Down Linton, Up Hunton
The night before I’d ridden this loop the other way round, taking it easy with the trucks for company on Linton Hill. On Wednesday night I reversed it: down Linton Hill in Kent first, across the Weald, and home up Hunton Hill. Turned around, it was a different ride.
It was cloudy and 8.6°C, with a light east-north-easterly. The road ran along the ridge to the crossroads, then dropped down the A229, where I touched 53.6 km/h. No fly-bys this time: just two vehicles passed me on the whole ride.
At the foot I turned west along Underlyn Lane, with what little wind there was behind me, then south down Pattenden Lane into Marden. The flat middle of the ride was where the times came, without going much over 140 W: a Strava PR on the short K20 section onto Pattenden Lane, second-fastest times on Has Tom caught you yet? and Marden Beech to Claygate, and a third-fastest on Out of Marden.
Sheephurst Lane took me north to Collier Street, then Green Lane ran east to the lanes through Chainhurst and the foot of the hill above Hunton.
It is a very different finish from the steady haul up Linton. Garmin counts 113 m over 2.6 km, but most of that comes in the last 800 m at nearly 9%. I climbed that steep part in 3:57, fifth-fastest of my 25 goes on Garmin’s Hunton Hill segment, and my heart rate reached 167, 21 beats above anything the night before. Then it was the ridge road home. Same roads, 11 minutes quicker, and the trucks can have Linton Hill to themselves.
The numbers
- Ride: #1137 on Strava, ride 266 of 2026, day 146 of the streak
- Distance: 25.0 km
- Moving time: 1:01:55 (1:19:02 elapsed)
- Elevation: 176 m
- Average power: 138 W
- Heart rate: 121 bpm average, 167 max
- Cadence: 90 rpm average
- Calories: 599 kcal
- Highlight (Strava segment): Hunton Hill – 0.82 km, 69 m, 4:05 at 277 W
- Conditions: dark and cloudy, 8.6°C (feels like 7.9°C), 86% humidity, a light east-north-easterly
- Year to date: Distance 21,398 km, Elevation Gain 218,075 m
The route
● Favourite Garmin segment ● Shorter segment inside a longer one The numbers match the Segments table below. Hover over a segment for its time and rank; click or tap for a link to it on Garmin Connect.
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
2 favourite Garmin segments. Best placed: Hunton Hill, 0.77 km at 8.8%, 5th of my 25 goes (from km 23). Time and power are from this ride; My rank places this ride among all my own goes at that segment. The numbers match the map, and each segment name links to Garmin Connect, where you can save it (you’ll need a Garmin account).
Segments table
| # | Segment | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg speed | Avg power | My rank | My best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pattenden Lane Sprint | 8.9 | 0.50 km | 0 m | 0.4% | 1:10 | 25.5 km/h | 190 W | 129 of 141 | 0:39 |
| 2 | Hunton Hill | 23.3 | 0.77 km | 70 m | 8.8% | 3:57 | 11.6 km/h | 293 W | 5 of 25 | 3:25 |
The profile and climbs
1 climb: 1 Cat 4. Biggest: 2.6 km at 4.3%, 113 m of climbing (Cat 4, from km 22). Together the climbs account for 113 m of the ride’s ascent. Garmin and Strava measure climbs and segments over their own start and finish points, so the figures here can differ from the Highlight above and from each other.
Cat 4 Pins mark where each Garmin ClimbPro climb starts. Hover or tap a pin for details.
Climbs table
| # | Climb | Category | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg speed | Avg power | My rank | My best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunton Hill | Cat 4 | 21.5 | 2.60 km | 113 m | 4.3% | 9:40 | 16.1 km/h | 228 W | 6 of 40 | 8:46 |
My rank places this ride among my outdoor rides over the same climb on Garmin up to that day, matched by GPS, and My best is the fastest of them at the time. Time and speed include any stop on the climb.
Related
Related rides
- Switching Directions: another loop ridden the other way round
- Half Moon over Hunton Hill: home over the same steep climb
Every town, café, beach and landmark from my rides is collected on the Links page.
Earlier posts
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Truck Fly-Bys on Linton Hill
3 November 2026
A cloudy, easy night loop through Chainhurst, Collier Street and Marden in Kent, then back up Linton Hill for the first time in nearly six months, with truck fly-bys on the A229.
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Over the Weald to Brenchley
2 November 2026
A clear, cold night loop under a half moon: across the Weald to Brenchley, a pause at The Bell in Golden Green, then home through Hadlow and Mereworth and up from Teston, with just five vehicles on the road.
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Switching Directions
1 November 2026
A midnight streak-keeper run the other way round: down Hunton Hill to Yalding, out to Laddingford and Nettlestead, then a new PB up Bow Hill and home over Yalding Hill, with just seven vehicles on the road.
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Midnight Traffic in the Fog
31 October 2026
A foggy Halloween-midnight streak-keeper down Hunton Hill to Chainhurst and Marden and back up Church Hill, with no heart-rate monitor, Yello on the playlist and just three vehicles on the road.
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Half Moon over Hunton Hill
30 October 2026
A midnight streak-keeper from Yalding out to Nettlestead and Laddingford and home over Hunton Hill, with Nickelback on the playlist, a half moon overhead and just 10 vehicles on the road.
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Warm Mist on Wierton Hill
29 October 2026
A midnight Zone 2 loop down into the fog around Headcorn and Smarden and back via Babylon Lane, with a near-best effort up Wierton Hill into strangely warm, misty air.
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Egerton by Headlight
28 October 2026
A night-time Zone 2 loop out to Egerton and back along the Greensand Ridge, with a road closure between Staplehurst and Headcorn and a pause on Headcorn green.
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Midnight on Church Hill
27 October 2026
A clear, cold midnight Zone 2 loop from Yalding through Collier Street and East Peckham, passed by just three vehicles, with a third-best time up Church Hill in the dark.
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Ten Days in France
26 October 2026
The France trip in one place: ten rides from Tours, Cahors and Orléans, 751.4 km and 8,029 m of climbing, with a map of how much of the Lot I covered.
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Cycle Lanes to Morchêne
26 October 2026
An easy Monday-morning loop south of the Loire from Orléans, on bike lanes and flat farm roads through Saint-Denis-en-Val and Saint-Cyr-en-Val to the Château de Morchêne and back.
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Racing the Dark to Cléry
25 October 2026
A Sunday-afternoon loop west from Orléans along the Loire levées to Meung's bridge, Dry and the basilica at Cléry-Saint-André, racing the dark home on the day the clocks went back.
