Preview: Hampshire Hilly Hundred...

The Hampshire Hilly Hundred is a UK cyclosportive one-day event – not a race – but a challenge event. That is to say, the course is presented to the rider as a challenge, and then it is for each rider to discover how he or she cope with the course on the day. As with all cyclo-sportive events, this is a long-distance event (100 miles), and the route features some stiff climbs as well as varied surfaces (though no off-road stuff), and enough twists and turns to require good bike handling skills.

The route has been designed to provide a genuine challenge, and at the same time to take you through some classic English countryside. Since the route winds its way over downland, you can expect some testing climbs, with 2390m of climbing/descending. The first miles are downhill of or fairly flat to get the legs nicely loose and warmed up. The stiffest climb is probably the ascent of Watership Down at the northern turn of the course. It looks forbidding from a distance, but it won't have you dismounted and pushing. We've also got a few ‘out of the saddle’, handlebar wrenchers for you on the way back too.