Long Ride to the Coast - Sat 28th May

[martint235]

Did we climb the Brands Hatch hill on the trip to hastings?

As Adrian says we did. You missed it on the way back though, the climb starts not that much further on from where you turned off. The hardest bit of it is up to where the place selling sheds is (if you're London bound) in my opinion.

 

[iZaP]

Heh, the hills at the hastings ride were tough, but I didn't think any of them were capable of putting me down

 

[Aperitif]

Heh, the hills at the hastings ride were tough, but I didn't think any of them were capable of putting me down

Something like this would not be within your remit then, Arnold?

 

[iZaP]

Something like this would not be within your remit then, Arnold?

LMAO!!!

No, I don't think that will happen any time soon

Still, that's a good one!

 

[User10571]

...... the revised route is shown here........

As a matter if interest, do you have a fondness for the hideous Eurolink Way and Dolphin Road as a means of leaving Sittingbourne?

The last few times we've done so it was via the A2 in front of the railway station, and then hung a left at the defunct Prince of Wales pub to pick up the route in Murston, and on to Tonge Mill....

 

[Martok]

Aperitif - I see you're catching the HS1, presumably from Ashford. Do you have a route for this from Dover yet?

I'm trying to work out the benefits of getting the HS1 from Ashford to St Pancras. It looks like a 25 mile ride to Ashford (which concerns me as I've not done a 100 mile ride for some time, so adding 25 miles on top is a fair chunk). Yes the train is quicker (38 mins) but the cycle time to the station is likely to be 1.5-2 hours depending on tiredness/terrain. However, getting a train from Dover Priory to St Pancras is only around £6 more and takes 1h 7m.

I'd be grateful if you would enlighten me on this.

 

[Flying Dodo]

The HS1 runs from Dover, Folkestone, through Ashford and then goes on the Eurostar track to St Pancras*. Or you can take a slow train to Faversham, change and get onto a different HS which runs on the conventional track until Ebbsfleet and then high speed (but that takes 45 minutes longer).

I'd take the easy option and get the HS1 from Dover.



* [sub]For speed fans, the Ashford version runs about 70 mph before peaking at 90 mph just before it then stops at Ashford. Then on the bit up to Ebbsfleet it will run between 125-140 mph, and then a similar speed on the north side of the Thames to St Pancras.[/sub]

 

[Flying Dodo]

As a matter if interest, do you have a fondness for the hideous Eurolink Way and Dolphin Road as a means of leaving Sittingbourne?

The last few times we've done so it was via the A2 in front of the railway station, and then hung a left at the defunct Prince of Wales pub to pick up the route in Murston, and on to Tonge Mill....

Last time I did that route, I wasn't at all impressed with the volume of traffic and driving ability around the station and along the A2.

Even though it will be peak time for the locals to be heading for McDonalds, Eurolink Way should be quieter. Anyway, with your frame, you won't notice its condition.

 

[Martok]

The HS1 runs from Dover, Folkestone, through Ashford and then goes on the Eurostar track to St Pancras*. Or you can take a slow train to Faversham, change and get onto a different HS which runs on the conventional track until Ebbsfleet and then high speed (but that takes 45 minutes longer).

I'd take the easy option and get the HS1 from Dover.

Thanks for the info. It's a relief to know that we can get the HS1 from Dover. With the ride to the start and then from St Pancras to home, that'll take it over 100 miles which will be my first this year.

 

[martint235]

Thanks for the info. It's a relief to know that we can get the HS1 from Dover. With the ride to the start and then from Dover to the pub and then the pub to the station and then from St Pancras to home, that'll take it over 100 miles which will be my first this year.

FTFY

 

[CharlieB]

* [sub]For speed fans, the Ashford version runs about 70 mph before peaking at 90 mph just before it then stops at Ashford. Then on the bit up to Ebbsfleet it will run between 125-140 mph, and then a similar speed on the north side of the Thames to St Pancras.[/sub]

Sorry to go off-topic for a mo, but the latent gricer in me wants to ask: I thought the HS1 went at Eurostar speed?

 

[Aperitif]

The 'HS' stands for 'half-speed' Charlie...

 

[CharlieB]

Aaah, so that's what they're getting all steamed up about down my way, in advance of HS2 opening…

 

[Flying Dodo]

Sorry to go off-topic for a mo, but the latent gricer in me wants to ask: I thought the HS1 went at Eurostar speed?

For the bit up to Ashford, it's on normal train lines (running parallel to the Eurostar line) which they have to share with the Victoria/Charing Cross trains. After Ashford, it then hops onto the Eurostar line and speeds up. After googling, it seems they don't allow it to do more than 140 mph.

This isn't as bad as the so called other High Speed services that Southeastern run, which aren't high speed. These run from St Pancras via Faversham and Ramsgate and then down to Ashford. Most of that is normal line, and coming back to St Pancras, as they have to slot in between the conventional trains running to Victoria on the stretch to Rochester, they're really slow, and so it's only once they get to Ebbsfleet that they then get onto the Eurostar track. Having said that, overall, they're still faster than the services they replaced.


PS I am not a train spotter, it's just having been on them a bit, you get to realise what's going on.

 

[User10571]

Last time I did that route, I wasn't at all impressed with the volume of traffic and driving ability around the station and along the A2.

Fair enough

.