September 2022- Segment of the Month
It's the penultimate segment of the 2022 competition and it's a favourite route amongst club members!
For the penultimate segment of this year’s competition, we move to more familiar territory, to take on a climb that has proved to be a perennial favourite of club members.
The sharp and relatively short challenge that is Northington Hill hosts September’s segment of the month and no doubt will prove itself to be a stern a test for all the riders who put in an effort to secure points this month.
Given this month also sees the second annual Venta Hill Climb on the slopes of Old Winch Hill (organised by Nick Tarmey) this segment will offer plenty of ‘practice’ opportunity for those club riders who may wish to sharpen their climbing skills ahead of the event.
The segment begins a short way along the modest downhill that precedes the climb-proper, allowing riders to build up some useful momentum ahead of the all-out effort that will follow.
Approaching the hill from the East, off of the Basingstoke Road, you push on, into the ever-steepening gradient, as the remainder of the hill looms up ahead of you. On your right, the recent tree-culling allows an improved view of the rolling Hampshire countryside, that may help distract from the suffering that will ensue.
From this point, things are pretty simple. It’s just a straight fight between your legs and gravity, as you press on, out of the saddle, summoning all your available power to lift you up over the crest towards the finish line, which sits a sensible few yards back from the junction with Kites Hill.
The average gradient for the entire segment is around 6% but this is clearly affected by the short initial downhill, meaning the ‘real’ average is somewhere around 9%, with peaks of 12% on both the initial and then final yards of the climb-proper.
It is predicted a time of at least 1:30 will be necessary to place near the top of the leader board this month and depending on weather conditions, it may also be possible that we see an improvement on the current segment KoM of 1:10.
As always, please follow the rules of the road, along with any social distancing requirements that may be in place at the time.