Bimbling around Kent today

To celebrate all of the cars being stationary in south-east Kent today
due to Operation Stack on the motorway + Bank Holiday Traffic I've
decided that I should go for a little bimble around Kent today.

I have no fixed route, but I'm planning to set off from Folkestone at
around lunchtime and probably make my way west to Brighton.

Can anyone suggest any motorcycle bimbling routes around Kent that I'm
not aware of? Brighton doesn't have to be my destination or even a
port of call. I'm planning to avoid motorways as they're a bit
boring.

Any suggestions? I'm not planning on hopping on Le Shuttle or a ferry
to France, so it's North or West for me. Or perhaps East.

 

I trust you're aware that Rye is normally teeming with motorcycles of a
weekend.

That aside, there are a lot of nice roads for hooning along, between the
Marsh, and Tenterden, and then onto Maidstone, if you didn't want to get so
tied up with all the other bank holiday traffic, crawling along the A259.

 

On the whole I'd avoid the coast road. A nice run would be on the B
roads (I tend to use these by choice if I'm not in too much of a hurry).

Perhaps the following:

B2067
Lympne > Hamstreet [1] > Tenterden

A28

B2089 > minor road not numbered on my map

A271

Squirrel Inn

B2096
Netherfield > Heathfield

B2203
Horam (there's Wesson's cafe here - sells decent VFM bike gear and fry
ups).

A267
Horsebridge Roundabout

A22
Golden Cross

B2124
Laughton > Ringmer

B2192
Lewes

A275
Lewes > Offham >

B2116
Plumptom > Westmeston > Ditchling

Unnumbered road (but Ditchling Beacon is well known and signposted)
Ditchling > Ditchling Beacon > Brighton

...and a pleasant time to be hand by all in Brighton. All the above roads
are good fast backroads, fairly quiet, no known cameras, and offer
enjoyable scenery in deepest darkest Sussex.

You may want to go back via the A27 > A259 etc. but it'll still be busy
and dull.

 

Looks like Rye it is then. May go to Rye via the B2068 to Canterbury,
then the A28 to Ashford and carry on the A28 to Rye.

Or something.

 

For all the years I lived round there, I never heard of anyone going off
the edge. Have you? ;o)

 

Definitely wouldn't go that way... A28 is worse than the A259, in places,
but the Elham Valley is a nice route to Canterbury.

Even better, is as you go to take the right bend out of Lyminge, you turn
left (two 'lefts' here - it's the second one, as if you're almost doing a
chicane and going straight on) - follow this road through Stelling Minnis
etc., and it eventually brings you out on Stone Street, without hardly any
cars to get in your way, and plenty of nice straights followed by twisties.

From there, you could go across the Chartham Downs, (left, and then
immediately right) then having turned left once you reach the T junction at
the end of 'Shalmsford Street', pick up the A252 at Chilham to Charing,
where you could then take the Pluckley road - if you follow it to its end,
you end up just north of Biddenden, which in turn is just up the road from
Tenterden, and you could then hoon to Appledore, and if you choose, onto Rye
(as below).

Or... from Biddenden, you could carry on heading towards Tunbridge Wells
etc., and then head down to the coast - but it will be quite busy, and not
that much fun in terms of places to get past cars etc.

Assuming you head immediately west from Folkestone, what Sweller basically
said, to Hamstreet, then drop down the A2070 until you get to the roundabout
where it meets the A259 - if you hang a left, you get a lovely stretch to
Appledore, and can then pick up a really nice stretch that runs parallel
with the canal, down to Rye - massively long straight, hardly any cars etc.

Some of my favourite local roads, anyway - they're even fun in the cage at
times, because they're normally quiet enough to allow you past the odd
doddery driver.

 

Very nearly.

On an MZ hammering up, miscounted the humps [1] and the last one launched
me airborne whilst the road went right. Straight on was a bit of a drop.
I, handily, crashed into a gorse bush.

Although the <<<<< chevron sign at the top is always being replaced so
some valiant efforts are being made.


[1] The 'humps' are long steps cut into the steep, winding, uphill road
to allow a horse and carriage to rest on level ground.

 

Frogs on strike again, are they? I hadn't heard.

<Googles>

Workshy bunch of soap dodgers. No fucking wonder they lost Trafalgar.

 

As much to do with the fecked docking bays at Calais, isn't it?

Which is a pisser... cos I was quite tempted to go along and watch the
banger racing in Belgium tomorrow, but feck getting entangled in all that.

 

It's a mad bit of road, no doubt. If you're coming from Hollingbury
towards Ditchling along the top and get it wrong you'll be on a fast
train to hell if you miss the first left hander

Is this the chevron you mean when you say:

I always found it a lot more hairy going down[2]. I've never been able
to get decent speed down there, not that you'd want to mind and the
road's never clear for long enough to keep going at it.


[1] Excuse the feedline. It wasn't intentional, honest!

 

Frogs on strike again, are they? I hadn't heard.

<Googles>

Workshy bunch of soap dodgers. No fucking wonder they lost Trafalgar.[/QUOTE]

It's a combination of a shagged ferry dock in Calais (which has been
like it for a few weeks now) and random strikes by the French.

Last week I saw a report on the local news about a load of French
ferry workers that went on strike who decided they needed to cut
through fences so that they could go and sit on the tracks so that
Eurostar/Le Shuttle couldn't operate through the tunnel either.

 

sweller emerged from their own little world to say

I ought to visit my eponymous cafe. Bit too much of a detour for Monday
though. It's very popular with the SE GS crowd.

 

this place?
http://home.btconnect.com/wessons/cafe.htm

the Armageddon burger looks unreal.

http://home.btconnect.com/wessons/Images/big_burger.gif

 

I think I will.

 

Does your ISP allow attachments that big?

 

I had great fun on the A30 yesterday, having decided to avoid the
A303 on the way back from Cornwall. Mile after mile of near-deserted
A-road. Almost as much fun as the B-road from Lands End to Penzance.

Kudos to the bloke at Border Garage (iirc) just outside Salisbury for
coming to the rescue when one of the bolts holding my left rearset in
place fell out. Realising that my left foot was notably lower than my
right, and I was no longer able to change down, made for quite a
distraction - one impromptu stoppie later and I realise the brakes on
the 7R aren't nearly as crap as I thought!

As to the 200 miles of carb icing on the way down...

 

Lovely bimble! Thanks for that. Just seeing someone else ride has
given me confidence that I'm not doing everything wrong!

We'll have to do it again sometime. I look forward to travelling to
BoSM with you.

 

Ooh err.

 

Nick wrote

Brighton is not your sort of place mate. It is the /chicks/ there that
are the ones who do the digging bikes and bikers bit.

 

Lucky I didn't get that far west then. I got to Rye and bimbled with
prawn.

I've done about 200 miles today.

Oooh, full moon too. Time for my bath.