I broke a spoke on my TT bike’s rear wheel earlier this week, so today I decided to head south into Surrey and test the legs with a few climbs on the road bike.

The first climb of the day, Staple Lane is a favourite of mine. It was the first “Surrey Hill” I rode when I joined Woking CC and one I sometimes use as my climbing fitness benchmark. I bagged a PR today so something must be going right! There’s a brewery at the top and on a clear day a great view all the way across to London.

The second climb – Crocknorth Road – is a different kettle of fish. A particularly tough one for me and I don’t choose to ride it often. It was used as a KOM on a 2013 Tour of Britain stage. I imagine I looked something like this as I danced up the 10% section:

Crocknorth: Cavendish in the British Champs jersey, Wiggins in the Leader’s jersey

Just under 45 miles in total, not a bad ride on limited time. I wanted to get home to watch Alex Dowsett set a new Hour Record, followed by Stage 2 of the Tour de Yorkshire. Going to sneak out again Sunday morning for a few more miles.

It’s so good to be feeling fresh again after shaking off illness!