Sunday 30 April 2017

Kickscoot The Coast Broadstairs - Deal

After my fabulous first scoot out I thought right so next time I will easily get from Broadstairs to Folkstone, no problem. I am very glad I didn't set out today with that aim in mind!

I haven't been feeling great the last week and we went for a big family day out yesterday to Rochester sweeps festival, so I can safely say I am not on top form today but I wanted to make the most of the bank holiday weekend. So I decided to half my expectations, Broadstairs to Deal it is.

I am so glad I did as it turned out to be quite a trek. Parts of the journey were beautiful, but a lot of it felt far from the coast and involved a lot of roads or cycle paths next to large roads.

I covered just 16miles today, but it seemed to use just as much battery on the scooter. Lots of full power against the wind riding, far less coasting along the beach path. I can safely say that I am just as exhausted as after last time, though I was pretty knackered to start with!

I had made a few adjustments for this part of the journey. I had my fabulous hi vis vest, which I was very pleased to be wearing with the number of times I found myself on a road! I also had some foot supports as I suffered with very sore feet after last time, we'll see tomorrow if they helped.

No one spoke to me on this stretch. The closest to conversation I came was a small boy around 3years old asking his nan "Why is that man wearing a builders jacket?"... (I was waiting for him to finish climbing on a sculpture so I could photograph it).

I was quite disappointed riding into Sandwich seeing the signs for a food festival happening next weekend. However there did seem to be a festival happening as I went through (see photos).
















Thursday 13 April 2017

Kickscoot the coast - Whitstable to Broadstairs


I have always thought how wonderful it would be to walk the coastline from my home county of Kent all the way to Cornwall.


But  as I suffer from M.E. and have a young family this isn't the easiest of tasks to undertake. So instead of walking I will be kickscooting and breaking it down into segments. 
This is my kick scooter.
Each segment will be around 25 miles or so. I cannot manage consecutive days of scooting as even though the scooter is electric it still takes quite a toll on the body. I plan to cover the Kent coast over a number of days out being dropped where I finished last time and picked up once I have travelled as far as I can manage. Once we get beyond being able to travel home I will have to arrange family trips to fit in with school holidays and my husband's work commitments, so do bear with me, this may take some time!
It will be an epic adventure, but I cannot wait to see every inch of that coastline!
All money raised will go to the ME Association, you can sponsor me here.


Whitstable to Broadstairs.

This was the first stint of my epic adventure and my first ride out to see what both me and my machine could manage! I had estimated that the scooter would probably get me to Margate but that I would be happy to get as far as Minnis Bay. So I am ecstatic to have made it all the way to Broadstairs!!!

26 miles in around 3 hours.

I followed the Viking coastal path, which I didn't even know was a thing until I got to Reculver (yes I know I really should have done my homework), it was very useful to have signs to follow for the most part, though there are a few missing along the way at rather crucial points.

I managed to scoot from Whitstable as far as the bandstand in Herne Bay before I put my feet on the floor at which point I nearly fell over as I hadn't realised my legs had gone numb! Also it was freezing and I was wishing I had opted for a coat and boots, but I decided to continue.





When I got to Reculver I thought it would be a good opportunity to use the toilets so I  I locked my scooter up then instantly put my hands to my pockets and realised I hadn't bought my keys! Thankfully a quick phone call to my husband and a 15min warm up with a hot cup of tea in the cafe and my keys were delivered and I could be on my way once more.

I met some characters along the way and had some interesting discussions. I'm gaining well practised responses to the most common questions I get when out riding now.

Today has taught me few things about how to proceed with this adventure. And it has also got me itching to do the next stint of the journey!!!