Essex Behemoth Sportive

The Essex Behemoth Weekend Sportive is a beast of a ride! - in fact, there’s nothing like it that we know of in the South-East. This is a brand new sportive event for the hardest of cyclists and not for the faint hearted. It’s two serious high-mileage back-to-back days in the saddle, in territory sportive riders are not likely to have ridden before. Totalling over 380 Kilometres and with just under 3000 metres of climbing, this gruelling event goes through some of the most beautiful villages in Essex such as Finchingfield and Great Thurlow, and along wonderful undulating roads virtually devoid of traffic. There are some stings in the Behemoth-tail too, where we’ve actively sought out the best hills to add to the hurt!

The event runs out from a great new venue – Barleylands, just outside Billericay (which is only 25 miles outside London). On arrival on the Saturday morning we’ll take riders through our fast-track booking-on system, so they’re ready to go as early as possible. On through the timing system they’ll be directed round the western loop for Day 1 via arrowed signage and supported with a gpx track and turn-by-turn instructions if they need them. Our many feedstops keep riders going through 186 Kilometres to the finish where we’re ready to serve them with a great Italian hot pasta-feast and on-site entertainment before they settle down in the tented village/ local hotel, to rest and prepare for their biggest effort on the Sunday. After a hearty continental breakfast made for cyclists, we’ll send them off again on an even greater loop of 194 Kilometres – this time to picturesque east Essex, travelling through villages such as Steeple Bumpstead and Stoke-by-Nayland. On arrival back at the finish we’ll give riders both split and accumulated times for the whole event. To add to the occasion we’ve got photographers en-route to snap riders as they pass, to mark their epic feat.

The ride is supported by on site maintenance facilities taking care of all bike needs pre/post the ride. We encourage participants to stay on site on the Saturday night to soak up the atmosphere where they can bring their tent to pitch in our tented village. Alternatively, if riders would like to overnight on the Friday night beforehand or the Saturday then we’ve a special discounted rate at the nearby Holiday Inn. The HQ has showers and wash facilities for those staying over at the venue on the Saturday.

The Behemoth is a testing ride for the seasoned cyclist. Both courses are long with the major challenge on the Sunday, making this ride a bit of a monster. There are not many occasions where riders can do back-to-back sportives and particularly where they get another opportunity to better their overall time on the second day thus moving them up the finish time rankings. Unlike many other events this sportive majors on minor country roads, avoiding large towns and enabling riders to run higher speeds over distance making it a ‘true-sportive’ for the serious enthusiast.

Essex Behemoth Weekend Sportive is a product of Behemoth Sportives Limited whose organisers have been running sportives and charity cycle events for the last 14 years.