By James Hibbert
Participants; Alek Eves, Andy Long, Aykut Ersoy, Chris Holland, Debbie Jackson, Eli Nippard, Ian St. John, Malcolm Duncan, Neil Reissland, Phil Bull, Rachel Eaton and myself (13)
‘A COLD DAY IN HELL’
Hell of the Ashdown, ah, ‘I’ve got this’ I thought as I signed up back in 2022, it’s hot in hell, and I am sure to get hot climbing 10 of the largest climbs in the Kent area .. yeah, that’ll be it, or maybe it’s that over the 100km distance, you are sure to work up a sweat … yeah, that’ll be it … hot hot hot .. or maybe it’s the lovely hot sausage rolls and drinks they’ll be serving at the two organised stops along the way … yeah, they’ll be hot too … so, when we turned up to the Westerham Brewery starting point and it started to SNOW … for sure, we were all muttering “hell” as we searched for somewhere to shelter and reconsider and debate our clothing choices. Any thought of being warm that day was quickly quashed.
Between us, we’d all managed a few hilly training rides, in what had been to date quite a mild winter, but today it really was a case of ‘if hell was ever to freeze over, it could be today’. Getting cycling clothing right can be tricky at the best of times, you work up some heat on the way up the hills, and the wind knocks it out of you on the way down, and then you have the desired fuel stops, and sometimes un-desired maintenance stops, it’s a tricky business, and today was to be a long day where its intermittently snowing and sleeting, but has the potential to warm up later (it never did).
We decided not to leave too early, as we wanted to make sure the ground was less likely to be icy and slippery, and as it wasn’t closed roads the organisers made a great job of piecing together a route of back lanes and roads that were less travelled by your usual motorists, however, what this did mean was in places the road was covered in grit and gravel, potholes and farming residue, which at times made for interesting riding and roads littered with people trying to repair punctures, and for one poor lady who came off in one of the fords relatively early in the ride, the event truly was living up to its name.
So, nine of us set off together just before 9am, with Andy and Aykut meeting us along the route, and Eli and Rachel setting off a little later and riding the route together, although we did all see each other at the first food stop. Whilst the idea had been to ride together, when riding such a distance and over such a course, where some are stronger on the hills, and others stronger on the flats, etc, I found myself floating between a number of the Westcroft riders all day, and actually spending a fair bit of time riding on my own, but that seemed to the be the way of the day, and rather than being a lonely experience, the thrill of meeting up again, and being able to soak up the scenery and roads in your own comfortable pace was actually a real delight.
It might be rose tinted glasses, but the first section to the first food stop was a relatively (relatively – the whole ride elevation was in the region of 15 times up Box Hill) relaxed affair, the first hill was Toys Hill, and from there on in I think the scenery took our minds off the elevations, and we all knew one of the major climbs (The Wall) came after the first food stop.
The food stop offered hot and cold drinks, and a range of sausage rolls, crisps (which I was dying for, but having given up crisps for lent, I reluctantly walked anyway from), and flapjacks. One benefit of the temperature was that you didn’t want to stop for too long, however, having climbed up to the food stop, it was a long and cold ride down the hill to the bottom of ‘The Wall’. Again, whilst the legs and lungs might have told a different story, the views and scenery were again outstanding, and rather unexpectedly, I rather enjoyed climbing ‘the wall’, the road just dead straight up in front of you, aiming towards an archway in the sky. I for one have a habit of heading out in to Surrey as opposed to Kent, but really maybe should be going further East from time to time.
The next section between food stops was again a real treat in terms of views and roads, and I saw Aykut, Andy, Neil, Debbie, and Ian along the way, and ended up riding in to the second food stop with Malcolm and Phil.
The second food stop was a village hall affair, and they were offering hot drinks, flapjacks (having avoided the crisps, I might have over-indulged in the flapjacks earlier, and couldn’t face another one), and waffles. Again, the cold meant you didn’t want to stop for long, and in fact, it later turned out that Chris didn’t stop a second time and rode on past it.
Coming out of the second fuel stop, and in to the final section, the roads (and legs) did really start to bite. The roads were a combination of long steep climbs, and the rolling roads that seemed to go up a lot more than they came down, and we headed towards the last hill at what felt like ever decreasing speeds – Barsted Hill (you pronounced it right first time !!) was the last of the 10 official climbs, which saw many, 95km’s in to the ride, and probably 14 times up Box Hill by this time, deciding that it was time for a nice little walk across the top. Thankfully from there it was a few left turns and roll down to the finish line.
A free can of beer was offered to us, and we took shelter and a few chips in an awning on the side of the brewery and retold our stories. Given that we’d all ridden at our own paces, it was quite surprising how we all took similar times over the route, and we all commented that the standard of riding in general was very high, which with so many riders on a non-closed roads route, really was not to be underestimated.
Would we do it again? I think the general consensus was: Never say never, but maybe don’t ask me for a good few weeks, and I think it was the cold rather than the climbs that caused the most distress. Maybe they should re-name it; Frozen Hell of Ashdown … although I suspect that’s not as appealing when signing up !!!
It’s days like this that will be remembered and recalled for maybe the rest of our lives, and surely that’s what life is about.
It would have been so much easier to stay at home, nice and warm on the sofa, popping to the pub for a roast dinner, and staying warm .. but where is the fun in that? ….. Mind you, roast carrots and parsnips do contain a lot of vital nutrients … maybe lets park next year’s entry decision just for now !!!
