Wiggle Surrey Hills Gravelcross CX

 
If I’d thought about it a bit more, a warm up and course recce should have been completed before the start, but I didn’t and so was more than happy with fourth place, especially as I was reduced to a not very graceful waddle by a set of double steps on a short bridge!

A small field and an early start meant no queues at the sign-on

Once out of the showground and it was a short blast on the road into Winterfold wood, before the first route split. This took place in one of the many car parks that are scattered about the Surrey Hills, which are usually full of MTBers looking a little surprised to see a load of lycra clad ‘crossers zooming past their preparations.

I haven’t ridden around this area of the UK for some years and had forgotten just how pretty it is. Little lanes took us past chocolate box cottages and quiet villages that seemed trapped in time; lovely. And it’s a real hot spot for cyclists, both road and mtb. I don’t think I’ve seen so many cyclists in one area that weren’t doing an organised event – there were club runs and groups of friends everywhere.

Riders of all ages and all bikes took part. Photo courtesy of Dave Hayward

Of course, I wasn’t here to study the real estate and count cyclists, but to see if I could turn in a gold time, I had noticed only one rider had accomplished this on the previous South Downs Sting CX that another Handsling rider, Pete Cole had ridden. So the challenge was on!

I’m not here to have fun! I’m trying to get that gold! Photo courtesy of Dave Hayward

The route was advertised as being 60% road and 40% oof-road, but it felt like there was a lot more off road than that – and very good off road it was! The riding around the Surrey Hills, which is an official Area of Natural Beauty no less, is very different from my own paths down in Sussex. Many of the trails are rooted and rock strewn with a sandy base, as opposed to the wide open rutted chalk Downs of Sussex. This is where the tubeless set-up I was running really came into its own. I rode over the roots and rocks, rims banging like mad, which should have meant having to stop multiple times to fix pinch punctures. Instead I only had to stop twice to add a little air, which took less than a minute each time, a huge advantage in this kind of event.

 
Continued overleaf…
 
Compare prices and buy cyclocross bikes from: