A wise man once said that the first thing to read in a newspaper is the sports pages because it always records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but generally man's failures. Of the five Redhill Cycling Club riders participating in the The Burgess Hill Rumble, the club came away with two gold’s, one silver and a bronze for the 65 mile ride.
The cyclosportive organised by SRS Events is tough local challenge through East Sussex and Kent takes in many of the best climbs in the South East region.
Most of the Redhill Club riders opted for the mid distance roller coaster of a ride through some of the most stunning countryside of Ashdown forest in Sussex and the Weald of neighboring Kent.
The terrain to start with was relatively flat but soon the scenic, undulating roads of the route started to spilt the groups. Pillow Mounds Hill with its ford to cross at the beginning was one of the first to ease the riders off the saddle. Kidds Hill, also known as "the Wall" locally for good reason, was next on the long list of hills to climb.
The highlight hill was the 20 percent climb of Cob Lane where the official photographer and videographer were on hand to capture the pained expressions plus the organisers had placed signs daring cyclist to dismount. One of the worst climb though was out of Ardlingly Reservoir which although is not steep, always catches people out because of its late appearance on the sportive route.
Gold awards went to Brian Costello who recorded 3h 48m followed by Graham Tucker 4h 3m and Ian Burks, strong from many miles on the YMCA rides of this year. Meera Siva gained a solid silver and David Anderson who sacrificed his ride to ride with Meera and gained a bronze.