17/5 Spring Special- Mega leg Breaker

Today's ride was the last of the three 'Spring Specials' the Mega Leg Breaker. Every year we do this ride we have a different combination of riders, doing the ride for the first time this year were Gary, Dan H and Peter Baker.

Once again the more modern garmins got confused between the start and the end of the ride so we had to follow my good old 205  bread crumb trail for a couple of miles until we were far enough from the start to stop recording and restart the ride on the colour screen  Garmins. After this they were fine for the rest of the day.

It was a case of Deja vu where as if by magic the man in black , Steve Denny  suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the road.Just like last week , he was on train duty later in the afternoon but would be able to ride most of the route with us.  

Fifteen miles into the route we were met by the signs for York hill. This long tough hill has an average gradient of 8% but kicks up to 16% near the top. Unbelievably Ivan was on a fixie but even Ivan power was defeated by the final gradient and Ivan was forced to briefly dismount!

Even Ivan Power Was Defeated By York's Hill!

Before reaching major hill number two (Chalk Pit Lane) we had to get half way up Toy's hill and then descend  its western flank. The entry to chalk  pits lane is via an unassuming  small turning in the road . From here the ascent is gradual but seems like it will never end. Unlike York's hill it winds its way up with a sharp 'dogs leg' near the top. Although it never reaches the steepness of York's hill most of us agreed this was by far the toughest hill of the day due to its length and not being sure where the finish was.Ivan found this one easier than York's hill as his fixie gear ratio was just about low enough to get him up without dismounting. 

From the top of Chalk Pits Lane there is a scarily steep descent down Titsey Hill, but we had to be careful not to overshoot the  sharp left hand turn for 'White Lane'. Having two working garmins I got into position to take point. Studying the garmins while desperately breaking to scrub off some speed was not easy but I identified the turn in enough time to lead everyone onto it safely despite some loose gravel on the junction that could easily have had us on the ground. 

White Lane has a  fearsome reputation as one of the shortest and steepest time trials in England. 

We didn't find it too bad and made it up without too much difficulty. Perhaps it was the thought that this was the last of the big hills and that we now had seven miles of uninterrupted downhill along the Pilgrims way to look forward to?  

Time For One More Drink At The Plough!

The Pilgrims way did not disappoint, we all had  great fun negotiating the miles of narrow road with their low level hedges. All too quickly we were at the bottom and celebrated with a quick drink at Chipstead before completing the last ten miles of undulating terrain back to the start.Our progress had been faster than previous years (both myself and Steve got Strava PBs on all three hills) so we had time for one more drink at 'The Plough' which was conveniently located just two miles from the finish.

Thanks to all those riders who came on any of the Spring Specials. We managed to complete three out of the four that were planned . Sadly there wasn't sufficient time to fit in the 'North Downs Nemesis', maybe we should start with that one next year as its eluded us for two years now!