Why this ride
Out of Maidstone, one way: 251 km, roughly 3 h 32 in the saddle. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Peak District Overnight Escape · part 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 251 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 32
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Scenic stretch near Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, built on the banks of the River Medway, which carried ragstone, timber and hops to London for centuries. The town has a busy modern centre, but its riverside has old buildings, including the medieval Archbishop's Palace, a stopping place for archbishops of Canterbury travelling between London and their cathedral. It is a practical place, with good roads, shops and services, and a gateway to some of the loveliest countryside in the south-east.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Maidstone write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Maidstone is where the day begins. Next is London motorcycle escapes return.
2. Peacehaven
Peacehaven was a field of cabbages until the First World War. Then an entrepreneur named Charles Neville bought the clifftop, laid out a grid of roads and started selling plots, at first under the name New Anzac-on-Sea, after the Australian and New Zealand troops camped nearby. The name changed after Gallipoli, and the result is one of England's odder towns: a sprawling bungalow suburb perched on top of chalk cliffs between Brighton and Newhaven.
Read the complete Peacehaven write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
London motorcycle escapes return comes up about 83 km into the recorded legs. Next is Food stop in Overton.
3. Food stop in Overton
The paper for Bank of England banknotes was made near Overton for centuries. The Portal family founded a mill on the River Test in the early eighteenth century, and their watermarked paper became the currency of the empire; the business, later part of De La Rue, still operates here. It is a curious claim to fame for a quiet Hampshire village of brick and flint houses, but it says much about the clear, fast chalk streams of this part of England.
Read the complete Food stop in Overton write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 276 km.
Leg by leg
Scenic stretch near Maidstone to Peacehaven
Scenic stretch near Maidstone → Peacehaven is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.