UP! to the challenge

I was looking to challenge myself this weekend to a 5 hour training ride. All week the weather forecast for Sunday had been pretty shocking, so when it came to planning a ride I decided to stick to the black top. Spicing things up I picked a route that linked two big local climbs up Bexley and Butser hills. The northern approach to Bexley is one of the toughest roads in the area, while Butser is the highest point on the South Downs. To keep the training more relevent I decided to ride a knobbly tyred Stumpjumper.

The forecast hadn't been wrong, Sunday dawned under leaden clouds and relentless drizzle. The route took me through some of the most beautiful countryside that Sussex & Hampshire have to offer, but it was hidden behind sheets of rain, the hills shrouded in cloud. Approaching the top of Butser, visibility was down to a few meters and it was impossible to judge where the summit was. The descent down the other side was like riding straight into a cold bath. A wall of water ferously fell from the sky and flowed down the road like a river beneath me. To absolutely ensure that summiting Butser wasn't the highlight it should have been, I capped it by puncturing in the middle of the deluge. Soaked and now cold I cursed how it was possible to flat a mtb tyre on a road ride!

Ride time : 5 hours
Distance : 71.5 miles
Elevation gain : 1163 meters