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Glorious Bike Rides
Glorious Bike Rides
Route directions PDF (right click to download)
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Nice! The only problem we had was related to the B&B’s: almost impossible to find a room and none of them accepted to a pre-booking for just one night. So once in Rye we took the train back to Ashford.
For some pictures please look here https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wylsmq670coomek/PEoffUQeNA
Lovely ride. I agree with Salvatore, accomodation is difficult to find for one night, though we did manage to find a place in Winchelsea. The Black Lion in Appledore is great for food, so much so that we stopped there on the way back as well.
Nice tour indeed – I did it yesterday, anti-clockwise (i.e. from Appledore Heath down to Rye, then out to Dungeness) and ended in Appledore, from where I took the train back to Ashford as I didn’t fancy struggling uphill again (I was on a single speed). I’d been to Dungeness before, it was nice to go back there, but I was really taken by the marsh churches en route – they made my day.
This was only the second trip following your book (03 being the first and too ‘genteel’ for my liking) this one had a nice mix of woodlands, vast open marshes, farrow-and-balled villages and working landscapes, plus a nuclear power station thrown into the mix. Now looking forward to visiting St Peter on the Wall on the next trip.
Another great Lost Lanes experience! Thanks Jack for the careful research and enticing descriptions as usual.
Jean and I are comfortable with <40 miles in a day, so we made our overnight stop at The Castaways B & B at Lydd by the Sea, very close to Dungeness, giving us plenty of time to admire the interesting villages of Romney Marshes and avoiding the bank holiday crowds at Rye.
This was my 20th distinct route from the book with several of them repeated many times.
This ride’s been on my list for a while and a sunny September day was reason enough to get up and take an early train to Ashford.
Like another commenter, I thought the route was remarkably varied and I particularly enjoyed the stretch along the seafront between New Romney and Dungeness. Rye is also a very picturesque place and I appreciated the route taking me through the town centre.
Although there aren’t many lost lanes on this ride, most of the roads were quiet and I only really noticed the traffic on the climb up out of Rye.
I recommend diverting from the route at Dungeness to visit the Dungeness Fish Hut for lunch – it’s a small cabin selling freshly prepared fish with a few picnic tables alongside. I had a delicious lobster roll with a huge portion of lobster inside. Turn left after The Pilot pub, ride for a couple of mins and it’s on your left. (Not to be confused with the similarly-named Fish place mentioned in the book)
Overall, a good ride and definitely achievable in one day. There are options to make it shorter if 100kms is too much: do a circular trip from Appledore station, or start at Appledore and take the coastal route to Rye before a second train towards Ashford. The trains are hourly so you might need to stop for a pint to avoid a long wait on the platform.
Did this ride in the middle of September and really enjoyed it. It was the first time my wife and I have done something like this together and she really enjoyed it. We followed the instructions to a tee, with the following caveats. We did the circular part anti-clockwise and also stayed overnight at New Romney (The Captain Howey Hotel). Some recommendations include a hot chocolate and milkshake at Knoops (Rye) and also the fish and chips at Fish & Peri (New Romney). We also took the train back from Appledore to Ashford, as we didn’t fancy the hill climb back! Largely traffic free with all the climbing in and out of Ashford. Enjoy!
Just did an anticlockwise loop starting and finishing in Appledore (approx 60km). Some really varied riding in this one and be prepared to be battered by the wind along the coastal sections. Sadly didn’t time it very well with the tides and couldn’t go for a dip in the sea along the way.
Loved the section through all the Romneys – made for some easy pedalling! Cut out the bit to Snargate as the road directly from Fairfield to Appledore seemed more appealing.
A lovely ride made even easier if you start from Appledore and take the train home from Rye! Very quiet route mostly through country lanes, past farms and wind turbines really good for beginners. We found a lovely farm shop with excellent food dispensing machine at Honeychild Manor, highly recommend.Good segregated cycle track on the National C2 cycle route from Lydd to Rye.
Did the ride this past weekend (late Feb) in two days, with my 12 year old daughter who I am initiating into bikepacking… Followed the route as described. If I could do it again, I would probably do anti-clockwise to avoid the head wind between Lydd-on-Sea and Rye. It was not fun – gusts of 40-50km. Other than that, great route, not a lot of climbing and traffic was moderate.
This was my first ride from the book. Looking forward to the next ones!
Did this in one day, my favourite from the book so far. It’s true that a lot of the roads are big and wide rather than lost lanes, and I was quite happy with opportunity to build up a good speed on some long, flat and smoothly tarmacced stretches with minimal traffic. Just one, short muddy path that wasn’t great after rainfall but over in five minutes, otherwise mostly a good one for people who like to stay on road. Worth checking the weather forecast as today the wind was easterly and I had no problems taking the route clockwise. The recommendation above for dungeness snack shack proved a good.