The Hell of the ashdown 2024

Well, another year has passed, and seven mad fools arrived in Westerham to participate in one of cycling’s toughest challenges, The Hell of the Ashdown. All didn’t start too well as on arrival at Valence School car park in freezing temperatures the author of this report found his bike was frozen to the roof of his car and no amount of wriggling and gentle pulling was going to release it. ‘Never mind, our esteemed leader and Boxford Bike Club regular, Mr. Kelly Wagland, was on hand to offer a solution – ‘Find a flask of coffee and throw that on it!’. Fortunately, another entrant, unpacking his car, was on hand with a more practical solution, a can of de-icer which quickly did the trick.

Crisis, over and we all set off for the short ride to the start and the chance to have a quick warm-up in the Westerham Brewery Hall. After a short chat we assembled with our bikes at the start for the obligatory ride briefing which largely focused on safely negotiating two fords and avoiding the numerous potholes that blight the Kent roads.

The HOTA is famed for its numerous steep climbs and fast descents, and we were soon grinding our way up Toys Hill. All went fairly smoothly until halfway up when to our left appeared a very agitated horse with his rider desperately trying to calm the animal. His efforts sadly failed, and the horse reared up onto his hind legs and threw his rider onto the floor. The horse then bolted off across the road, fortunately missing the many riders climbing the hill and any cars that were going past. Luckily the rider appeared unhurt, and we were treated to the amusing sight of him desperately chasing the poor animal into the depths of Ashdown Forest.

As reported earlier the ride briefing warned of potholes and it was soon evident that these little nasties were very numerous making cycling downhill at speed almost impossible. At the start we made a conscious decision to be very cautious, which obviously paid off and despite the very poor road surfaces the ride itself went with few incidents and there were no punctures or spills due to the conditions. We now know why the organizer of the HOTA complimented our own Tornado for having better roads as the roads in Kent are, quite frankly, appalling and in places very dangerous. On the plus side we were treated to cold but relatively calm and dry weather and the forecast rain did not arrive.

Two excellent food stops and more steep climbs than I care to remember, we all arrived safely at the finish. For the author of this report an extra couple of kilometers were completed as missing the last direction arrow he followed a fellow rider downhill only to find the rider was on his way home! Luckily, the rider told him how to get to the finish and the ride was successfully completed by all.

This was the third year running that a group from BBC have completed the HOTA and the sense of achievement was no less this year than in previous years. The only disappointment was For Kelly who failed to finally complete the evil Brasted Hill which was left out by the organisers, presumably because the road surface has deteriorated so much it was too dangerous to include.

Having entered this ride for three years in a row Kelly suggested that we do the Kentish Killer next year which, at the time of writing, has not been met with universal approval. No doubt when tired legs have recovered, and minds have forgotten the pain the idea will be met with greater enthusiasm and BBC will have a healthy representation at another of cycling’s great challenges next year.