Following hot on the heels of the Hell of Ashdown, the Kentish Killer completes Kent's very own Classics start to the sportive season. There may not be any cobbles, but there are plenty of potholes courtesy of the recent drenching the South East has received - add to the mix lots of punchy hills, wide grey skies, some punishing headwind. Faces blackened by grit and surface water complete the 'Belgian hardman' look.
The Kentish Killer (though it could just as easily be called the Kentish Torture, or Kentish Exterminator) was over 2,000 vertical metres of fun packed into 71 miles. Starting from Brands Hatch, the KK has ample parking facilities to accommodate the ever-growing number of riders this sportive has attracted over the years. The course was well signed and marshalled and the route meandered down roads that even locals who had lived in the area most of their lives didn't know existed. And if you like your feed stations with plenty of goodies and hot coffee, then this is the ride for you.
I opted for the longer route, but there was a 44 mile shorter Killer and I have to own up to looking longingly up the road to consider my options at the split where the abbreviated course would yield an early Sunday lunch and an afternoon in front of the telly. It seemed like a welcoming prospect.
The climbing starts almost immediately, with a picturesque splash through Shacklands Wood. The Killer's pattern soon emerges, with each descent preceding another stretch of elevation lurking under the gloomy skies. The Kent hills are unlike many others in the South East - they pitch upward at a fearsome gradient, dragging on promising summits, but delivering more pain as the rider hopefully rounds a corner or a false summit in eager expectation.
Like the Hell Of Ashdown, the route touched Ashdown Forest. Here the Killer shows a modicum of mercy, bypassing the dreaded Wall before heading back. Clemency is short-lived as the hills on the return journey dish out plenty of pain on the menu. Ide Hill is first on the agenda and the welcome site of the second feed station which offered a much needed hot coffee before the route traversed the M25 - back towards home territory. Even within touching distance of the chequered flag, the punishing climbs up Pilgrims Way had me wondering just what kind of pilgrims would want to travel up such brutish hills in the days of yore. The climbing really was squeezed into this event, and hopefully plenty of money was raised by the organisers for the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust.
The twin events of Hell of Ashdown and Kentish Killer are an excellent way of kicking off the sportive season. Both rides offer something different, and both run the seasonal risk of climatic interference. Come rain or shine, the hills in Kent really do offer a challenge to anyone wanting to test out their climbing endurance.
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