My first sportive today - the Burgess Hill Springtime Classic. 115km through Sussex and a bit of Kent, with some really steep hills.
First up was Pillow Mounds Hill which ramps up very quickly and gets the heart-rate going nicely.
Next up was Kidds Hill, which although fairly steep was consistent so allowed for rhythmic climbing.
At the far end of the course (50km in) was Groombridge Hill, where the bottom chainring of the triple made its first appearance of the day (30x25)
After a few more lumps and bumps, it was time for the big one - Cobb Lane:
That 20% sign is no lie
There's a lovely downhill leading up to the climb to allow you to carry some momentum. Unfortunately my chain decided this would be the ideal time to jump off the deraillieur, leaving me to free it at the side of the road, and then start the climb from a standing start. Nevertheless, I managed to ratchet my way up to the top, passing quite a few walkers, some of whom were pushing more than a couples of grand's worth of bike. Someone once said "it's not about the bike"... can't remember who though.
From there it was 30km and a few more stinging climbs back to the finish, and the chance of a silver medal time spurred me to really rev up the engine.
Stats were as follows:
Distance: 116.9km
Time: 4hrs 47mins (4hrs 38mins actual riding)
Total climbing: 1,852m
Average speed: 25.2km/h
Maximum speed: 65km/h (could've gone a bit quicker, but road integrity wasn't great)
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