A few months ago Harv and I thought it would be a good idea to run occasional Saturday rides aimed at those training for sportives or wanting something a bit more challenging than the normal club run. The first to Thanet was fast and flat. The second, to Rye, was notable for Martin breaking a wheel and long stretches of loose gravel. For the third I decided to step it up and planned a route out west that would include over 2000m of climbing and roads that we don’t often use.
Saturday morning was drizzly and misty, turning the landscape grey and the roads muddy. On the plus side, dirt on the legs is a good sunblock, as every hippo knows, and that was to come in useful when the weather improved later. The Kennison brothers and Mark arrived at Bredhurst already flustered after leaving home late; Jacob Nicholson had the same problem but a different solution, begging his dad for a lift. Adam sensibly decided he didn’t fancy a long ride in such bad weather and went to the shop for 9am instead. We tried to frighten the Vigo Hill virgins with tales of how steep, long and slippery it was; Jacob N then took the sting out of it by puncturing in Trottiscliffe and giving everyone a nice breather. And of course it’s not really that bad.
The first navigation error of the day, turning the wrong way on the A20, was down to me. (The others later were caused by people deciding a no-through road looked interesting, or riding off the front and not listening. Hard to believe, I know.) We dived down to the Pilgrims Way and said goodbye to Jack on the A225; he had to be home by 12. AJ steered us to Knockholt, passing and then being passed by a large group from Dulwich Paragon who were nearly as far from base as us. The bunting was out in Knockholt, unfortunately not in honour of our visit but for a village fete which also led to a traffic jam and then a pause for a carnival float that was supposed to resemble a train but didn’t.
We went down a fast, wide descent to Westerham, up another hill, missed a turning and James took over navigation to get us to Edenbridge and then up Ide Hill. By the time Tom and I struggled to the community shop at the junction near the top, the leaders were already inside and it proved to be a very amenable rest stop. Sadly it meant that when we reluctantly dragged ourselves back onto the bikes, now in blazing sunshine, we had to start off uphill and with 50 miles already on the clock, a few legs complained. The remains of a road accident – a melted vehicle, by the look of it – forced a detour but we were soon descending River Hill, where I watched my Garmin reach 50.9mph before deciding my eyes should be on the road.
After that came a series of short, sharp climbs through Ightham, Seal, Basted and Plaxtol. The fast boys had an extra one after missing a turn and hammering too far down the A227. As the pauses at the top of hills became longer and more frequent, a few people said their legs were broken and they needed to go home, but instead we settled for cake and refilled bottles at Hadlow. From there it was “only” about 25 miles back to Bredhurst, which was too many for all of us except James and the Team Bottecchia boys, probably. Mark had started to suffer cramps in all his leg muscles and at Wateringbury a motorist told me he was off his bike. I went back for him and by then the others were so far up the road that we didn’t realise they’d deviated from the published route. In fact AJ wisely found a flatter way home, while Tom apparently got a bit lost and Shaun picked up a few Strava plaudits as usual.
Mark and I grimaced our way up Blue Bell Hill, then enjoyed a fast run back to Rainham, sneaking past 100 miles in the process. Whether or not this will all turn out to be good training for RideLondon I’m not so sure, but it was an enjoyable (if long) day out and I have the sunburn to prove it.
