The ride this Saturday (3rd) for the faster “sporting” group will start at 11:00 and not at the usual time of 9:00.
This will (hopefully) ensure that there’s no ice around when we ride over to Brockham and meet up with others to ride the (infamous?) “CTC Hilly 55K”
This “officially” takes place in mid-Feb and comprises up to 200 riders ranging from the serious racers (and teams) to the more leisurely CTC riders with mudguards and panniers. It starts at the foot of Box Hill then heads up Ranmore, down into Dorking town then back up Coldharbour and into the lanes around Holmwood and Ewehurst – with most of the serious climbs that can be taken in.
The fast guys target 2 hours, the rest anything up to 3.5 hours. Apparently, it’s about 4000 metres of climbing overall.
So the arrangement is; meet at the Angel at 11:00. Don’t forget drink/bar(s)/bananas etc and have a good check over your bike beforehand – and don’t forget spare tube(s) and pump etc.
I will try to have some maps of the course on the day so if anyone gets completely dropped, you can find your way home but my hope and aim is that we ride this in one or two groups, working together and supporting each other and whilst not at a race pace, it shouldn’t be a leisure ride either: 2:15 should be an attainable time for us as a group.
See you at 11:00 !
Allan