It's around this time of year that a lot of people wind down their sportive participation and, if not quit for the winter, then limit their cycling to high days and holidays. The odd Sunday morning club run, or a sneaky half day when they should be at the office, is enough for some to keep their cycling mojo going. I like to end the summer season with a bang, and the Cycling Weekly Box Hill Original certainly fits the bill.
If you love hills and want bang for your buck, then there are few places in the south of England that can serve up this kind of undulating smorgasbord. Based out of Dorking this year instead of Epsom Downs, the Box Hill Original gets right down to business in the first 5km with an "Oh my god my legs are still cold" ascent of Box Hill.
This isn't, however, the trickiest part of that first half hour. I'll come back to that in a while.
It seems that everyone wanted some end-of-season action, and I've never seen a start line so busy as last weekend. I waited, ten deep, for at least 40 minutes while the start marshall wretchedly repeated his safety announcements before my group even got close to the timing sensors. This gave me ample opportunity to scan the assembled ranks for bike porn; gleaming machines of all marques were on parade, along with others that were being pulled out of mothballs for their first autumn ride, the shiny stuff consigned to the garage, the shed or (if they were lucky) the spare room.
Sheer weight of numbers could've caused complications at the start, but we were competently marshalled across the A24 and on to the cycle path towards Westhumble. This, I felt in July when I did the Work From Home, was a complication we could do without, as the route meant that all of the cyclists had to negotiate the A24 subway again to get to Box Hill. Fine for the early starters, perhaps, but those who set off later were returning to this subway just as those beginning the climb were arriving.
Neither the subway nor the barriered approaches on both sides of the road are very friendly to road cyclists - they're cramped, narrow and muddy - and this conflict could have been lessened if everybody was sent up the southbound cycle track on exiting the start.
Bottlenecks aside, the first hour of the ride was familiar territory for those who have done Wiggle events in the Surrey Hills: a loop of Box, a descent through Headley and then (via the Canto of the Inferno known as the Subway) up to the top of Ranmore Common. From there, the route was different from usual, heading for a brief sortie inside the M25 before emerging on the descent of Coombe Bottom from a different direction.
Climb after climb was served up, to test the legs and moisture retention of your windproof layers, until just before half way round the standard course, I pitched up at Peaslake and the first feed station. After the customary queue for the bogs and the dilemma of which goodies to stuff your pockets with, it was back to the road and straight into another climb. Thankfully, after that (for standard and epic riders) the slopes were less frequent, allowing the average speed to increase.
Heading back north after a tour of Cranleigh and Ewhurst I was back on roads I remembered, but in an attempt to trick my mind and muscles, the usual gruelling and direct way up Leith was ignored in favour of the old favourite of Broomhall. Usually what follows Leith is the nightmare of White Down, but again the route took a detour from the usual direction, heaping misery on top of anticipation up Raikes Lane. My Garmin refuses to acknowledge that I went up White Down - it doesn't even feature in my memory. It's only the snap of me grinning inanely at the official photographer on the hairpin that proves that I was there.
Completing this testing sportive is always a relief, and it is an ideal way to sign off your summer's riding. The leaves are starting to fall with the temperature, making any trip out slightly less attractive, but the bling at the finish line filled me with a huge sense of achievement.
I've done a lot of different rides this year, and the Box Hill Original is one of my faves. Cannot wait for spring time to revisit these roads in the Ups and Downs.
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