Old Portlians Reliability Trial

The first sportive of the year was a little gem. Starting from Knockholt Village Hall they were two routes at 72km and 100km with the longer route taking riders down to Ashdown Forest and back over Toys Hill. The village hall was packed – with over 120 people signed up it was their second highest attendance in recent years.

The event cost just £5 to enter and for that fee I received a “time” card which had my chosen target time (4hours), handwritten start time and when I’d eventually finish my completion time. The route itself is the same each year so you can rely on knowing the route, following someone who does or having the route on your bike computer to follow.

Simon and I were representing Team De Ver, a few people commended us for coming all the way from Streatham, and we started the ride together. After a while as I was feeling strong I pushed on. With the high attendance neither of us were hardly ever riding on our own.

Towards the end I got caught by a couple of fast riders with whom I managed to tag along with until the finish. They helped drag me to the finish line in 3 hours and 50 minutes which I’m very pleased about. Simon came in shortly afterwards and soon we tucked into egg baps with coffee and delicious homemade cakes to round off the great ride with great company. I would highly recommend this ride.