Old Portlians Evening Series

Ben Hardisty writes…

Having missed most of the East Grinstead evening series this year due to not being able to make the 7pm start time (work commitments bah!), I had been hunting around looking at other events to enter.

Old Portlians run their evening series on a thursday evening but a later start time of 7.30 and only a couple of miles from my front door, on the Crowhurst circuit. Why hadn’t I entered this event before I asked myself. I turned up ten minutes before the start time to a very friendly welcome from the Old Ports members.

I knew the Crowhurst circuit from regularly riding these local roads, but having never raced on them. The course is quite rolling with one section in particular negotiating a couple of short climbs/drags. But despite the odd pothole here and there, this is a cracking little circuit. For those who are after a short but intense training ride before a weekend race, then this is ideal preparation.

This is a two lap affair, approximately 12.5 miles in total, starting and finishing at Crowhurst village hall. For more detail see my Garmin plot.