

The return route, via Ickham, Wickhambreaux, and Stodmarsh picked up the Stour Valley Cycle path from Fordwich to Canterbury.

report by Cliff

Event Date: Sunday,25/03/18

Wingham

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 40 miles
   contact: Cliff & Pauline - 01732 750885 or 07507 398397
   email:

On Sunday 25th March we will be leading a ride of about 40 miles from Wingham near Canterbury via Sandwich, Deal, & Eythorne. We shall be stopping for morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea, meeting at the car park in the centre of Wingham Grid ref: TR244577 postcode CT3 1AH.

Please contact us if you can join us as the pub will need to know numbers for lunch - email by Friday 23rd or you can phone or text 07507 398397.

Look forward to seeing you all

Pauline and Cliff





Starting from Wingham, we welcomed Andrew on a recumbent Trike. Riding east through Staple, Woodnesborough and Sandwich, we picked up the Toll road to Deal. The intention was to patronise the cyclecafe, but found the proprietor only just arriving to open up. So we used the Ice Crème Parlour opposite.

I was expecting the cyclepath along the seafront to Kingsdown comparatively quiet at this time of the year. Little expecting a sponsored Dog Walk. It took some time trying to negotiate the walkers, oblivious to us being there, and to cautiously pass the erratic semi-feral dogs.

The first climb of the day from Kingsdown to Ringwould was short and sharp. Then via Ripple to Northbourne for Lunch.

Afternoon tea at Kearnsey Abbey was hard fought. Firstly lost among the industrial estate of Whitfield and then finding Dover’s one way systems constantly against us. We reverted to walking.

After Tea our return route took us up the Downs at Lydden, then via Sibertswold and Barfrestone, which made it sound like we were riding in Scandinavia, and through Chillenden, with its Post Mill.

report by Cliff

Event Date: Sunday, 22/04/18

Orpington

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: about 40 miles
   contact: Caroline & Dave - 01737 766649
   email:

We will be starting from High Elms Country Park near Orpington. There is parking - but not a lot! We will have lunch at the pub in Hodsoll Street, and there are several options for afternoon tea - depending on how things are going. Please contact us for more details.



Two tandems and a recumbent met at High Elms Country Park. After crossing the A21 we passed through Crockenhill and South Darenth on our way to the cafe at Speedgate. After lunch at The Green Man in Hodsoll Street, we made our way to Shoreham. We decided not to stop at one of the cafes but to have a snack when we arrived back at High Elms.

However everyone was feeling the effects of a hard day. With no chance of getting back to the Country Park’s cafe before it closed, we stopped to eat any snacks we were carrying. Cliff and Pauline left us at Cudham to ride back home. So three of us returned to the Country Park, going through Downe on the way.

Even though the day began with plenty of sun, it clouded over so it wasn’t ever unbearably hot. I’m certain that this ride was a lot harder than Drew’s previous one last month, so I hope we see him again.

Thanks everyone!

report by Caroline

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Event Date: Sunday, 24/06/18

TBA ride leader required

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance:
   contact:
   email:

 

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Event Dates: Sunday, 22/07/18 and 29/07/18

Northiam - part 1 on 22/07/18

   start time: 9:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 44 miles
   contact: Richard and Anne
   email:

The start will be at the leaders' house in Northiam. Morning coffee at the shop in Hurst Green at about 9 miles and then lunch at the Old Vine Wadhurst after about 26 miles. Afternoon tea back here.





The route was selected to revisit the Old Vine at Wadhurst as they had looked after us so well during the Easter Rally, but I was trying to find a different route to the Easter one. It is difficult to see how I could have picked a more hilly route if I had tried. I had also forgotten Liz’s warning from some while ago that route 18 was a horrible route.

Two tandems, one Pino and a recumbent Trike set off at 10:00; a good attendance for a summer month. The day was very hot but slightly overcast and although it had been dry the countryside still looked quite green. The air was clear so we had really good views across the countryside. It was a very pleasant ride out to Hurst Green. Coffee was good at the local volunteer shop and café and it was a pleasant place to stop.

Ride out to Stonegate seemed mainly uphill and before we got there Liz and Ken thought they would take the short cut to the pub to miss out the ‘minor’ hills around Mayfield (Obviously another of Liz’s favourite routes). Valley towards Mayfield was beautiful and the first of the hills was not too bad. Second hill was a bit steeper and it was quite hot but thankfully there was shade on our side of the road from the hedges and trees. The third hill was quite long but manageable but the heat seemed to make it more difficult than normal. We arrived at the The Old Vine very sweaty and hot.

We were expecting similar menus to last time but the menus were completely different with an Ecuadorian theme. It turned out that the current owners had only taken over 6 weeks ago. The food was very good and we would have sampled a few more courses had we not had to cycle in the afternoon.

I pointed out to everyone that as we were at the highest point of the ride, 600ft, the rest of the ride was predominantly downhill. This innocent statement was played back to me many times on the route back. It was a long descent past Bewl water, which still appeared to have some water in it. The A21 was extremely busy and uphill and we were glad to get off it. The hills out of Kingsdown were not too bad but I hadn't realised that the track through Bedgebury has an uphill grade from this direction, no wonder it was so pleasant at Easter! The country side around route 18 is lovely but we seemed to be going uphill so much that we couldn’t enjoy it properly. The final hill into Iden Green is particularly brutal although David and Caroline seemed to manage very well. Obviously very fit after their two weeks in the Dordogne. Drew had only used 21% of his battery so he had been working really hard as well as that trike is really heavy. Liz's satnav indicated 32C! at this point and it felt like it. The route had a nice downhill section to stone pit lane. The A268 was not too busy but the drag back up through the village seemed hard work and the head wind seemed a bit cruel.

We all enjoyed the tea and cakes in the garden, the chocolate and lime gluten free cake went down particularly well. On reflection it was a hard ride, but satisfying, with some lovely scenery.

Richard and Anne





Northiam - part 2 on 29/07/18

   start time: 9:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 51 miles
   contact: Richard and Anne
   email:


Tea at Miss Mollets Appledore with lunch at either the Britannia Inn or Pilot at Dungeness. Tea and Cakes back here in Northiam. It is 51 Miles but mostly flat with only 1750 ft of climbing ( A bit different from last week!)





The intent of having two July rides was to give an opportunity for those on holiday to come and sample the cakes. As it happened we were well supported on both rides but it was nice to be out anyway.

The plan was to have a contrasting ride to the hills of last week with a leisurely ride to the coast for for fish and chips. When I decided on the ride the weather forecast was looking good after a small hiatus on the Saturday. However, as we got closer to the day the weather forecast got worse and worse and it was already drizzling when everyone arrived on Sunday morning.

We set off at 10:00 with two tandems and a Pino. The ride out to Appledore was quite pleasant with a slight tail wind so the rain was on our backs and it was quite warm. At Miss Mollets, high class tea establishment, we were asked to shake our coats before going inside. Alfresco tea and coffee was not on the agenda. There were only one other couple in the cafe and they were interested in the tandems. Mark engaged them in chat for some while and passed over a tandem club card.

It wasn’t actually raining when we left the cafe but I warned everyone that with a 25 to 30 mile head wind we may have to form a chain gang. In actual fact the ride down to Lydd wasn’t too bad as there are quite a lot of high hedges. Having said that we quite glad of a short rest in Lydd before tackling the open landscape to Dungeness. It was quite a ferocious wind with some tricky gusts trying to blow you into the ditch. We all felt we had expended quite a lot of energy by the time we reached the buildings at Lydd-on-Sea. I had decided we would try the Britannia Inn which is a mile further than the Pilot and it was a long mile in the wind. We arrived 30 minutes early and it had been my intent to have a look over the shingle banks at the sea but it was far too windy with windblown drizzle to contemplate this. Inside the pub they weren’t ready for us and we had to wait 5 minutes or so for our table. The fish menu is less varied at the Britannia than the Pilot but what we had was very nice. It was still very windy and drizzly when we left the pub and I had decided that we would go back the way we came as the planned route would have meant we would have had a head wind for about 10 miles. Although we now had a tail wind to Lydd the sideways gusts still made it quite hard work. It started to dry up between Lydd and the A259 and we all took our coats off apart from Anne. As we travelled towards Appledore the weather from the west got greyer and greyer and then it started drizzling again. It was warm enough so we carried on without our coats. We stopped on the hill just after the river Rother and I reflected on the ride; it was more of an endurance ride than a sightseeing ride which was a shame as it is a superb ride on a nice day. The heavens really opened as we came up to the village and Anne got out a load of towels for everyone to dry off. Everyone enjoyed the tea and cakes, the Gluten free chocolate cake was enjoyed once again.

Everyone agreed that despite the weather it was a good ride and we were all surprised that the average speed was 13.4 mph, we must have gone faster on the downwind sections than we thought.

Richard and Anne

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Event Date: 25/08/18 to 27/08/18

Marlborough Camping Weekend

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance:
   contact: Cliff & Pauline - 01732 750885 or 07507 398397
   email:

We have chosen Church farm, Mildenhall, Marlborough, SN8 2UL (map 174 grid 212695). From the centre of Mildenhall take Church lane, past church to church farm at end of road. Small site with toilet and shower. Pub in village.

Cycling attractions include Crofton Beam Engines and windmill, Uffington castle and the White horse, Avebury stone circle.

Please book direct with camp site saying you are with the Tandem Club 01672 513159

If you could also let me know if you are coming, as there are currently no pubs booked for lunch, but if there are quite a few of us, I may have to do so.

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Event Date: Sunday, 23/09/18

Pluckley

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance:
   contact: Cliff & Pauline - 01732 750885 or 07507 398397
   email:

The start will be from Pluckley recreation ground car park which is just behind The Black Horse car park. Map is OS189 Ref TQ (5)926 (1)455 or the pub postcode is TN27 0QS

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Event Date: Sunday, 28/10/18

Faversham Fire Station

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance:
   contact: Jim and Kate 01227 740964
   email:

We will be starting at Faversham fire station (ME13 8XR), then making our way to Rodmersham for coffee. After that a quick loop through Hollingborne, Lenham and then back over the hill to Stalisfield Green to the Plough Pub for lunch. After lunch straight back to Faversham for tea and cake. Don't forget that the clocks change this weekend! Can you give us an email or ring if you are coming as the pub needs numbers. Thanks Jim

The summer in Kent has held on right up to last week and then the seasons thought they would give autumn a miss and jump straight into winter for the last weekend of October. With that in mind I need to start with a big thanks to the 9 hardy maybe mad souls who joined Kate and I on our club ride. I’m not sure I would have committed to the ride if it was not for me being the lead for the day.

We started at Faversham, luckily in the dry with the promise of some blue sky, how easily we are fooled. We soon come to our first obstacle a flooded road under the railway bridge from the thunderstorm we had not slept through the night before, this led us up a slight diversion where we demonstrated to the locals our cycling skills of turning around at the end of a cul-de-sac, nice Halloween decs on the roundabout though. We finally got out of Faversham onto the back roads with a nice 20mph breeze at our backs making life seem fun, even the grey clouds could not keep up with us. It was not long only a quick 10miles and we were getting close to Rodmersham village green for our coffee stop when we felt the first drops of rain.

What perfect timing, as we drank teas, coffee and hot chocolate specials the heavens opened with the great 20mph wind driving the rain and hailstones past the coffee shop window in a biblical fashion. I’ve never seen people nurse a coffee for so long. With the rain slowing and the arrival of 7 soaked red in the face women on bikes we only felt it fair to create some space and leave.

We set off into beautiful country lanes, at least the trees had not forgotten autumn they were magnificent oranges and reds looking truly wonderful even in their wet guise. With the wind and rain my country lanes which last week were fast swooping fun became full of debris and large puddles hiding pot holes. With the slow drag up hill to the top of Hollingbourne we managed to keep warm with a few brave souls stripping off their wet jackets. As we descended Hollingbourne hill keeping the jackets on may have been the smart move as the road was running like a river and 5 tandems and 1 solo create quite a bit of spray, lucky old leader at the front in the dry. Once all had got to the bottom of the hill safely we started our turn around which meant a bit of that 20mph wind on our side slowing us down. We wound our way through narrow country lanes following the route of the A20 through Harrietsham and Lenham picking up a great rolling country lane running parallel with the A20. It was from here that we should have been able to see the downs, but alas all we could see was grey clouds and torrential rain. As we got closer to the weather front the wind picked up bringing with it the heavy rain. Although sheltered by the hedges we were still getting soaked and wind bashed at every gap in the hedgerow. Funny, the conversation stopped along this stretch of road as people had heads down and gritted teeth. I’m sure I heard a few grumblings of whose stupid idea was this. The good news was it only lasted for a short 5 miles as the wind pushed it in the opposite direction.

As we crossed the A20 the downs were now visible and blue sky greeted us along with a steep hill. With shouts of “granny ring” we made our way up to the top and the lovely pub in Stalisfield. I was generating so much heat going up the hill I was almost dry by the time I got to the lunch stop. As we entered we could feel the heat soaking into us and a warm welcoming open fire was blazing. I’m not sure if the locals would have appreciated a row of soggy cycling shoes hanging from the mantelpiece but I’m sure it crossed a few minds. The roasts were great and well-needed pure winter comfort food.

With the promise of Kate’s homemade cakes I managed to force everybody back out into the cold damp day. With the promise of the way home being mainly down hills and only 8 miles we set off. Downhill into the wind does take some of the fun out of it but still better than uphill into the wind. We picked up our first puncture of the day, which considering the debris in the roads a small miracle. We were soon back into Faversham with plenty of day light left, as people got changed and racked their bikes, Kate put a pot of tea on and laid the table for cake, all of which were sampled by Mark.

Thanks for great company all day, keeping spirits high. Here’s to sunny days next October.

report by Jim

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Event Date: Sunday, 18/11/18

Ditton Community Centre


   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance: 37 miles
   contact: Liz and Mark
   email:

Liz and Mark Noble are leading a ride on 18/11. Starting fromt from Ditton Community Centre, Kiln Barn Road, Ditton, ME20 6AH, 9.45 for a 10am start. Going to Sage & Time Cafe, Yalding for our coffee stop followed by lunch at The George, Yalding. Please let them know if you are going 01732 848432

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Event Date: Sunday, 2/12/18

Joint region Christmas Ride and Lunch

   start time: 09:45 for 10:00
   approx. ride distance:
   contact: Cliff and Pauline on 01732 750885 or Phil & Verna on 01903 205405.
   email:

The lunch is at The Vauxhall Inn, Tonbridge, and is booked for 1:00 pm. 2 courses for £18.99 or 3 courses for £21.99. Please give a prompt reply if you would like to join us - contact Phil and Verna by email or phone.

There will be an optional morning only ride beforehand, led by Cliff and Pauline.

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