4 riders and one photographer braved the elements…
Ben Hardisty writes…
A good name for this ride as it comes along so early in the season. I found it very tough especially in the latter stages where I was running on will power alone, or at least thats how it felt !
A few climbs encountered along the way, including Toys Hill (the easy way), Kidds Hill, Groombridge, Ide Hill and Star Hill and few other smaller ones en route.
It was cold enough to be icy but fortunately we’d had dry weather up to the event so there were only a few hazards.
After 2 punctures during my weekly commute I had decided to change my tyres and opted for 28mm Scwalbe Marathon Ultras which, while supposing to be puncture proof, seemed to double the weight of my bike. This I really felt on the climbs and any time I tried to increase speed ! Good training I tell myself.
But more than a little embarrassing being overtaken by a couple of hybrid/hardtails – hats off to those riders.
Thanks to Stef for keeping me going – a little bit more work for me to do yet for this season !
Thanks to Mike for the photos who was sat in the blizzard atop Star Hill on the final stretch.
