Hill 1 (am) - Bostal Hill (Steyning) - 0.95 miles long
Steep start ramping quickly up to 17%, then a small level section before a longer steep section at 17% to the finish.
Didn't do well. I haven't raced for a while and haven't been on the bike as much as normal for the last 3 weeks, which I think combined to make me struggle. The surface was damp due to the hill being tree covered and my rear wheel slipped for a quarter pedal turn on 6-8 occasions, I also had a slightly misaligned bottom gear which kicked a few times. I let these things get to me and just wasn't happy with the way I was going.
Ended up with a disappointing 5.34.01 compared to last years 5.05.10 shows how much I codsed this up. Pete Tadros was superb and won comfortably in 4.04.0. He punctured and came off descending the hill on the way back to HQ but it didn't slow him down in the afternoon.
Hill 2 (pm) - Mill Hill (Shoreham-by-Sea) - 2.66 miles long
This one is much more gradual and more of a power climb, with the steepest sections at 9% and some flat bits.
Last year I made a mess of this one, and it didn't all go to plan today. It started very well. I'd decided to big ring it all the way and was going well. I was riding well and holding it just below the red line getting as much as I could out of it.
The last right turn is a 90 degree bend in to a short kick up before leveling off to a gradual drag to the finish line. There was quite a few people just after the bend on the kick up and as I came round the bend I got out the saddle and powered up it. My "look good for the folks" blast was a stupid idea though as it immediately threw me over the red line and my legs exploded spectacularly. Unfortunately this is still 0.8 miles from the finish line and I had to drop to the 39 ring and really, really groveled in. I was dead when I crossed the line.
My time for this hill was 9.34.7 compared to 9.54.5 last year so a big improvement despite the spectacular blow up. I think I lost in the region of 30 seconds at the end when I died so much better than last year just wish I'd not gone mad by the bend and held the effort
.Pete Tadros again won this with a phenomenal ride of 7.36.9 beating second place by 30 seconds from the bloke that won the hill last year!
Adam was a DNS
. I guess something cropped up as I thought you were looking forward to the 4 Hill Weekend.
