A ride out on my bike to revisit some places I’d not been to in a while: Chelsfield, Lullingstone, Eynsford & Knatts Valley.
View the actual ride route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/14508317151
It’s a lovely part of the country, especially considering how close it is to the sprawl of Greater London and in the sun it really does shine.
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All the best
Iain
Good morning one and all. Welcome back to the channel. If you’re new here, a very big welcome. If you’re not, then welcome back. Um, I had a bit of a false start this morning. got ready to go. Uh only to be told that my power meter pedals were very low on battery. So I had to wait around while they charged a bit. So getting out a bit later than I thought I would. And today I am going out to Nats Valley around some lovely places like Crocken Hill. Uh pretty testing route. Probably about 80k all in all, but it should be a nice ride. It’s supposed to uh supposed to brighten up as the day goes on. Hopefully it’ll be uh fairly quiet. Meet some other cyclists along the way. And uh we’ll start off with the usual climb out which is Bedstead Lane. So I’m heading out that way now. Catch up with you in a bit. So, I’m halfway up Battlestead. Uh, I thought I’d see more cyclist. I’ve seen a few, but I thought Bedstead would be busier this morning. A nice day. Just thought it’d be busier. I know. Couple of uh young whippers snappers have just rode past me. Hope to be that age again. But it’s been very nice so far. I am uh a quick fit check on the jersey. I’m wearing my Itap 2023 jersey. It was always one of my big regrets when I did the attack that I didn’t pick one of these up at the time, but in the village on the day they were like €8. Uh yeah, and I always held that regret. And then Sony Sport Pursuit had one for 30 quid. So I picked it up. [Music] [Music] Bonus. So I’m about 30k into my ride. I’ve just gone through Chelsfield and up a spicy little climb called Chelse Hill. Um, its part was worse than this bite in the end, but it was uh it looked quite steep when I turned onto it. Uh, today has been the first day out on my new setup. I put some shorter bars and some narrower bars on my bike, some 38 cm bars. Uh, along with the new rotors, new tires, and the new saddle. And so far, the response has been great. I love it. I absolutely love it. It’s been great. The I feel like I’m in a much better position. Climbing has been easier. So hopefully that continues today. It’s felt good. Felt [Music] good. Well, I’ve not done that one in a while. A spicy little climb called Rock Hill. As soon as you get up that, you know you’re near Lingston. It’s almost the turning point. It’s that last bit and then it’s all downhill to the country park. That I remember the first time I did that, I thought I was going to die, but that weren’t too bad. Hello, mate. [Music] Okay. Yeah. Sorry. That’s all right. No, no, no. It’s all right. It’s all right. Don’t worry. Beautiful host houses. Look at that. It’s incredible. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] There he is. [Music] What Lingington is famous for is a old Roman villa that was discovered. Uh I don’t know when it was discovered, but it was discovered. So there’s now like a visitors center for the with the uh for the Roman villa and all kinds of stuff and people come to visit that, come to see the castle, come and enjoy the country park and one of my favorite features about the whole place. Don’t think you can be able to see it in the distance over there, the Lingston vioaduct. [Music] There you go. The villa and the [Music] rider. There they are. There’s the new 38 cm handlebars with the uh BBB flex ribbon tape on there. Highly recommend that. It’s good tape and quite cheap as well. So yeah, highly recommend that. There is the saddle, the right 3D printed saddle. I think it worked out to about all in about 40 quid and it’s very comfortable. Like it I really really like it. So yeah, two main bits that I’ve changed on the the bike overall and it’s looking pretty sharp. [Music] This is probably the least interesting part of my ride. Um, but for some reason whenever I come this way, I always include it. I’m not I’m not really sure why because at the last junction I could have just turned right and gone up to the main road. Um, but it’s kind of a fire road, I suppose. through the fields. It runs alongside the motorway and it’s just a well, if you can discount the noise of the uh the M25 rushing past you, it’s quite a peaceful spot. Never normally see anyone out here. Um you always feel a bit guilty coming down here because the the gates are always locked. There’s always bards behind the gates. uh probably to stop the travelers from uh pitching up, but you know, you you feel like you’re trespassing if you’re going around it, but actually it is a it is a normal sort of walking route and things like that. So, yeah, there’s the M25. Nice and busy as per usual. Glad I’m not on [Applause] that. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] now. Here we are just under 50k in. We’re in Nat Valley. I’ve not been here for a minute. Such a beautiful place when there’s uh nobody around and the sun is shining. Although with all of this dust stuff down the side of the road, my hay fever kicks in like a bad boy. Um but yeah, it’s a beautiful place. It’s a beautiful road. If there’s no cars on it, ah it is absolutely mint. And I need this because on the way here on the Aimsford road, I had someone turn who was turning left, stopped to let someone out. So they reversed a little bit. Fine. I was clipped in just hanging tough. Car came out fine. And then I thought, “Oh, they’re they’re going to go.” So I got ready to go. They put their foot on the accelerator, but they were still in reverse. Camering back towards me. I had nowhere to go. They stopped. Went on their merry way and I fell off. So blinding. No damage done though. Nobody around to see my damaged pride either. So all in all, could have been a lot worse. Riding through Nats Valley is what I expect riding through the middle of central France to be like. It is one straight very long road. I think I’ve still got just over 2 km to go. I think it’s about 5 and a half in total from one end to the other. It’s an incredibly long road for a UK road. You know, there’s a lot of people that have been talking about whether there should be a grand tour in the US. And part of the uh part of the reasoning behind some of the people saying no is that there’s really just no interest because all of the roads are just long and straight. So long straight road, couple of hundredk get to an interesting bit. and then that’s it. So the stages wouldn’t be very interesting. Whereas obviously in Europe you’ve got all of the beautiful little villages that you go through on the tour of France and the Jirro and the Vela and the twists and the turns and the little stone bridges and all of those kind of things that just add to the race. and make the races what they are. [Applause] Um, but that was a massive tangent. Yeah, this is a big long road, a long straight road. Still about 1,700 m to go. [Music] [Music] That’s sit rep. So, I have just tipped over 60k in. Um, I had to stop for a Wii. I’ve never don’t think I’ve ever had to stop for a Wii apart from things like the attack and the ride London. So, uh, at least I must know I must be getting my fluids in. So, that’s pretty good. Uh, yeah, enjoyed it. Beautiful part of the world. Just gone under the motorway there. Look. [Music] Just ping along, watching the sheep. There’s some lambs in the fields. Lovely. Look, there you go. Hello. Look at those two. Look at them. Another three. Look. Wonderful. Yeah, same you. Right, we’re going to go down a hill. I better put this down. Uh 70k sit rep. We’re going all right, but my knees are starting to hurt, which is always a sign I should stop. We are back on the Pilgrim’s Way, heading home. And it’s fair to say it’s been bloody busy down here. Lots of people. I’m sure people get led by satnav these days and have no clue where they’re going or what they’re driving on. There’s a big a road over there that goes basically in the same to the same places. And yet they all drive down here. Don’t really understand why. Just leave something for us cyclists. Let something be sacred. Please, please. Just one road. That’s all I’m asking. Please. Uh, rep, it’s getting warmer. I finally had to take my arm warmers off uh a little while ago, and it has actually warmed up. They said it would, but it didn’t look like it was going to at one point. I’m about 8K away from home. Just got to go up Clark’s Lane, which is always a bit of a drag. So, I’ll have uh I’ll have just tipped into 80k by the time I get home. And that’s that’s pretty good. I’m pretty happy with that. It’s been a good ride. It’s been a nice ride. Uh I’ve been to some places I haven’t been to in a little while. And yeah, it felt good. Bike feels good. I feel all right. apart from the uh standard post 70k knee aches, but I think that’s age rather than anything else. So yeah, we should be good in a bit. [Music] Well, there you go. I am just about home. Uh probably be about 85k on the clock by the time I get there. So, that’s a good ride. That’s um that’s a good day out. Took me a little while, but I did stop to fanny about a bit, but with cameras and stuff, but it’s all good. It’s good. Cycling is supposed to be enjoyable. Um so, I hope you enjoyed that. I’ll try and edit this down into a very short form. Um, yeah, leave leave me a like, leave me a comment down below. I’ll leave a link to the uh the Straa element of this so you can see the course if there’s bits to people that live near me that want to uh want to try it out. And I will see you all in the next video. Tada. [Music]