Page 17 - DLNsep2016-1010

Sole Street to Cuxton where once again we turned onto a busy ‘A’ road
(A228).

This was the road where some years ago 10 mile club evening TTs were held,
starting at the top of the hill by the Medway bridge, flying down Sundridge
Hill at 40 mph, taking your life in your hands at the bottom, as there was a
bus stop right by a keep left sign. Riding by it made me wonder why the course
was ever passed by the local DC in the first place. However, I relived the
course passing where the old Halling cement works used to be. I am not sure
whether they are still in operation but the Halling Lake is there with its
distinctive blue water (not to be confused with Bluewater) a result of, I believe,
chalk deposits and possible copper. We passed through Snodland, and the
Leybourne fishing lakes, then a slight diversion avoiding going straight onto
the A20, but unfortunately unavoidable to get to Aylesford. We rode through
the industrial estate, then past the Malta Inn (now a Beefeater), well worth
a visit as it sits pleasantly by the side of the Medway River and with little
concern as to the busy M20 & A229 only a matter of a few hundred yards
away.

We were now approaching the highlight of the ride, for after passing under
the A229 we were on our way to Boxley, turning left at Penenden Heath where
public executions took place up until the 1900th century. However, the only
execution today was that of our climb of Boxley Hill, so we prepared ourselves
for this epic climb, well some of us might have!

This is a brute of a hill with an average gradient of 1 in 5.2 and is approximately
1.55 miles long and a Cat 4 climb. This climb does level out in the middle, and
if you have the strength, you can admire the view. On the bend the Sky
support and mechanical vehicle were there to shout us on, unfortunately for
me and others our climbing was soon to come to an end as the hill ramped
up and we were soon walking the last 100 yards or so to the top. This was,
in my case, just over geared with the added concern that weaving the bike
was out of the question as the traffic was not giving us any consideration
and running us close. Alan also climbed off as he couldn’t get into his bottom
gear, so more a mechanical problem. Debbie also gave up but was denied the

17