Reading something on the web about a year ago, someone suggested a route of this nature – ie. going up and down each consecutive hill along the Greensand Ridge starting at Yalding Hill and moving East. At the the time I thought it would be a killer, as I considered Yalding, Barn and Hunton Hills, Westerhill Road, Vanity Lane, etc, but really these are the worst ones – with one or two exceptions the hills get easier as you go East. I thought I’d give it a go. I designed the following route (43 miles, 3,340 feet ascent) : It was a hot day (26°C) with light winds. The first climb was Barn Hill. I’m very familiar with this short, sharp shock. The next ascent was Westerhill Road and that was really tough, certainly the steepest on this route – it’s up there with the toughest of all the Ridge hills and required out-of-the-saddle heavy breathing action to get up it! With that one done, the rest were easier.
During this ride I discovered some really nice country lanes around here that I had never ridden before, such as Loddington Lane. I think this route will become a favourite. I have designed another one that goes up the hills that this one goes down and vice versa. I tried something new on this ride, namely having an IsoGel every 7 or 8 miles. It seemed to work OK and I noticed no unpleasant side-effects, other than feeling more hungry than usual once I got home.
