Riding By Numbers

Sometimes, even on an island, you get lucky with the weather. The weekend was sunny and warm, which equals riding. There’s a café in Kent I’ve been wanting to try, so I googled directions and planned a leisurely ride out for Sunday brunch.

In the UK, roads change their names every village, so it’s easier to note the road numbers and navigate by those. The numbers don’t change nearly as often.

We wandered down the A202, A2, A20 until the M25/M20 junction, after which the plan was to go down the A25 until it met the A21 (you can take the A21 all the way down, but it involves a lot more town riding, which isn’t the point).  

From the A21, the plan was to pick up the B245 at the Morley roundabout. However, after the motorway junction, the first circle is signposted the A228, and I was distracted by a nice trike passing by. 

We went through West Kingsdown and I started to doubt – the A25 is like a junior version of the M25, so while the London Orbital isn’t nearly as smooth an ellipse as its name would suggest, you kind of expect the A-road version to be nearby. I figured I’d overshot it, so Lynn powered up her satnav and we headed cross country on some tiny twisty country B & C roads I wish I’d seen numbers for, because they were fun.

We wound up coming into Hildenborough from the far side, but joined up with the B245 as we’d planned. Just a lot lower down. As in 1 block from Café 1809, which was our destination. (It's pronounced 1-8-Oh-9).

The café is comfortable, with 2 sets of outside tables, friendly staff, good coffee and a tasty menu. My only complaint is the lack of motorcycle parking right outside, but I guess I’m just picky.

I strongly recommend Café 1809 for anyone in need of something lighter than a full on pub lunch.

We came back the way I’d planned, and the inevitable London roadworks and traffic jams were alleviated by the young boy who ran across the road, pausing only to shout to me, “Nice bike!”

It’s amazing what that does to my patience with traffic lights and last minute pedestrians...