No sunshine on Leith

With the rain lashing down on Leith Hill, our Centenary Hill Climb proved to be a fairly epic edition in every sense of the word!

We had a great turn out despite the poor conditions, with nearly 60 starters. On the start-list were some notable names and machines alike, with local hero Dom Jackson fresh from taking the Box Hill KOM, and Neil Grunshaw riding his cargo bike with kids Henry and Rosa on board. We heard more about the day from the two fastest Wheelers; one a seasoned pro and the other taking on their very first hill climb.

Photos by Mark James

Tom Kennett

What a morning! Having spent the last couple of months fixated on trying to beat a stubborn PB on this course, I admit to being slightly disheartened when the heavens opened shortly after I arrived at the race HQ. However, my troubles paled compared to many of my fellow riders and other clubmates volunteering – I had at least driven to the event. In contrast, they mostly rode through torrential conditions just to sign on!

The camaraderie around hill climbs is usually pretty great, but the gallows humour was only improved by the ever-deteriorating conditions. I curtailed my usual warm-up and just rode over to the start with a few half-hearted sprints, water already pooling in my shoes and my outer jersey absolutely sodden in the ten minutes this all took.

Once I got going, obviously, any thoughts of the PB went out the window. Ironically it meant I had slightly more time to appreciate and enjoy the support from the side of the road – both from the incredible volunteers spending their Saturday mornings standing in the rain, but also from other Wheelers who had ridden down to bid us all well. Chapeau to them, some of the days biggest heroes!

I was delighted to at least finish as fastest Wheeler, but with a sense of unfinished business. Roll on 2025!

Alex Joss

I decided to enter the KWCC hill climb for a few different reasons:

• Mainly, to support the club, and to encourage other women to give it a go, as well as wanting to bolster the women’s field. I have volunteered at the event previously, and some years, we barely had enough women to fill the podium. We have a wonderful group of strong, inspiring wheeler women and sometimes, I think the best way to encourage others is sign up and line up!
• I kinda like cycling uphill.
• There was a chance of winning a cool KWCC jersey.
• There was a chance of winning actual money. And let’s face it, that’s as close as I will get to being a professional cyclist 🤣

I spent most of the summer training for an endurance ride in France, so it’s fair to say my fitness wasn’t exactly ‘targeted’ towards a 5-6min all-out effort up Leith Hill, but, if you ride your bike a lot, you invariably get stronger, so figured I’d give it a crack anyway. As such, the KWCC hill climb was always in my calendar – admittedly, four days rest between the two events possibly wasn’t for the best, but, we live and learn… 🙂

I don’t think any of us expected the weather conditions on the day – predominantly biblical rain and somewhat-less-than-September temperatures. I joined a ride down to HQ with a few other wheelers, in desperate bid to convince myself it would be fun to get my white jersey filthy and freeze half to death en route (it wasn’t).

My only Intention was to beat my previous Leith Hill PR – I had never done a competitive hill climb, I didn’t really know what to expect, and I figured the best thing was just to try and beat myself. There was a great atmosphere at HQ; really welcoming, friendly and chatty, and it was fantastic to see so many Wheeler faces – both participants and volunteers (awesome cake and cookies, too!) The ride itself was hard (funny that) and was made far harder by the cold and rain, but the atmosphere along the course was epic – cowbell corner needs to be experienced in real life!

I was happy with my ride and did better than I had anticipated – chapeau to all the other competitors, it felt like a bit of a vintage year with those conditions, I have to say! Extra special mention to my fellow wheeler woman Anlyn who stuck a number on and put in a super strong time! I fully intend to sign up again next year, as it was a brilliantly “fun” (!) event, and I will be encouraging / pestering (delete as appropriate) everyone and anyone else to give it a go too!

Wheeeellleeerrrrrrrrr!!!