Last weekend 8 of us from Catenary Cycle Coaching met up for an epic and very hilly adventure in the Surrey Hills. To sum it up, the ride was hilly – I guess the clue was in the name… With over 1200 m of elevation in just 70 km, there was a whole lot of climbing! We started out in Abinger Hammer and eased into it, cycling two by two - it was great to finally meet fellow athletes on the Catenary Team for the first time. Tim had his new GoPro all set up on the back of his bike to capture our excitement throughout the ride. 10 km in and we hit the first of three major climbs: Leith Hill. It was quite a long old climb, maxing out at about 15% - it certainly did warm us up!

We were all very grateful for the descent that followed before we hit White Down Lane – allegedly one of the top 10 toughest cycling climbs in the Surrey Hills. The start was tough, but manageable, but then the gradient maxed out at 18%! After a bit of a breather and regroup at the top of that hill the next part of the ride was enjoyable and we made our way towards Dorking, mostly downhill. The sun began to poke out of the clouds as we reached the base of Box Hill – one of Britain’s most iconic climbs with its famous zig zag bends and great views of the surrounding countryside. Ollie wizzed up ahead and Tim spurred me on to chase him. Of course I did not catch him, but I did manage a new PR on the climb!

Now we were half way on the ride, we treated ourselves to some well-deserved coffee and cake at the café at the top, then had a little photo shoot in our stylish Catenary kit before heading back down towards Dorking and up into Ashcombe Wood. It was a relatively short climb to Combe Lane, followed by a very hairy descent! The very steep and sharp hairpin bend caught us off guard and was a bit sketchy. We admired how picturesque Shere village was as we passed through and cycled on to tackle our final big climb of the day on Hound House. It was a long 3.5 km and did drag a bit, but the surrounding woods were pretty enough to make up for it! As the weather was starting to turn on us, we were a little concerned it was about to rain. Tim told us it was all downhill from there onwards*, which was not entirely true! We got held up on a short climb on a narrow lane when a Waitrose delivery lorry decided to block off the road before we were all fully grouped at the top. We then had just the final stretch downhill to Abinger Hammer. Frankie was having to coast the downhill as her gears were playing up. Fortunately the rain had held off and we all made it back in one piece. Shout out to my fellow Catenary Cycle coached athletes for a great ride! Can’t wait to see you all again at the next one!

Jennifer Carter

*he said [nearly] all downhill!

Catenary Team Ride in the Surrey Hills, 2 May 2021