Caroline Mortlock is in her mid-sixties, retired from teaching, and has lived in Ashford since 1999. She has been cycling in and around the area for many years and continues to use her bike regularly as part of everyday life.
Caroline first learned to ride a bike at around six years old, taught by her dad. From that point on, cycling became something she loved and relied on. For many years, it was her main way of getting around, particularly as she did not learn to drive until her thirties. Around 10 years ago, she joined the San Fairy Ann Cycling Club, an experience she describes as a turning point. Through the club, she discovered new routes across Kent and met a wide range of people, which helped expand where and how she cycled.
While she was working, Caroline often combined cycling with rail travel for her commute. Now retired, she mainly uses her Brompton bike for travelling into Ashford town centre. Living in Kennington, she finds the local cycle paths make this quick and straightforward and prefers cycling to driving for these journeys. She does less cycling during the winter months, but from early spring onwards she usually rides a couple of times a week in preparation for summer events. In recent years, these have included a 100-mile San Fairy Ann Cycling Club sportive and a 150km club audax. This year, she is hoping to take part in the Pilgrim’s Hospice Century and possibly a 200km audax.
Caroline says cycling has clear benefits for both her mental and physical health. She finds it helps her mental wellbeing by building confidence and resilience and enjoys the fact that it gets her outdoors. Cycling also allows her to stay fit in a way she feels is kinder on her joints than running.
She notes that cycling helps her save money compared to other ways of getting around. In retirement, she values the flexibility cycling gives her, as she can fit rides around other commitments and go out whenever it suits her.
Ashford is a place Caroline enjoys cycling from, as it offers access to a wide range of routes. She highlights the variety of quiet roads, hills and rides out towards the coast. Her most frequented routes are to places such as Headcorn, Romney Marsh and Cranbrook with her favourite being the road from Lenham to Faversham via Eastling and Painter’s Forstal.
Caroline also makes use of Ashford’s network of cycle paths, which she says enables her to travel around the local area quickly and easily. While she already has a good knowledge of cycling routes around Ashford, she thinks the Cycle Ashford route planner is a useful tool and would use it when planning journeys to places she does not usually cycle to.
When asked what advice she would give to someone who has not cycled in years but is thinking about starting again, her response is simple: “Do it. The magic is there waiting for you.”
To try the Cycle Ashford route planner for yourself, visit our website here: https://www.cycleashford.org.uk/Route+Planner#/