You know what you’ll get with Premier Inns and that is where I ended up last night at Faversham.  I’d booked an evening meal in their Thyme restaurant and went for the same salt and pepper calamari that I’d enjoyed earlier in the trip.  It was as good as I remembered, and I followed it up with chicken topped with bacon and mozzarella served with coleslaw and chips – not bad but not outstanding. Sticky toffee pudding and custard rounded things off.  Sadly, they had no real ale, so I had to make do with a pint of Atlantic keg.  I nipped across the car park to Aldi to buy a bottle of wine to help me write the blog and bought some Jaffa cakes for the next day.

The usual excellent help yourself breakfast filled me well and I was on the bike at 0900.  I was heading to stay with more old friends in east Surrey and Tony had managed to find a local bike shop who would fix my brakes if I got there in time.  75 or so miles to travel over not very hilly terrain should take me about 8 hours.  The weather was sunny and bright but distinctly chilly and I wore bib tights.

Faversham is 100 foot asl but I had to climb up onto the Kentish Weald at about 500 feet so switched the motor on quite early.  Once up there it was rolling countryside covered in woodland, especially sweet chestnut coppice which is used for fencing.

I was in end of term mood: I’d achieved my ambition of cycling from Watchet to Whitstable and it was now a question of getting home.  Although the countryside with autumn colours starting to appear is always interesting, I found little of specific note to photograph.  One thing that is clear is that squirrels have become a serious pest and are taking a toll on decent forestry. 

Nothing much of interest as my route took me well to the south of the Kent County Town, Maidstone, until I reached Tonbridge 35 miles into the journey.  Having got used to the excellent bike paths by the sea it was disappointing that I had to take to narrow pavements to avoid the heavy traffic on A227.  I had no need to cross the River Medway as it flowed through the centre of town on its was to the Thames estuary at Rochester but had to Goap through the grounds of Tonbridge Castle as cycling, and pretty much everything else was banned.  The castle has been  restored but I didn’t stop to look, passing the Motte which rears up beside the track.  Once away from the castle grounds I remounted and made my way along a mixture of surfaces beside the rugby club and through woodland before I emerged on tarmac at Powdermills.

Through Edenbridge I stopped to eat my Jaffa Cakes before joing the A22 at Blindley Heath

I made my way around Horley the town just to the north of Gatwick Airport which, knowing that it is in Sussex, made me wonder about how many counties I have visited and how many of them more than once.  It’ll be 10 in total after tomorrow and, I calculate that I’ll have visited Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and West Sussex more than once.

Little more of interest to report, but a fair bit of up and down towards the end of the journey which made me reach for the battery switch.  I reached my destination in Cranleigh at about 1645, amazingly, earlier than I had projected.  I had a quick shower and Tony put the bike in the back of his car and we drove to Mike’s bike workshop where Mike Bamber generously resuscitated my front brake for free as I was on a charity ride.  If you’re ever in need to an LBS in the Cranleigh area, he’s your man www.mikesbikeworkshop.co.uk.  His workshop is an old glasshouse that has been clad in timber

A couple of pints at a local Brewery converted from farm buildings put us in good order for supper.