Yesterday (Sunday 10th April) saw Geoffrey and I take part in the 21st edition of the “Hell Of the North Cotswolds”. For the uninitiated the HONC is a 100 km reliability ride around the road and trails of the Cotswolds, starting from the town of Winchcombe (about 10 miles from ‘nam). This was (about) the tenth time I’ve ridden this event and was the first time all 1000 places were filled ahead of time.

We managed to set a record of our own this year by only starting 20 minutes late. This unfortunately meant the first 10 or so miles were spent riding (and waiting) behind slower riders. Once the trails cleared a bit we made fairly steady progress round, the only problems being my lack of fitness and one puncture. After almost six hours riding we arrived back in Winchcombe tired (me especially) but glad to have made it round. This years statistics are as follows

Total distance covered : 65.90 miles
Total time : 5 hours 52 minutes
Average speed : 11.2 mph (how weak is that?)
Number of wrong turns : Four
Number of wrong turns which involved riding up steep hills needlessly : Two
Amount of food grubbed : 20 fig rolls, 3 chocolate bars, 2 cakes, 2 bananas, 2 cereal bars and one jam sandwich.

This year’s route was billed as being one of the hardest ever with lots of new trails being included. It was definitely a good route but much of it seemed to be tracks included in previous years ridden in reverse. Still, the last 10 miles was good, the descent of Waterhatch being a much better finish than the energy sapping grassy trails on Cleeve Hill.
Bring on next year.