Half Moon over Hunton Hill
Ride 261 of the year and day 141 of the streak started four minutes before midnight on Friday, and the plan was simple: just keep the streak going. A short loop, an easy pace and Nickelback’s new tunes on the playlist. It was cloudy and still, 9°C with 92% humidity and barely a breath of easterly wind, but there was a lovely half moon up there to keep me company.
I headed west along the ridge first, the easy miles ticking by in the dark, then let the bike run down the hill into Yalding. The lanes were as empty as they ever get: over the whole ride just 10 vehicles passed me, roughly one every seven minutes.
Out of Yalding, Kenward Road gave the first gentle drag of the night up towards Nettlestead, and a second short rise out of Nettlestead followed before the road tipped down again and swung south to Hale Street. From there it was flat river-valley country: down to Laddingford, along Gravelly Ways and back up the valley into Yalding, with the music doing most of the work.
Then the sting in this loop’s tail. From Yalding I rolled east to Hunton and turned for home up Hunton Hill, my local hill and the only climb on the route Garmin rates, a Category 4. The steep middle section is where it bites, and I took the segment in 4:39 at 246 W, well above my Zone 2 ceiling for a few minutes, with the heart rate pushed into the 140s.
From the top it was only a short spin home along the ridge, a little over 25 km in the bag and the streak safely into day 141 – a half moon overhead and a Nickelback chorus still going round in my head.
The numbers
- Ride: #1132 on Strava, ride 261 of 2026, day 141 of the streak
- Distance: 25.2 km
- Moving time: 1:08:51 (1:12:07 elapsed)
- Elevation: 242 m
- Average power: 122 W
- Heart rate: 114 bpm average, 152 max
- Cadence: 87 rpm average
- Calories: 600 kcal
- Highlight: Hunton Hill – 0.82 km, 69 m, 4:39 at 246 W
- Conditions: dark, cloudy with a half moon, 8.9°C (feels like 9.3°C), 92% humidity, barely a breath of easterly wind
- Year to date: Distance 21,248 km, Elevation Gain 216,847 m
The route
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
The profile and climbs
3 climbs: 1 Cat 4, 2 uncategorised. Biggest: 1.1 km at 8.1%, 88 m of climbing (Cat 4, from km 23). Together the climbs account for 138 m of the ride’s ascent. Climbs are the ones Garmin’s ClimbPro found on earlier rides of this route, matched by GPS; length, ascent, time and power are from this ride.
Cat 4 Uncategorised Pins mark where each Garmin ClimbPro climb starts. Hover or tap a pin for details.
Climbs table
| # | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg power | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7.7 | 0.90 km | 31 m | 3.4% | 3:11 | 208 W | Uncategorised |
| 2 | 10.2 | 0.70 km | 19 m | 2.7% | 2:02 | 211 W | Uncategorised |
| 3 | 23.3 | 1.09 km | 88 m | 8.1% | 6:01 | 244 W | Cat 4 |
Warm Mist on Wierton Hill
Ride 260 of the year and day 140 of the streak started four minutes before midnight. The sky was clear, it was about 10°C, the air was soaked at 92% humidity and there was only a faint breath of wind from the east-south-east. Damp, still, cold air like that only goes one way at night – down into the valleys as fog. The plan was an easy Zone 2 loop out on the Babylon Lane route.
It starts by dropping off the high ground, then turns east along the ridge past Linton for a long, steady drag up towards Ulcombe – enough to warm the legs without ever asking much of them. At the top comes the reward: the free run down Ulcombe Hill onto the flat Weald, where I barely turned the pedals.
Down on the low ground it was properly foggy. Out towards Headcorn and Smarden the headlight stopped being a beam and became a glowing white wall in front of the bars, lighting up the mist more than the road. You go by the verge and the white line and trust the lanes you know. They were empty, too: my radar counted three vehicles in fifty kilometres, which at midnight in the fog is exactly how I like it.
From Smarden it was back west through Headcorn and along Babylon Lane, the flattest and quietest part of the night, heart rate sitting in the 90s and the cadence ticking over.
Then the one real effort of the ride: Wierton Hill, number 27 on the 100 Climbs X-List. I gave it a proper go, 283 W for 5:22, with the heart rate climbing to 159, the top of the night – my second-best time up there. And the strangest thing: the bottom was cold and foggy, but as I climbed out of it the air turned warm and misty, the inversion turning the weather upside down halfway up the hill.
From the top it’s the easy run home, rolling back west along the ridge through Linton in the clearer air above the fog. Fog below, warmth above – a good way to see out a Thursday.
The numbers
- Ride: #1131 on Strava, ride 260 of 2026, day 140 of the streak
- Distance: 50.2 km
- Moving time: 2:19:18 (2:32:00 elapsed)
- Elevation: 308 m
- Average power: 103 W
- Heart rate: 100 bpm average, 159 max
- Cadence: 88 rpm average
- Calories: 1,054 kcal
- Highlight: Wierton Hill (100 Climbs X-List No27) – 1.43 km, 79 m, 5:22 at 283 W (2nd best)
- Conditions: dark, clear, foggy in the valleys, 10°C (feels like 8°C), 92% humidity, light ESE wind
- Year to date: Distance 21,223 km, Elevation Gain 216,605 m
The route
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
The profile and climbs
2 climbs: 1 Cat 4, 1 uncategorised. Biggest: 1.6 km at 5.1%, 83 m of climbing (Cat 4, from km 42). Together the climbs account for 103 m of the ride’s ascent. Climbs are the ones Garmin’s ClimbPro found on earlier rides of this route, matched by GPS; length, ascent, time and power are from this ride.
Cat 4UncategorisedPins mark where each Garmin ClimbPro climb starts. Hover or tap a pin for details.
Climbs table
| # | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg power | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5.0 | 0.49 km | 20 m | 4.1% | 1:54 | 178 W | Uncategorised |
| 2 | 41.5 | 1.63 km | 83 m | 5.1% | 5:55 | 271 W | Cat 4 |
Egerton by Headlight
Ride 259 of the year and day 139 of the streak was a night one. It was soft and still out there – 9.7°C, cloudy, 94% humidity and barely a breath of wind from the west-south-west – the kind of damp air that hangs in your headlight like fog. The plan was simple: Zone 2, out to Egerton, home along the ridge.
It starts the easy way, dropping off the hill from home down to Hunton and out onto the flat Weald lanes. From there it was Marden Road and on through Staplehurst, spinning a steady 90-plus cadence with the heart rate sitting in the low 110s and nothing but the beam ahead of me.
Then, just under fifteen kilometres in, between Staplehurst and Headcorn, the headlight found a wall of orange: barriers, cones and a big Road Closed sign. I stopped for a minute, bypassed the road works and was rolling again before the legs had time to cool.
Ten minutes later I pulled up on the green at Headcorn, where the village sign and the old fingerpost were lit up under a tree still holding on to its autumn leaves. Maidstone 10, Tenterden 9, Biddenden 4. A couple of minutes standing in the quiet, then out east past Swift’s Green and Smarden, the road rising so gently you barely notice it.
The real work came at Egerton, the far corner of the loop. Rock Hill Road climbs 82 metres in just over a kilometre and I took it at 206 W in 4:31, with the steep section at 234 W and the heart rate touching 149 – the top of the night. The Egerton Hill segment went at 203 W for 57 metres of gain. Nothing heroic, but enough to remind the legs what a hill is.
From the top it’s the reward: the Greensand ridge home, west through Ulcombe, East Sutton and Chart Sutton, along the A274 and back past the Cock Inn to Linton. Long, gently undulating, and the lanes all to myself. Road works and all, a good night out.
The numbers
- Ride: #1130 on Strava, ride 259 of 2026, day 139 of the streak
- Distance: 51.6 km
- Moving time: 2:09:28 (2:13:46 elapsed)
- Elevation: 359 m
- Average power: 132 W
- Heart rate: 114 bpm average, 149 max
- Cadence: 91 rpm average
- Calories: 1,202 kcal
- Highlight: Rock Hill Road, Egerton – 1.06 km, 82 m, 4:31 at 206 W
- Conditions: dark, cloudy, 9.7°C, 94% humidity, barely a breath of WSW wind
- Year to date: Distance 21,173 km, Elevation Gain 216,297 m
The route
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
The profile and climbs
3 climbs, all uncategorised. Biggest: 0.9 km at 5.9%, 53 m of climbing (from km 28). Together the climbs account for 113 m of the ride’s ascent. Climbs are the ones Garmin’s ClimbPro found on earlier rides of this route, matched by GPS; length, ascent, time and power are from this ride.
UncategorisedPins mark where each Garmin ClimbPro climb starts. Hover or tap a pin for details.
Climbs table
| # | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg power | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28.2 | 0.87 km | 53 m | 5.9% | 3:51 | 223 W | Uncategorised |
| 2 | 30.0 | 0.84 km | 38 m | 3.8% | 3:07 | 212 W | Uncategorised |
| 3 | 32.0 | 0.76 km | 22 m | 2.5% | 2:14 | 222 W | Uncategorised |
Midnight on Church Hill
Most people were turning in for the night when I clipped in. It was 23:52 on Tuesday, the sky was clear, the thermometer read 6.6°C, and there was barely a breath of wind from the west. The air was damp, the kind of cold that settles on your gloves rather than biting at your face. Ride 1,129 on Strava, number 258 of the year and day 138 of the streak, was under way.
The plan was simple: an easy loop through the lanes south-west of Maidstone, keep the heart rate low, keep the legs turning. For the first hour, that’s exactly what happened. Out through Yalding and across towards Collier Street, then the long flat run onto Pattenden Lane and back. The Weald at midnight is a different place. The lanes that are busy with tractors and delivery vans by day belong to you alone. Over the whole ride I was passed by three vehicles. Three.
Cadence sat in the low 90s, power hovered around 100 watts on the flats, and my heart rate barely crept above 105. Proper Zone 1 and 2 riding, the unglamorous foundation everything else is built on. I rolled through East Peckham, along Gravelly Ways and Green Lane, and past Stilebridge Lane, where, for once, no dog gave chase.
Then came Church Hill.
I hadn’t planned to go hard. But there’s something about a climb in the dark, with nothing but the pool of your own light ahead of you, that makes it hard to hold back. From Lower Farm Road the road tilts up and keeps going, about 100 metres of climbing in two kilometres. On the steepest part, the 800-metre Church Hill climb segment, I averaged 308 watts for three and a half minutes, with my heart rate pushing up to 170 by the top. That was good enough for my third-best time ever on it, at well past midnight in October.
Then the reward: over the top, back down the other side, and an easy spin home to let the heart rate settle. Ninety minutes of quiet, steady base miles with one sharp, honest effort in the middle. Not a bad way to see in a Wednesday.
The numbers
- Ride: #1129 on Strava, ride 258 of 2026, day 138 of the streak
- Distance: 37.1 km
- Moving time: 1:40:36 (1:45:19 elapsed)
- Elevation: 245 m
- Average power: 83 W
- Heart rate: 111 bpm average, 170 max
- Cadence: 92 rpm average
- Calories: 854 kcal
- Highlight: Church Hill climb – 0.79 km, 65 m, 3:29 at 308 W (3rd best)
- Conditions: dark, clear, 6.6°C, 89% humidity, light westerly
- Year to date: Distance 21,121 km, Elevation Gain 215,938 m
The route
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
The profile and climbs
2 climbs: 1 Cat 4, 1 uncategorised. Biggest: 1.5 km at 6.1%, 93 m of climbing (Cat 4, from km 32). Together the climbs account for 126 m of the ride’s ascent. Climbs are the ones Garmin’s ClimbPro found on earlier rides of this route, matched by GPS; length, ascent, time and power are from this ride.
Cat 4UncategorisedPins mark where each Garmin ClimbPro climb starts. Hover or tap a pin for details.
Climbs table
| # | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg power | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7.5 | 1.06 km | 33 m | 3.1% | 3:23 | – | Uncategorised |
| 2 | 31.6 | 1.51 km | 93 m | 6.1% | 5:58 | 268 W | Cat 4 |
Châteaux on the Cher
Tours was the half-way stop on the trip, and there was just time for a quick pedal before heading off. I rolled out of the hotel just after nine on a bright, chilly Saturday morning: 9°C, a fresh northerly breeze and the sun still low over the rooftops.
Within a couple of kilometres I was crossing the Loire on the Pont de Fil, the old suspension footbridge, sharing it with an early runner and a carpet of fallen leaves.
On the south bank the road swept past the round tower of the Château de Tours, and then the city did its best to hold me up, with a red light at a cyclists’ crossing and a polite sign asking me to press the button and wait. A couple of minutes later I was through the suburbs and down onto the flat roads of the Cher valley.
This was the easy part. The Route des Vallées runs dead level beside the Cher, and I settled into a steady rhythm past Joué-lès-Tours and on to Savonnières, where the river meanders through its last few kilometres before it meets the Loire.
Then came the reason for the route. Villandry is famous for its château and its formal gardens, and I rolled into the village past the church perched above its stone wall. From there the road climbs straight out of the valley. The steepest stretch, the Villandry short climb, took me 3:19, and Garmin counted the whole drag up to the plateau as a single 2.2 km climb, the longest of the day.
Up on top the landscape changed completely: wide open fields, huge skies and almost no traffic, with the low sun throwing my shadow across the road near Druye. It was the kind of quiet farmland riding that makes a detour worthwhile.
From Druye the lanes swung east and drifted gently back down through Ballan-Miré and into Joué-lès-Tours. I met the Loire again under the plane trees beside the Château de Tours, a neat bookend to the morning.
There was one last sting: a short ramp up from the river on the north side of town, 700 m at just over 5%, which I pushed hard all the way to the gates of Château Belmont. Two châteaux, one footbridge and a valley full of quiet roads – not a bad way to break a long journey.
The numbers
- Ride: #1119 on Strava, ride 248 of 2026, day 128 of the streak
- Distance: 56.1 km
- Moving time: 2:34:23 (2:47:40 elapsed)
- Elevation: 319 m
- Average power: 118 W
- Heart rate: 107 bpm average, 151 max
- Cadence: 88 rpm average
- Calories: 1,303 kcal
- Highlight: Villandry short – 0.71 km, 42 m, 3:19 at 211 W
- Conditions: bright and partly cloudy, 9°C (feels like 6°C), 89% humidity, a 15 km/h northerly
- Year to date: Distance 20,389 km, Elevation Gain 207,983 m
The route
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
The profile and climbs
2 climbs, all uncategorised. Biggest: 2.2 km at 3.1%, 69 m of climbing (from km 24). Together the climbs account for 105 m of the ride’s ascent.
Uncategorised Pins mark where each Garmin ClimbPro climb starts. Hover or tap a pin for details.
Climbs table
| # | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg power | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24.1 | 2.23 km | 69 m | 3.1% | 9:43 | 148 W | Uncategorised |
| 2 | 54.8 | 0.70 km | 36 m | 5.1% | 3:18 | 241 W | Uncategorised |