January 2023 Segment of the Month
2023 brings with it the ninth edition of our VCV Segment of The Month (SoTM) challenge.
2023 brings with it the ninth edition of our VCV Segment of The Month (SoTM) challenge.
We've updated the name of the existing Strava club for this year, so if you previously signed up for 2022 you are all set and ready to go; please find the link to the Strava club below:
As a reminder, please check out the full rules of the competition via the following link:
We kick off the 2023 competition with a familiar local segment that comprises a short steep climb followed by a slightly longer drag to the finish, along a false flat.
The segment starts at the foot of Down Farm Lane hill, a sensible distance just beyond the junction with Springvale road in Kings Worthy.
Approaching initially from the North East, you immediately face the short punchy climb that takes you past some stables and underneath the railway, before curving to your left and up onto the hilltop that takes the road parallel to the A34, finishing at the 3-Maids roundabout.
Once you’ve negotiated the initial climb, you’ll need to work out the correct pacing for the false-flat that runs on ahead of you after the right-hand curve in the road.
Get this right and you’ll be flying past the entrance to the driving range on your right that sees a levelling off of the gradient and means the finish line is about to come into sight.
The segment ends about 100 yards before the junction with the roundabout; primarily for safety reasons, as the road narrows whilst curving to the left before the junction.
At a mile and a half in length, the average gradient of 2% doesn’t do justice to the initial hill at the start, which will burn your legs and test your ability to pace things properly, so you have something left for the remaining mile or so of riding ahead of you.
As always, please follow the rules of the road, along with any social distancing requirements that may be in place at the time.
The link to the segment is here: