17/10 Improver's Ride- Benenden Buster

With six different rides going on at the weekend, the 'Improver's Ride' did well to attract six riders at the Harrow for a 9;10 start. Steve F was feeling a bit anxious as he had never done a ride over 35 miles before, how would he cope with a hilly 66? Patrick is easily fit enough to cope with JV's Sunday club ride but was recovering from a cold so thought it best to join the improver's instead.
Three weeks after being diagnosed with a worn out chainring, Malc C's carbon Boardman was still awaiting repair, forcing Malc to come out on his heavy weight and massively undersized (50 cm frame for a six foot rider!) Carrera, I knew that this was going to cause him to suffer later on.

Blue And Black Seems To Be The Jersey Colour Choice For The 'Improvers'!

Peter baker stopped to stay hello on the way back from his own ride, so we got him to take a group picture of the 'improvers' before setting off down the ridge towards Pett. On the way I spotted a rider in an attractive green/red jersey going the other way , I often recognise riders from their clothing but this one was new to me. later the unknown rider appeared on our side of the road to join our group. It turned out to be Steve Denny. Now those of you who know Steve D know that Steve is the World's number one bargain spotter, apparently Planet X were clearing out lots of old jersey and for £100 they would supply twenty random jersey's in your size, hence the new jersey (Steve actually got three of this very attractive design).

After bidding farewell to Peter at Pett, we proceeded past Rye, Appledore and along the edge of Romney marsh. The riding was mostly flat and despite a mild head wind, it all felt easy as we worked together in a mini peloton with each rider doing a fair turn at the front.

Having reached the Tenterden area we headed West and then south through Benenden and onto Bodium .This is a lovely area  with attractive and well surfaced roads. The terrain was now much more lumpy and this is where the bulk of the 3,700 feet of climbing would come. Malc was now struggling to haul his Carrera up the climbs and we had to wait quite often for him to catch up. The rest of us were feeling good , Patrick seemed to have recovered from his cold and did the bulk of leading from the front. With Patrick's help myself, Steve D and Nigel F would go onto to achieve a high tally of Strava PBs.

We pulled into the cafe at Bodium for a well deserved coffee/tea and cake. Its  a bit pricey here but the location is perfect being just 11 miles from the end. The weather had warmed up nicely so we were able to sit outside with the nice back drop of the castle behind us.

Riding to Sedlescombe involves  riding  a mostly downhill stretch of the B2165, very exhilarating but also busy with fast moving traffic. We then turned off at Pestalozzi along a much quieter  uphill minor road. This is one of my favourite sections as I love the solitude of the climb and that feeling that you are almost back home. Despite riding twenty miles more than he had ever done before Steve F was climbing well and having little trouble keeping up.  Reaching Westfield we had the choice of either Rocks lane or Stonestile . We chose the former despite some fears about the condition of the road. The road surface was ok , it had been patched since last time we rode it and an enjoyable drag brought us out to the end of the road near Aldis'

As Nigel said at the end, 'this was not an easy ride, just a bit easier than the Sunday club ride', I have to agree, for me this was the perfect pace and very enjoyable.

The next 'improver's ride ' will be Saturday November 7th.


Steve C