Hills

Anyone who thinks the area around here (south west of Cambridge) is basically flat should try the cycle ride I did on Sunday.

It was a 55km ride in total, with the following height profile (heights in metres):

I started on the left at 0km and finished on the right at 55km.

The spike at about 14km is near Barrington Quarry, which I previously thought was "a big hill" (topping out a little over 60m for a fairly steep 50m climb).

How wrong I was.

At about 30km I had another climb, which kept going and kept going.  A few small downhills let me get my breath back but basically I was constantly climbing up to over 140m in total and it really felt like it!

It made the first hill look tiny.

Great training though...

This route had a total ascent of 324 metres (with the same total descent, being a circular route). Maximum elevation was 144 metres, minimum 15 metres.

The Nightrider route varies from 4 to 45 metres over most of the ride, but with peaks of 139m near Ally Pally (soon after my start point I think, so I begin with a climb!) and 100m near Crystal Palace.  Total ascent is 383m, again on a circular route so with a matching total descent.

So, my 55km ride ascended 324 metres and the 100km event does 383m, so I should be prepared for it after this ride!

I've done well over 700km cumulatively now, continuing to clock up about 140 to 150km per week over the next couple of weeks before tapering down just before the event in 24 days time. Eeek.