Haytor

I went to collect one of our sons from Exeter University on 22 Dec, and had suggested that we cycled before returning - in particular I wanted to ride up Haytor. He was OK with this so I put my bike in the car and drove down. I still wasn't sure whether the weather would be ok given the forecast but it was good enough in Exeter at about 11 so we decided to take the risk, although accepting that higher on Dartmoor might be a bit different. We set off and ended up riding on a route that we'd done when I took his bike down in October 2012.

I'd liked to have ridden somewhere different but the advantage of re-riding a route for only the second time is that you are guaranteed lots of achievements. The route heads out of Exeter to Longdown which is a long undulating Strava Cat 4 drag up followed by a fast descent at the bottom of Longdown we joined the 2013 Tour of Britain route and followed this to the top of Haytor.

The next climb was 6 Mile Hill (which isn't 6 miles and the longest Strava segment comes in at 3.6 miles) - compared to Longdown this is a tougher climb, a Strava Cat 3, as it is a more continuous climb. After 6 Mile Hill there's a descent and short climb into Mortonhampstead, and then a 7 mile run, generally down hill, to Bovey Tracey.

At the roundabout you can either turn left into Bovey Tracey itself or right straight into the climb to Haytor, which is what we did. From the roundabout its then uphill for over 3.5 miles to the top of Haytor. After 1/2 a mile from the roundabout there was a left fork and then the road continues on and up. At this point it also started raining reasonably steadily and the wind got up. It had been fairly breezy on the way over but for the next 2 miles or so the wind was very strong and the rain was heavy.

The Haytor climb was relentless. I tried to keep in 2nd (34-25) for as long as possible to save something for the end but I had to use the 34-28 on numerous occasions given the wind. My son was very gradually pulling away from me but I was never losing sight of him. It was tough to the cattle grid, and for a while after, but I soon realised that the trees that lined the road were doing a very good job of sheltering me from the wind, as after another 5 minutes or so the trees cleared and we were on the side of the hill. The wind seemed stronger than ever, and although there was intermittent shelter from the gradient itself it was strong. At about 2 1/2 miles it levelled out a little as we rode past the visitor centre, and although it had stopped raining by then there was no shelter from the wind and it then got steeper again for the final mile or so to the summit. This last bit was incredibly tough, especially as the top was almost in sight. I struggled up and rejoined my son. I was probably about 60 seconds behind him which I was reasonably happy with.

Looking at Strava later, Haytor is a Strava Cat 2. This is therefore the toughest hill I have ever climbed and it certainly felt it. It took me over 27 minutes from the roundabout at the bottom to the top. This placed me about 550th of 1050 riders. My general aim to be in the top 1/3rd wasn't met but given the conditions I was just about OK with this. I feel there is probably a couple of minutes I could pull out of the time given better conditions in the summer but I am not going to trouble the leader boards on a climb this long.

We then rode back down (I realised how long the climb was as we seemed to descend forever even at nearly 40 mph for periods). We stopped briefly in Bovey Tracey at Tesco for some chocolate and the rode back - but given Exeter it wasn't an easy return. We rode along the Teign Valley back to the bottom of the other side of Longdown - although it followed the river it was clear the river was losing a lot of height as its a long drag, and then Longdown is another Cat 4 climb back, and then there's the short sharp Poccombe Hill just on the re-entry to Exeter itself

I was glad to be back, but I am pleased to say, so was my son!

It was 45.6 miles, and 4285ft of climbing, so a very challenging ride - almost the magic 100ft/mile of ascent. 44 Strava achievements were a good reward as well.



Apart from the rain climbing Haytor we were lucky with the weather so for a winter ride a few days before Christmas we were very fortunate. Well worth doing.