(Sussex and Kent Coastal)
Train to Brighton, good bike provision (three carriages with bike spaces). Straight down to the seafront from the station and turning east. Along the front for a while, then onto a bike path paralleling the main road under Roedean school, towards Rottingdean. Quiet backstreets route through Peacehaven (shame there is no route along the seafront here), then drop down, up and down again to Newhaven. Over the swing-bridge and a nice stretch of bike-path to Seaford, where rejoined the coast. At eastern end of Seaford, back inland towards Exceat, choosing not to use the bike-path due to copious amounts of mud. Onto the A259 for a long stiff pull up to Friston and East Dean. There is a forestry track about fifty yards into the woods on the north of the road, one for Sustrans to try to get hold of? The A-Road ok, is but would be unpleasant in summer. South at East Dean down to Birling Gap. Fabulous National Trust Coffee Shop for lattes and flapjacks. Day’s On!
Along the quiet hill road behind Beachy Head in a sea fret, alternately disappearing into the mist. Turn back to the sea at Eastbourne, long hairpin descent down Dukes Drive to the sea front. Nice looking paths on the front, but a plethora of signs warning against cycling there, so along the main road, very quiet, towards Sovereign’s Harbour, and a cycle-path along the A259 again before turning north to Pevensey. Lunch at the Royal Oak by the Castle, good fish and chips and Harvey’s, beer garden for the bikes. Staff friendly and helpful, dogs everywhere. Quiet road across Pevensey Levels, running alongside the railway line, into Bexhill for its modernist Pavilion, standing sunlit over the Channel as the Earl de la Warre envisaged. Magic spot.
East again towards St Leonards and Hastings, then a very sharp climb out of Hastings taking us up behind the country park and Fire Hill, down the other side to Fairlight and Pett Level. Ignored the inland route (why is it there?) and followed the coastal road to Rye Harbour and up into Rye. Drinks at the Mermaid (popular as ever) and up the hill to the Kings Head, where bikes could be safely locked to the verandah of the cottages, and the food and beer was well done and welcome. Comfortable rooms with good showers, excellent breakfasts, friendly and helpful staff, well worth a stop.
Off in light rain towards Camber, on a cycle path with a few sharp turns at field edges, and some puddles, but still nicer than the road. Cross Romney Marsh to Lydd, wild and desolate with military flotsam everywhere on the coastal side, and the pylons from Dungeness marching across the landscape. From Lydd north, a softer landscape, still flat, but fertile, with geese and swans grazing in the fields between the ditches and dykes. Through St Mary, north of Burmarsh. Grateful for the westerly, cyclists coming the other way were struggling manfully with the wind. We made an abortive attempt at the Military Canal route, but it was too muddy for hybrids, so we veered back on lanes into Hythe and onto the seafront again for the first time since Camber.
Along the seafront at Hythe with brilliant light on the shingle and sea, into Folkestone and down to the harbour. Missed our turning, but rejoined near the Martello Tower, and up the sharp hill towards Capel Le Ferne and the Battle of Britain monument. Bike parking is out back, can’t be overlooked from the café, so we carried on towards Dover, initially on the Old Dover Road, then on what must have been Sustrans’ latest bit of tarmac, fabulously smooth, across the back of Abbots Down, past the Sound Mirror, and swooping across the entrance to Samphire Hoe and into Dover itself. Missed the route in Dover (there’s a theme here), but rejoined up the long long pull of Castle Hill to the back of the Castle, and behind the White CIiffs onto the private road to Kingsdown. Turning north, past Walmer and Deal castles, Warden’s flag flying, stopping for a late lunch at the Sea Café on the Green. Along the front, and then the golf road to Sandwich, utilitarian run alongside the A256 for a couple of miles (safe cycle path, but a bit “light industrial” after what had gone before, then turning inland for the last few miles to Minster, through classic Kent countryside, for beers in the New Inn, and the railway back to London.
120 miles, mostly on the coast. Great light, good views, some really sharp pulls out of Hastings, Folkestone and Dover, and some magical cycling where we had the roads or paths to ourselves, and could have been miles from anywhere. An interesting mix of coastal towns, wild marshes and lots of fortifications, from single Martellos to the Norman and Victorian lines at Dover. Not one to race (too many promenades where speed had to be watched), but a good two day stretch from London for a coastal run with lots to recommend it.
