Last week Skip and I stayed down in Devon the night before the Dartmoor classic. As we had arrived at our guest house (two single rooms by the way, let's be 100% clear about THAT) quite early, we decided to go for a drive. It actually turned into a trip round all the places that I used to play football, go to school, or ride/crash my bike when I was a kid. That was about all I did between the ages of 7 and 14.Well, in the same era, a certain bread manufacturer, Hovis, other breads are available, had a very evocative advert where a little boy on a bike pushed his steed, to the top of a cobbled hill, and then rode down it again while a warm northern voice, suitably backed by a comforting brass band, gave the corporate message about how good the bread was. The fact that the ad was filmed in Shaftesbury, deep in Dorset, a million cultural miles from the dark satanic mills as it's possible to get, is neither here nor there. You see, one of my lifelong ambitions has been to cycle up that hill, Gold Hill, thus proving that southerners are tougher than northerners once and for all.
The story now also has an added twist in that the new face of Hovis, is none other than our favourite cyclist born on my birthday (albeit 16 years later), step forward Victoria Pendleton. In the clip below, she burbles on about a load of guff, but it's great seeing her attempting to cycle down the hill on an old bike, with what appears to be highly dodgy brakes, and as I found out, it's a very steep hill.
I was visiting my parents this weekend, and guess what, they live about 20 miles from Shaftesbury. So I designed (yes, me, planning, what next I hear you cry?) a route around Cranbourne Chase, about 50+ miles, plenty of tasty hills and some long descents as well as a bit of rolling terrain. I did not get off to the best of starts as after about a mile I realised I'd left my water bottles on my Mum's kitchen table, so had to retrace my route.
But once that was out of the way there were no more hitches and I was away into the early morning sunshine and the peaceful quiet lanes of Dorset and Wiltshire. The views were stunning as I climbed each chalk escarpment, and the villages that followed the spring lines (remember that in geography?) were full of thatched and red-brick cottages and small water courses by the roadside.
For a short time I was back on a section of the Lionheart sportive route, before diving down the A30 and tackling a 20% climb back up to the top of the ridge with the military badges on it. From there it was through leafy lanes, encountering a line of four Caterham sports cars, countless motorbikes and one horse with rider and plenty of hi vis. I understand the galloping over the fields malarkey, but not the plodding round the lanes bit. Each to his own I guess.
Next it was date with destiny, Shaftesbury and Gold Hill. It's actually a traffic-free zone and I'm not sure it includes bicycles, but I had figured that with it being Sunday, and only about 10.30AM, few people would be around to object. Wrong. Well, there were hordes of people, it was a medieval fayre in central Shaftesbury, including Gold Hill, and I was dressed in my best Lycra, blending in as well as tomato at a cucumber convention.
Even though it wasn't the steepest hill of the day, the very uneven and oddly-shaped cobbles made it the toughest. I confess to walking up the steps, but apart from that I met the challenge. I'm running out of childhood ambitions to fulfill.
From there, all that was left was the climb of Zig Zag hill, which is lovely. After a short 10% section at the bottom it's a fairly easy 6%, before the final push up to the top of the downs above Tollard Royal. As I crested the hill I became aware that there were many more cyclist about than usual. Yes, you've guessed it, I had wandered into a sportive route, (the Santini National Trust Kingston Lacey sportive to give its mouthful of a title)sharing mine. One of their marshalls even tried to give me directions when our paths diverged. I guess sometime you can't make it on your own.
Gratifyingly I was picking up speed as I sped through Tollard Royal and Sixpenny Handley (6d Handley on one sign) and powered on towards Cranbourne. Right through a swarm of horse flies, one of which was kind enough to sting my head. A sharp sting has been replaced by a low-level throb and a slight swelling. I have to be a bit careful about these things and was grateful I'd taken an anti histamine for my hay fever.
Just the last small hill was left and I was back into Alderholt in a shade over three and a half hours for 53.5 miles, a really lovely ride. The first couple of hours were particularly delightful as there was virtually no-one about and I had the roads pretty much to myself.
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