The August Bank Holiday is coming up which means it's time for John Summerhayes's annual lengthy club ride known as the 'Summer Saunter'. This year it will be heading down to Hastings on the south coast on Sunday 26th August. John says:
*"Meet at Waltham Forest Town Hall at 8-30 am. Proceed though Wanstead, Forest Gate, East Ham, Becton, Woolwich Ferry, slight climb over Shooters Hill then down to Eltham, onto Chislehurst and Orpington. Once south of the Thames the route is very open and green. At 20 miles London is now behind us. Onto Downe and then a 25% climb up to Cudham. We then drop down to Brasted for coffee and cakes etc. Estimated time of arrival, 10-45 to 11-00 am.
With more climbing we head towards Chartwell then Ide hill, then it's downhill to BoughBeech, afterwards we head to Chiddingstone, Fordcombe, Stone Cross, Groombridge, Eridge Station, Marks Cross and Rotherfield. This part of the route is undulating. We then climb up to Mayfield, ( a stop for refreshments) then downhill to Heathfield and Cade St. Then on to Herstmonceux Castle. After this it's a flat ride across Pevensey Levels to Pevensey and still a flat coastal ride to Bexhill. The very last leg is a ride along the beech cycle path to Hastings. We then head to the Station to book journey home. In the past it's been a special price of £10 each for a family of 4. Or as some are already doing you can book a B&B for the night and storm back the next day, as it's the Bank Hols.
The last and most important item on the agenda is to find a good place to eat. With good food in comfortable surroundings with safe parking for the bikes. We all settled for Wetherspoons last time.
I hope to see you on the ride."*
NB - the Woolwich Ferry doesn't actually start running until 11:30am on Sundays, so I think the plan is to use the foot tunnel there
Timings
I have looked at Monika's data from the 2013 version of the Summer Saunter which also went to Hastings with Monika's average speed approximately 13mph. They set off from the town hall at 9:10, crossed the foot tunnel at Woolwich between 9:50 and 10:10, got to Brasted at 12:05 (having taken a longer route out of Orpington than is intended this year), stopped for refreshments and left again at 1pm, had a 25-minute stop north of Chiddingstone, presumably for a mechanical, then there seemed to be an off road section near Crowborough where I can only assume everyone got lost for a bit (!) and eventually arrived at Mayfield at 4:10pm for more refreshments. Set off again at 4:30pm, got to Herstmonceux Castle by about 6pm and finally t0 Hastings Pier by 7:30pm and then a train at about 8:20pm.
If we are meeting at 8:30am this time, then a resasonable schedule could be as follows:
Depart by 8:40am, cross the Thames around 9:30, stop at Brasted from 11:30-12:30, get to Mayfield by 3pm (assuming no mechanicals and as this route avoids the confusion near Crowborough), leave again at 3:30, be at Herstmonceux Castle around 5pm and Hastings by 6:30pm.
Here are some possible direct trains:
18:50 (gets to Charing Cross at 20:48)
19:19 (gets to Victoria at 21:28)
19:50 (gets to Charing Cross at 21:48)
20:22 (gets to Victoria at 22:28)
Tickets cost between £10 and £14 and John says it should be possible to get group tickets for groups of four at £10 per person.
John would like to know ASAP roughly how many people are intending to ride, so if you are planning to come please email him at irongate@talktalk.net
Would love to give it a try. Sadly as Tuesday is my physio appt where she MIGHT say it’s ok to get back in the saddle, I guess training time is a bit limited, even for 13 mph! Dave
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@JamieF
The August Bank Holiday is coming up which means it's time for John Summerhayes's annual lengthy club ride known as the 'Summer Saunter'. This year it will be heading down to Hastings on the south coast on Sunday 26th August. John says:
*"Meet at Waltham Forest Town Hall at 8-30 am. Proceed though Wanstead, Forest Gate, East Ham, Becton, Woolwich Ferry, slight climb over Shooters Hill then down to Eltham, onto Chislehurst and Orpington. Once south of the Thames the route is very open and green. At 20 miles London is now behind us. Onto Downe and then a 25% climb up to Cudham. We then drop down to Brasted for coffee and cakes etc. Estimated time of arrival, 10-45 to 11-00 am.
With more climbing we head towards Chartwell then Ide hill, then it's downhill to BoughBeech, afterwards we head to Chiddingstone, Fordcombe, Stone Cross, Groombridge, Eridge Station, Marks Cross and Rotherfield. This part of the route is undulating. We then climb up to Mayfield, ( a stop for refreshments) then downhill to Heathfield and Cade St. Then on to Herstmonceux Castle. After this it's a flat ride across Pevensey Levels to Pevensey and still a flat coastal ride to Bexhill. The very last leg is a ride along the beech cycle path to Hastings. We then head to the Station to book journey home. In the past it's been a special price of £10 each for a family of 4. Or as some are already doing you can book a B&B for the night and storm back the next day, as it's the Bank Hols.
The last and most important item on the agenda is to find a good place to eat. With good food in comfortable surroundings with safe parking for the bikes. We all settled for Wetherspoons last time.
I hope to see you on the ride."*
NB - the Woolwich Ferry doesn't actually start running until 11:30am on Sundays, so I think the plan is to use the foot tunnel there
Here is the intended route for everyone to download: https://www.strava.com/routes/15017195
Timings
I have looked at Monika's data from the 2013 version of the Summer Saunter which also went to Hastings with Monika's average speed approximately 13mph. They set off from the town hall at 9:10, crossed the foot tunnel at Woolwich between 9:50 and 10:10, got to Brasted at 12:05 (having taken a longer route out of Orpington than is intended this year), stopped for refreshments and left again at 1pm, had a 25-minute stop north of Chiddingstone, presumably for a mechanical, then there seemed to be an off road section near Crowborough where I can only assume everyone got lost for a bit (!) and eventually arrived at Mayfield at 4:10pm for more refreshments. Set off again at 4:30pm, got to Herstmonceux Castle by about 6pm and finally t0 Hastings Pier by 7:30pm and then a train at about 8:20pm.
If we are meeting at 8:30am this time, then a resasonable schedule could be as follows:
Depart by 8:40am, cross the Thames around 9:30, stop at Brasted from 11:30-12:30, get to Mayfield by 3pm (assuming no mechanicals and as this route avoids the confusion near Crowborough), leave again at 3:30, be at Herstmonceux Castle around 5pm and Hastings by 6:30pm.
Here are some possible direct trains:
18:50 (gets to Charing Cross at 20:48)
19:19 (gets to Victoria at 21:28)
19:50 (gets to Charing Cross at 21:48)
20:22 (gets to Victoria at 22:28)
Tickets cost between £10 and £14 and John says it should be possible to get group tickets for groups of four at £10 per person.
John would like to know ASAP roughly how many people are intending to ride, so if you are planning to come please email him at irongate@talktalk.net