Posted on 15 March 2008
Well, that was a lovely little ride, marginally shorter than our normal “Barling Loop” in Southend, this “Barming Loop” from Maidstone involved some serious hills either side of the Medway. Just after we had climbed out of East Farleigh the weather was so lovely that I got me legs out and stayed at just one layer for the rest of the ride. We exceeded 37 mph descending Hunton Hill.
We heard a chiff-chaff on the Lughorse Lane and from Yalding we took the B road to Wateringbury, where, last year, we watched the Tour de France. The A26 was closed west of Wateringbury, but we headed north along Red Hill Road. We found the North Pole but sadly there was no food on offer. There was Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, though, so we had some of that and were about to leave when another pair of tandemistas appeared and we nattered our way through a second drink. This pair were unusual in that he was the stoker, being partially sighted, and their steed was specially built for a six-footer on the back and a five-footer on the front.
It was only another 4 miles back to Maidstone and we kept up 25+ mph along the last mile or so of the A26.