Clear skies, winter sunshine and the chance to get some of the older routes mapped out.
It was still very muddy in places but a good ride, with some great trails.

Starting from the car park at Ranscome Park, I rode over the M2 bridge to the North Downs way that runs parallel to the Euro rail line and the M2, it is a good tarmac and type 2 trail, leading to the Bridleway that climbs up through Monk Wood to Common road on the top of the Downs over Chatham. It is a great and well looked after trail.
From there I dropped down onto the byway on the right, that heads towards Burham, this is now deeply worn and water damaged, chalk, flint and some "interesting" downhill. It stretches out then at the bottom to meet the Rochester Road, and tarmac part of the pilgrims way in Burham. At the junction with Rochester Road, head straight over to meet the off road part of the pilgrims way, byway.
This is obviously a busy section well worn and very muddy, at the end turn left and head under bluebell hill to the trail behind the shell garage.
This is the continuing pilgrims way, slippery, muddy and covered in huge puddles, but a good ride if you can avoid dog walkers! Its a good roller coaster leading to a tarmac trail and out onto the Boxley hairpin. Straight over here towards the pilgrims way on the turning on the left.
At the junction near the Detling sign, is a byway on the left that climbs the Downs up to Hermitage lane, its a great climb long and slow and after the recent rain is worn and muddy, making it more of a challenge, (many of these routes I've done in the poor weather I will be back to do in the summer).

Just before the end of the lane is a bridleway on the left, this is a classic trail from Detling back to the Boxley Road. It's a smooth gravel trail but again the weather and horse traffic have not been kind, my rear cassette here filled with thick mud and slowed me down, but it is still a good ride.

Crossing the Boxley Road onto Harp Farm Road, follow this small country lane, to Bell Lane on the left, this starts as a normal road and is marked as a dead end, it's not.
There is another byway at the end that leads back down towards Blue Bell Hill, its again rain washed and chalky and flinty, with concentration needed to avoid the slippery parts.
At the bottom I turned left onto Warren Road and remember quite soon why I dislike this road, its a steep climb and made harder by the bike being covered in crap and grinding its way
up the hill, there are deceptive corners until you reach the top.

At this point you'll join Mill Lane, and cross the road onto Common Road, and pass the trail you came up earlier, keep on this road to the end (it becomes Hill Road), and there is the final Bridleway on the right at the last left hand corner, this is a great sweeping downhill passing Shoulder of Mutton Wood, great singletrack over roots, and out onto an open trail through the field to the gate near the Euro Rail track.

Here, you're on the downhill to meet the North Downs way that we covered on the way in, back along the road, over the M2 bridge again and its all over, nearly 20 miles and most of it off road.
#bike, #bridleway, #byway, #garmin, #gps, #kent, #map, #mountain #biking, #strava,