Kentish Killer Trial Run

Chris Dines and I rode the KK long route today. To our knowledge we are the first to do so. Dan also started with us, but turned off early with a pulled muscle. Steve B was going to be with us, but made some excuse about bike maintenance - just admit to having a hangover, eh, Steve...

The first thing to say is that the route is tough. Really tough. 70-odd miles is not the statistic that tells the story of the route. 6,700ft of climbing does it. We found very few stretches to relax and and get a rhythm going. You are either climbing, negotiating rough roads or descending. Flat it ain't. I've done most of the local sportives and reliability rides over the years and the only one that had me as knackered as this was the 96 miler out of East Grinstead.

People want a challenging ride in stunning country. This route give that in spades, so for those that can manage it that's a good thing. The particular difficulty with the ride is that there are some pretty tough climbs in the first quarter (Row Dow and Carter's, plus smaller ones) that give your legs a good kicking before really getting into the ride. At the top of Carter's Chris and I were viewing the rest of the ride with trepidation - what if it was all like this? For the difficulty of the early climbs that screw with your legs and mind in the first part of the ride I think we could consider removing one of them. If we don'ta good number of those that start the the long route may change to the short one at Penshurst.The rest of the ride is tough enough to stand reducing the challenge in the first 20 miles.

What do others think? I might be out of shape (that's actually quite likely). I might be a big wuss (also a strong possibility). If people find it too tough, hey ho, their problem? It's meant to be a killer, right?

What I will say is that even with weather that threatened rain all day the route showed off our corner of Kent beautifully. Views from the top of Exedown and Ashdown Forest were great. The roads aren't in such bad nick. The traffic was quieter than we expected. And I felt like I had achieved a good ride at the end.

Give the route a try soon and see what you reckon. Take plenty of food and big lungs...

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dines on January 16, 2011 at 10:45

Simon's right. By the time you get to the top of Carters Hill, you've done 20 miles of some of the toughest cycling you could put together in Kent. Row Dow, Tinker Pot, some hill near Ightham, Carters etc. We had averaged just 11.5mph in getting to that 20mile point.

It explains why half of last year's riders took over 4hours to do the 47 mile short course, which includes this section.

It's a brilliant route though. Both of us were knackered by the end, but really enjoyed it. We also had to tackle Ashdown while cycling into a very strong wind.

Here's my Garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/63518102 I had the Garmin switched off on a 5km fast stretch coming back through Darenth valley. The two of us spent a lot of time making sure we taking the correct turns, so without stops I'd expect to do maybe 5hrs, with food stops another 15 minutes. The quickest, younger riders (who enjoy steep climbs) might do 4hrs 30m

I might give it another go in two weeks time, for those interested.

It's going to be a fantastic event, and we'll need to give all the riders every encouragement!

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy B on January 16, 2011 at 16:50

Hi Chris,

Can't see the file on Garmin Connect as it looks like the privacy setting is on. Error message is "you do not have sufficient privileges to view the file with id 63518102".

I might be interested at having a go at the route on my own at some point.

Cheers

Jeremy

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dines on January 16, 2011 at 16:57

can you try it again? Should be open now.

Chris

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy B on January 17, 2011 at 11:27

Good stuff. All working now !

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Permalink Reply by Steve Bowman on January 31, 2011 at 0:01

I had a go at doing the full route on Saturday, but stupidly left at about 12ish and didnt have any lights. Was forced to stop at Edenbridge due to the light and got the train home.

I noticed one of the roads on the route was closed due to water works (forgot where exactly, but somewhere in the 2nd quarter). However, they looked pretty minor so I'm sure it will be open again in no time.

The first 20 miles were pure pain!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dines on January 31, 2011 at 13:26

Glad you feel the same about that first 20 miles!

How much had you done when you stopped, and how long did it take?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Bowman on January 31, 2011 at 18:45

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66072400

Can you see that?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Bowman on February 8, 2011 at 16:59

I had another go today, started and finished in Farningham just before the A20 junction, so missed out the Brands Hatch loop. I did the 66 miles in 4 hours 30 minutes, so would expect an extra 20 odd minutes for the remaining 4 miles?

That included walking up Carters Hill (again)! The conditions were nice, with hardly any wind and quite sunny. I'm not at all fit and carrying about 2 and a half stone of winter weight.

Hope that info helps with deciding the gold/silver/bronze times - I felt that I gave a bronze standard effort.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dines on February 8, 2011 at 17:02

Steve, I suspect you are a lot fitter than many who will do it. The finish up Mussendon Lane is hard work, so 5 hrs is not unreasonable for silver in my view. Carters will be packed with people pushing bikes!

I might have another crack this weekend. Feeling a bit fitter now!