Ride to the Rochester Dickens Festival

The ride will start from Cutty Sark Gardens in our neighbouring borough Greenwich at 9.30 am. Anyone wanting to have breakfast beforehand can meet me at Starbucks (54-56 Greenwich Church St, London SE10 9BL, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/starbucks-hiring-refugees-europe-baristas-coffee-social-media-backlash-uk-france-germany-spain-a7800466.html), but please arrive earlier to ensure you have finished it by the departure time.

We will make our way out to Woolwich where additional riders can join us at 10.15 am at the car entrance to the ferry. From Woolwich we will follow the newly refurbished Ridgeway cycle path, which now includes a Bexley section, out to Southmere Lake and Lesnes Abbey. We then make our way through Erith, Dartford and past Bluewater before having a refreshment break at Nell's cafe a mile or so past the cyclo-cross center. We will then ride out towards Rochester on the wide well-separated cycle path by the side of the A2, and then, on the final approach, we will take a detour using a country route through Cobham and Cuxton, which allows us to approach our destination with excellent panoramic sea views.

At Rochester people can eat and drink in the many pubs or restaurants that can be found there. We will be able to take part in the Rochester Dickensian Christmas celebrations, as they will be taking place when we are there (http://www.rochesterdickensfestival.org.uk/news.htm).

We plan to use the train to get back to London.

The ride is just under 33 miles from Cutty Sark Gardens and roughly 29 miles for those riding from Woolwich.

There is just one hill past Dartford along the way but we should be able to manage that without too much trouble.

Please bring working lights and a spare inner tube.

Ride Leader: Nigel Bee (tel 07415 315 690, email [email protected] )