Hills of the High Weald: Saturday Adventure Ride

** Please read this ride description carefully, to help you decide if this is the ride for you!**

Overview

THIS IS A HARD, HILLY RIDE!!

This ride is much harder than our previous Saturday Adventure Rides. If there was an Extra Challenging category on the website, this would be it. It is a long day out, with an early start and possibly a late return. There are a lot of hills- some are long & steady, some are short & sharp. This is the hilliest ride this group has ever done!

The ride is 68.2km in distance and has 777m of ascent. To give some comparisons with previous rides:

- our Saturday Adventure Rides in the Chilterns have been between 50-55km in distance and around 500m of ascent;

- our Sussex ride last year from Crowborough to Hastings was 63km with 440m of ascent;

- the London to Brighton bike ride is in the region of 90km with almost 1,000m of ascent, but that is nearly all confined to three big hills, including the Ditchling Beacon. This ride is more continually hilly throughout, though it does get easier towards the end.

We will be going at a steady pace, stopping and regrouping after each climb. It’s fine to get down and walk, but you do need the stamina & fitness to keep going all day. There are no easily accessible intermediate train stations, so there are no obvious dropping out points if you are unable to complete the ride. We will be a smaller group than usual to help us keep together and maintain a steady pace.

The Ride

Our route follows the High Weald Ride https://www.walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk/find-other-routes/high-weald-ride/ , part of National Cycling Network Route 18, from Tunbridge Wells to Ashford.

From Tunbridge Wells station, we make our way out of the town and onto a shared path alongside a busy A road for approx. 30 minutes. Then we turn off into quieter country roads and lanes. This is a roller coaster of hills through the open countryside and shady woodland of the High Weald, seeing pretty villages and traditional Kent oast houses, with approx. 1km of traffic-free stony track through the Begborough National Pinetum & Forest.

Our refreshment stop is after nearly 40km of energetic riding, so you need to have plenty of water and snacks with you to keep yourself going. We will have a late lunch at around 2pm at the Benenden Community Café https://benendens.co.uk/cafe/ . (The menu is in the Photos tab, and we will be pre-ordering our food a couple of days beforehand.)

Riding on, we have more hills to tackle, and the possibility of a late afternoon tea stop at Silcocks Farm Café https://silcocksfarm-organics.co.uk/cafe/ . For the final 20km, the gradients become easier, and we join a network of traffic free shared paths to bring us through Ashford to the railway station for train services back to London.

Travel Arrangements

For our outward journey, we will take the Southeastern service leaving Charing Cross at 8.45am and arriving in Tunbridge Wells at 9.40am. At time of posting, an Advance Single ticket is available for £8.10; a Super Off Peak Day Single is £21.10; Senior Railcard discounts are available and Oyster is valid as far as Orpington.

For our return journey from Ashford International, we can use Southeastern services to St Pancras, Charing Cross, or Victoria.

The high-speed service to St Pancras leaves at 16 & 40 mins past the hour, journey time 38 mins, Super Off Peak Day Single is £25.50, Senior Railcard discounts are available, Oyster does not apply on this route.

Slower trains go to Charing Cross (02 & 30 mins past the hour, journey time 1 hour 20 mins) or Victoria (56 mins past the hour, journey time 1 hour 40 mins). Fares on the Charing Cross service are approx. £18; on the Victoria service they are approx. £25. Senior Railcard discounts are available and Oyster is valid from Orpington.

Please do not buy an Advance Single for the return journey which is only valid on a specific train, as we cannot guarantee the time of our arrival in Ashford.

Long & hilly ride over the High Weald in Kent.

Quiet country lanes, often single track; country roads, some short stretches on busier roads; approx 1km off road on stony tracks.

Lunch stop after 40km in Benenden; possible late afternoon tea stop near Tenterden.

Buy train tickets in advance if possible. Bring money/card for refreshment stops. Plenty of snacks & water to keep you going. Spare inner tube. Lock for your bike.