Truck Fly-Bys on Linton Hill
It had been nearly six months since I’d last ridden up Linton Hill, in Kent, so on Tuesday night the loop headed that way. The climb is the A229, the main road south from Maidstone, and truck fly-bys come with it. It can certainly make the ride more interesting 🙂
It was a cloudy 7.8°C with a light east-north-easterly, and an easy night all round, with my heart rate averaging just 106. The first three kilometres lost more than 100 m off the ridge towards Hunton.
Then came the flat lanes through Chainhurst, along Green Lane to Collier Street and south down Sheephurst Lane, before looping round to Marden. I kept it gentle, the night after a loop nearly twice as long.
Pattenden Lane took me north out of Marden and Underlyn Lane east to the A229, and then I started up Linton Hill. It climbs 104 m in 2.7 km, gently at first and then at around 6% for the last kilometre or so, and it took me 10:40 at 191 W, with my heart rate peaking at 146.
Partway up, the 30 limit and the Linton sign stood out under their lights.
From the crossroads at the top the road runs almost level along the ridge for the last couple of kilometres. Nearly six months is too long to leave a hill this close to home.
The numbers
- Ride: #1136 on Strava, ride 265 of 2026, day 145 of the streak
- Distance: 25.1 km
- Moving time: 1:12:59 (1:15:50 elapsed)
- Elevation: 179 m
- Average power: 102 W
- Heart rate: 106 bpm average, 146 max
- Cadence: 88 rpm average
- Calories: 549 kcal
- Highlight (Strava segment): Linton Hill – 2.71 km, 104 m, 10:40 at 191 W
- Conditions: dark and cloudy, 7.8°C (feels like 6.4°C), 86% humidity, a light east-north-easterly
- Year to date: Distance 21,373 km, Elevation Gain 217,899 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)
The profile and climbs
1 climb: 1 Cat 4. Biggest: 2.8 km at 3.7%, 104 m of climbing (Cat 4, from km 20). Together the climbs account for 104 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. 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 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 speed | Avg power | My rank | My best | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19.7 | 2.80 km | 104 m | 3.7% | 11:49 | 14.2 km/h | 186 W | 72 of 74 | 7:36 | Cat 4 |
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.
11 favourite Garmin segments. Best placed: Sprint to 30, 0.88 km at 0.1%, 14th of my 16 goes (from km 14). 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 | Hunton Hill Down | 0.9 | 0.79 km | 0 m | -8.0% | 1:17 | 37.1 km/h | – | 39 of 39 | 0:47 |
| 2 | Chainhurst Hill | 3.9 | 0.51 km | 9 m | 1.6% | 1:43 | 18.0 km/h | 153 W | 41 of 41 | 0:52 |
| 3 | Green Lane | 6.7 | 1.90 km | 4 m | 0.0% | 5:06 | 22.4 km/h | 148 W | 22 of 22 | 3:07 |
| 4 | Green Lane Sprint West to Longend Lane | 6.7 | 0.77 km | 2 m | -0.2% | 2:08 | 21.6 km/h | 144 W | 22 of 22 | 1:11 |
| 5 | Collier St School to Sheephurst | 8.6 | 1.51 km | 3 m | -0.1% | 4:10 | 21.8 km/h | 172 W | 30 of 31 | 2:34 |
| 6 | Sheephurst Lane | 10.3 | 3.14 km | 15 m | 0.2% | 9:00 | 20.9 km/h | 159 W | 30 of 31 | 5:26 |
| 7 | Sprint to 30 | 13.6 | 0.88 km | 9 m | 0.1% | 2:21 | 22.4 km/h | 157 W | 14 of 16 | 1:18 |
| 8 | Pattenden Lane | 15.2 | 1.01 km | 0 m | -0.4% | 2:38 | 23.0 km/h | 133 W | 27 of 30 | 1:26 |
| 9 | Pattenden Lane Sprint | 15.2 | 0.67 km | 0 m | -0.5% | 1:45 | 23.1 km/h | 137 W | 27 of 30 | 0:56 |
| 10 | Underlyn Lane to Maidstone | 16.2 | 2.10 km | 6 m | 0.2% | 5:36 | 22.4 km/h | 172 W | 4 of 4 | 4:12 |
| 11 | Linton Hill | 19.7 | 2.86 km | 110 m | 3.9% | 11:36 | 14.8 km/h | 214 W | 70 of 74 | 7:47 |
Every town, café, beach and landmark from my rides is collected on the Links page.
Earlier posts
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
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A Quick Spin to Rocamadour
24 October 2026
The last day in the Lot: 131 km from Cahors up the Vers valley to Labastide-Murat, across the causse to Rocamadour on its cliff, and back the same way with more than 1,700 m of climbing.
