Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life tour: Day 4, Knole Park

Stats
Kms ridden: 85
Running total: 270
Kms left: 230

Weather: Cold and cloudy; 7 degC

Parks: Lullingstone Country; Knole; High Elms Country

Route on Strava

Knole House, home of the Sackville West family, in Knole Park

Today's weather was not anything to write home about. It was cloudy and cold, but the fact that there was no rain was a blessing - especially after the torrent from yesterday.

My featured park of the day was Knole Park, a very pleasant deer park just south of Sevenoaks.

It's got the same feel as Richmond Park - undulating ancient parkland with deer, a stately home (owned by the Sackville-West family, of Bloomsbury fame), lots of walkers, and a big car park.

If the road through the park was wider and did a full unbroken circuit of the park I suspect there would be more cyclists there. But I think the National Trust, who manage the park I much too savvy to allow that! Instead, there is a relatively narrow road which gets quite congested with two-way traffic, and a car park that gets a bit overcrowded as all of Kent descends on this green space during holiday periods.

Still, it is a very pleasant place to be, and when I manage to get as far as here on my bike it's quite a treat. 



While in the park, a BBC Radio 5 Live reporter, Lesley Ashmall stopped me and asked me about my bike riding. She was doing a piece on how people feel the need to get out and be active after spending Christmas sitting in front of the telly, stuffing themselves with lots of chocolates and biscuits.

I didn't really want to blow her report out of the water by saying I'd cycled over 100 miles over the last few days, so I just gave an answer around how nice it is to be in the park and I was hoping to be able to make it back to London by bike. She was impressed with my ride and was quite chatty. The show aired on the early evening radio show, so I listened out for my vox pop.

Interestingly, for all the interviewing the reporter did with me, the editors only actually used one sentence from our conversation! It reminds me of the episode of Gavin and Stacey when Mick Shipman (played by Larry Lamb) is interviewed for a news programme. All his family and friends make a big occasion of staying in to watch his 15 minutes of fame on TV to see him, but in the end the broadcast included barely four words from his interview 20-minute interview. Oh well, 5 seconds of fame it is then!

As for the ride, it was a good day out with some quality miles put in. The hardest parts of my ride were on two hills - both called Old Hill. The first Old Hill was in Chislehurst, a road which I regularly ride. It's only a short hill, but it has a stiff gradient and the road is quite narrow, meaning motorists often have to stop and give way to me as I grind up the road. Thankfully they are quite patient, and sympathetic!

The other Old Hill is near Cudham - also a narrow steep road, but on a one-way street. This is slightly more manageable than its counter part in Chislehurst, but as I was tackling the hill towards the end of my ride it was that bit tough for me.

A notable nice area of the ride was around Eynsford where I passed Lullingstone Castle, and then later, Knatts Valley. Along this area there were hardly any motorists and the area was wild and desolate with the odd farm house or oast house dotted around.

Today was also a day where I saw a number of cyclists along different parts of the route. This is a popular area for South London based clubs - not just for the beauty and the quietness of the roads, but also for the undulating roads which are great for training. I definitely felt like I'd worked when I arrived home.

Related posts
Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life tour: Day 3, Beckenham/Croydon

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life tour: Day 2, East/Central London

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life tour: Day 1, Richmond Park

Rapha Festive 500: Day 5

Wednesday 28th December - My Tour de Londres - South-eastern loop (Kent)

My first day of pure cycling - no running race to warm me up/wear me out first (depending on how you look at it)!

So that meant I could get up first thing, be out of the door by 9am and enjoy the relatively mild, sunny conditions all the way to Tunbridge Wells.

Wrong. Overnight temperatures had dropped and London had developed a glazing of frost on the roads. I don't recall seeing gritting lorries around, so that was going to make surface conditions tricky to say the least.

In effect, the challenge of dealing with riding after a run was replaced with the challenge of dealing with the riding after an icy blast on the roads. This would be all the more difficult given that I had planned to ride 90km around the country lanes of Kent. Hmm. A couple of people had posted photos of themselves battered and bruised after crashing while attempting the Festive 500, and having to prematurely end their mission, so I had to be mindful of the risks.

Eventually, I decided to go out, but to postpone my departure to 10am, shorten my loop and (boo hoo) stick to the main roads. So there would be no Jackass Lane, which meant no Westerham Hill, no Hosey Hill, no Edenbridge, Penshurst or Tunbridge Wells - all areas that I particularly like riding in.

Deer in Knole Park

Instead, I had to stick to the dull old A232 through West Wickham down to Locksbottom, and then pick up the even duller A21 to Sevenoaks.


I did allow myself to go over Badgers Mount and down Pole Hill though, as I could see that these roads weren't too bad. It's a shame that loads of cars and lorries also had the same idea!

My one consolation on this part of the ride was my mini tour around Knole Park in Sevenoaks which looked lovely as ever, with lots of walkers and baby deer to add to the Christamssy ambiance.

Once past Sevenoaks I moved into slightly less familiar territory as my route went towards Maidstone. Along the way I passed places that rang a bell as I recalled doing triathlons on those roads a number of years ago.

There was Ivy Hatch and Igtham, which are part of the tough bike routes in the Sevenoaks and the Tonbridge triathlons. Later I passed Leybourne with its lakes. I remember doing evening triathlons there, and they were tough simply because you had to find your way round the bike course with no marshalls or signage! Going around what had seemed like a complicated system of roundabouts I ended up completely lost with a passerby having to give me directions back to the HQ. Happy days!

Just outside Maidstone I turned up towards Rochester where the terrain was a bit more scenic. By this time the ice on the roads had melted in the afternoon sun. In these more clement conditions I was able to ride along the Pilgrims Way where the road was devoid of traffic - unlike the alternative route which was full of lorries going to the nearby Waitrose depot!

Some people might find a Waitrose depot the nearest thing to heaven, but the roads around there were a nightmare, dodging trucks and potholes. Anyway I would prefer my Waitrose wrapped in a nice fluffy Ocado van coming to me, rather than vice-versa!

Rochester Castle

Rochester was pretty - at least what I saw of it. By this time I was getting a bit bored and hungry. Being in unfamiliar territory meant that I had stopped to check the map quite a few times and that had disturbed my rhythm, and made the day longer.

A really nice view of a spectacular looking chalky escarpment in the distance had kept me going, but even with that there's a limit to how much looking you can do!

Once in Rochester I had a quick gander at the harbour, the cathedral and the castle before heading over the ironbridge to the other side of the tracks - Strood and Gravesend, where my ride ended.

In Gravesend I only managed to see the shopping centre and the train station - I must admit, that's as much as I needed to see of the place. Sorry, but Gravesend is hardly Tunbridge Wells or even Rochester!

Anyway, I was glad to have done a jaunt around the Garden of England, taking in familiar places, new places, famous and not-so-famous places, while clocking up some useful kms and staying upright!

Rochester Harbour

Stats:
92.3km ridden; running total - 318.7; 181.3km left
1 bagel; two jammy dodgers, a custard cream; 3 quality streets; 
weather: frosty, 5degC, sunny spells

Rides on Strava
South-eastern loop (Kent)

Ride from the train station














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Town and Country cycling

I have finally received the all-clear to start cycling. So, in true 2wheelchick spirit I got straight back on my two-wheeled horse.

Admittedly they have been shaky beginnings, but in any case I am just glad to have been able to get my bike out of the garage and give it a spin. It was a lovely feeling to be sitting on the saddle and rolling along, albeit slowly!

My first ride was last Sunday week. Ironically the sun had been shining all morning, and the weather was set fair for the afternoon, according to BBC Weather. However, the moment I stepped out of the house and began to pedal the sky suddenly turned dark grey and spots of rain began to fall. Within 10 minutes we had gone from bright sunshine to grim hailstones! A bad omen? "This wasn't part of the plan!" I said to myself. "Bloody typical!" In all my annoyance I adopted a defiant attitude, and was determined to continue with my plan to get to Richmond Park. It may not be the most pleasant comeback ride, but the importance was getting out and doing it.

So off I trundled. In fact, in the battle of wills it was one nil to me, for the rain soon subsided and within a quarter of an hour we had sunshine again. A bonus!

My ride through South-west London turned out to enjoyable in the end. One thing I like about my cycle rides in London is the fact that you can ride through suburban built-up areas and it is still perfectly agreeable. We are privileged to have a lot of green spaces. From South Norwood lakes, Streatham Common, Tooting Bec Common, Wandsworth Common, Putney Heath, I feel blessed to live in a big city that still has plenty of green spaces. I know people bemoan the fact that London has less greenery than it had 20 or 30 years ago,  but really I think we do well compared with other European cities.

Riding around central Milan when I worked there was flat and compact, but it was not picturesque at all. The ride out to pleasant cycling areas like Brianza or Como involved a 20-mile dismal trudge past a collage of industrial estates and disused factories!

By contrast my urban ride to Richmond Park was quite a joy. Needless to say once in this royal park I found it a delight to be there among the various other park users enjoying outdoor life - including the deer. 



For a first ride I had coped ok. However, it had been a shock to the system even just to ride up a very gentle incline that went over the railway line near me. I felt rather self-conscious going at a snail's pace over  the slightest slope and holding up all the traffic behind me! It reminded me of my trip to Peru when I landed in Cusco only to struggle with the altitude. While I had to rest in between every step I took, 70-year-old Peruvians with packs on their backs were skipping past me effortlessly. Today I felt the same embarrassment as I felt back then. This was just a less exotic setting! 

Naturally, once in Richmond Park the idea of riding all the way up to Richmond Gate and Pembroke Lodge was completely out of the question, so I stuck to riding the small loop that took me past the Royal Ballet School and Pen Ponds Car Park.

There was just enough time for me to get a quick snack at Pen Ponds and then head back to Clapham Junction to get the train home before dusk. Normally I would have ridden home, but given that my computer was showing 20 miles of riding for the day I thought it better to stop before I do myself some damage through "overtraining". I slept well when I got home!

My second ride was a couple of days ago, and this time it was out to the more rural setting of the Kent Weald. Being in Crystal Palace means having a few options - the chance of getting into Central London within a comfortable distance, but also the facility to get into the countryside and quiet lanes.

Sunday's ride took me past the increasingly used Biggin Hill Airport, with its attractive display of civilian and Royal Air Force aircraft, then I dropped down through Westerham and along the Pilgrims Way, passing a number of quaint English villages to reach Sevenoaks, and my ultimate destination - Knole Park. 

Where the previous Sunday's ride had included one significant hill around Wimbledon Park, this second ride was peppered with hills and long uphill drags. I was significantly challenged on the long climb up through Keston, and then later on when riding through Sevenoaks. In fact through absentmindedness I overshot the turning into Knole Park and ended up doing an extra mile of uphill, nearly ending up in Tonbridge! Although this ride was slightly longer and much hillier than the previous week I had coped better and already felt stronger.



This ride, although only 25 miles still left me pretty pooped at the end of the day - particularly as my body had also been working hard to stay warm in these winter temperatures we've been having. 

Knole Park is worth a visit. Like Richmond, it is set in wild, vast, unspoiled parkland with its share of deer as well as a stately home with ornate courtyard (and of course a tea room) to visit. 

So, after two varied rides I am beginning to feel like a cyclist again. In a week's time I should be able to take on the daily cycle commute to work - once I have conquered the mighty hills of Crystal Palace!


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Richmond Park - Britain's cycling Mecca!