Halliday at the Hell

I last made the trip to Kent for Catford CC's re-branded reliability ride 7 years and over ten kilos ago but the event remains the same - an early season leg tester that will find you out if you weren't hard enough to go riding with Hard Howard on Saturdays over the winter, or committed enough to spend a few hours a week in the garage on the turbo.

The event now starts in Biggin Hill and runs all the way down to the signature hill in the Ashdown Forest. There are apparently five hills of note but the ones you will remember are Kidds, aka The Wall, Ide Hill which features a feed station and malt loaf therapy at its summit and the sting in the tail - Star Hill, a handful of miles from the finish. 

The day started very cold at -2 and the start was delayed to let some of the ice melt. The course is heavily and very nicely marshaled however, so those coming off only really had themselves to blame for not heeding the advice. I got warm quite quickly - the first hill being a short sharp b*gger not unlike blacksmiths in Ozelworth (although not so steep at a mere 25%) and from then I got in to a nice tappy rhythm.

Kidds Hill

Kidds Hill comes at roughly halfway just after the first feed and is pretty much straight up. I sat down and chugged it out but manged to summit without too much drama. By the time I'd gone over some more short sharp hills and some blistering descents however, I'd started to get a bit tight and the cramp hit just before Ides. On the hill itself I had to stop and do some serious stretching - albeit with a wonderful brooding view. When I got to the top, the second feed station and the timing mat, I was very glad of the coffee and church hall where I could give myself a proper stretch out on the church hall stage.

Some more bouncy Kent countryside brought me to the last climb at Star Hill (smile for the camera) and then in to Knockholt at the top whose village hall used to be the start and finish - albeit now some 8 miles from Darwin school. 

A half hour later after some of the worst roads of the ride I was back rolling under the finish inflatable, glad I'd beaten the weather front that brought the wind and the rain in half an hour later. 

It’s a great event and one I will be doing again. At 5700 feet of gain it's only 500 feet short of the Exmoor beast but thirty miles shorter. I'll need the practice though. 

The Fred Whitton approaches in May.

Jamie