Box Hill

Thought would get in a bit of hill practice and tryout a ride to Box Hill earlier in the week, as had heard some road-bikers talking about training there.

Fourty five mile round trip from Richmond Park, mainly on roads with a few tracks/towpaths thrown in, and a couple of little hills - nice warmup.  And the sun came out so got a nice shot from the top of Box Hill.  There was a nice view looking East on the way up, but didn't stop to take photo.

Box Hill, looking South

(shame about iPhone camera)

Bit more traffic than I was hoping for, with a few busy A roads around Esher, Leatherhead.  Will see if can find a bit more of a backcountry route next time.

Just bar bag, and one pannier carrying random clothes/stuff to add a bit of weight (the usual training setup), and iPhone powered from battery as still not got new Dynamo hub wheel back yet.  Seemed a shame seeing all the dynamo wiring and lights sitting redundant... Motion X worked pretty well again.

Box Hill itself was fine - reasonably gentle climb with max gradient of around 8% and an average of only 5% from the post-ride data.  Was expecting a 'mini Ditchling Beacon' (on the South Downs, which if you've done the London to Brighton you'll know all about - a max gradient of about 16%, and an average of about 9%).  It wasn't, which left me half pleased and half disappointed.