New Shokz Under the Stars
The replacement Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 finally arrived, so this starry night ride in Kent was their first outing. I set off late under a clear sky full of stars, 6°C and almost still, with music back in my ears and the lanes still open to every sound around me.
I headed west along Shingle Barn Lane and dropped down Yalding Hill into Yalding, then went straight back up Kenward Road, the one climb Garmin’s ClimbPro picked out all night. From the top I swung north to Nettlestead and its short rise, before turning south down the valley past Nettlestead Green and Hale Street to Beltring, where I stopped for a few minutes.
From Beltring I crossed to Laddingford and back into Yalding, then settled into the long flat run out through Collier Street towards Marden. Garmin’s Yalding to Pattenden Lane segment came out as my third-quickest of seven goes, at a steady 206 W, which I hadn’t expected on an easy night.
Tilden Lane took me north-east to the foot of Linton Hill and the long drag up the A229 to Linton. A week earlier, on Truck Fly-Bys on Linton Hill, lorries had been thundering past me on this road; tonight just nine vehicles passed me on the whole ride. Stars overhead, an empty main road and a playlist I could hear again made the last climb home feel shorter than it was.
The numbers
- Ride: #1142 on Strava, ride 271 of 2026, day 151 of the streak
- Distance: 35.7 km
- Moving time: 1:34:57 (1:41:05 elapsed)
- Elevation: 248 m
- Average power: 93 W (no power reading for the first 10 km)
- Heart rate: 104 bpm average, 141 max
- Cadence: 82 rpm average (no cadence reading for the first 10 km)
- Calories: 834 kcal
- Highlight (Strava segment): Linton Hill, Linton – 2.71 km, 104 m, 10:52 at 193 W
- Conditions: dark, clear and starry, 6°C, 92% humidity, a light ENE breeze
- Year to date: Distance 21,806 km, Elevation Gain 221,822 m
The route
● Favourite Garmin segment ● Shorter segment inside a longer one The numbers match the Segments table below. Hover over a segment for its time and rank; click or tap for a link to it on Garmin Connect.
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
10 favourite Garmin segments. Best placed: Kenward Climb, 1.95 km at 1.5%, 7th of my 17 goes (from km 6). Time and power are from this ride; My rank places this ride among all my own goes at that segment. The numbers match the map, and each segment name links to Garmin Connect, where you can save it (you’ll need a Garmin account).
Segments table
| # | Segment | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg speed | Avg power | My rank | My best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B2163 from Hunton | 1.7 | 1.19 km | 0 m | -0.9% | 2:41 | 26.6 km/h | – | 7 of 9 | 2:26 |
| 2 | Shingle Barn Belt | 3.3 | 1.43 km | 4 m | -0.4% | 3:13 | 26.7 km/h | – | 18 of 29 | 2:32 |
| 3 | Yalding Hill Descent | 4.8 | 1.72 km | 2 m | -4.8% | 3:01 | 34.1 km/h | – | 8 of 20 | 2:32 |
| 4 | Kenward Climb | 6.5 | 1.95 km | 38 m | 1.5% | 5:37 | 20.9 km/h | – | 7 of 17 | 4:28 |
| 5 | Nettlestead Climb | 9.7 | 0.97 km | 22 m | 1.9% | 3:02 | 19.1 km/h | 158 W | 9 of 15 | 2:15 |
| 6 | Beltring 1.5m sprint out | 15.8 | 2.44 km | 12 m | 0.0% | 7:39 | 19.1 km/h | 164 W | 15 of 15 | 4:03 |
| 7 | Yalding to Pattenden Lane | 18.7 | 7.78 km | 24 m | 0.1% | 19:08 | 24.4 km/h | 206 W | 3 of 7 | 15:06 |
| 8 | Yalding to Collier St | 19.3 | 4.57 km | 17 m | 0.1% | 11:01 | 24.9 km/h | 206 W | 11 of 15 | 9:18 |
| 9 | Tilden Lane | 26.7 | 2.96 km | 13 m | 0.0% | 7:29 | 23.7 km/h | 205 W | 14 of 22 | 5:19 |
| 10 | Linton Hill | 30.5 | 2.86 km | 110 m | 3.9% | 11:10 | 15.4 km/h | 216 W | 66 of 75 | 7:47 |
The profile and climbs
1 climb, all uncategorised. Biggest: 1.1 km at 3.1%, 33 m of climbing (from km 7). Together the climbs account for 33 m of the ride’s ascent. Garmin and Strava measure climbs and segments over their own start and finish points, so the figures here can differ from the Highlight above and from each other.
Uncategorised Pins mark where each Garmin ClimbPro climb starts. Hover or tap a pin for details.
Climbs table
| # | Climb | Category | Starts at km | Length | Ascent | Avg grade | Time | Avg speed | Avg power | My rank | My best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenward Road, Yalding | Uncategorised | 7.4 | 1.06 km | 33 m | 3.1% | 3:34 | 17.9 km/h | – | 6 of 18 | 2:48 |
My rank places this ride among my outdoor rides over the same climb on Garmin up to that day, matched by GPS, and My best is the fastest of them at the time. Time and speed include any stop on the climb.
Related
Related rides
- Down Linton, Up Hunton: the same Weald lanes taken the other way round
- Over the Weald to Brenchley: another clear, cold night, that time under a half moon
Kit on this ride
- Shokz OpenRun Pro 2: open-ear headphones that leave me able to hear the traffic
Every town, café, beach and landmark from my rides is collected on the Links page.
Earlier posts
-
Sun, Fog and a Flat
8 November 2026
A Remembrance Sunday loop in Kent: up Coldblow Lane at 23% onto the North Downs, tea in Bredgar, sunset at Graveney and coffee on Whitstable harbour, then home through thick fog with a puncture at the top of Hollingbourne Hill.
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Through the Fog to the King’s Head
7 November 2026
A foggy Saturday loop in Kent: up Hubbards Hill onto the North Downs to Throwley, down to Charing’s floodlit church, and home up Headcorn Road to the King’s Head in Sutton Valence.
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Through the Fog to Rye
6 November 2026
A foggy Friday-evening ride from Kent to Rye in East Sussex and back, out through Frittenden and Tenterden and home beside the Royal Military Canal to Appledore.
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Back to Bethersden on Two Good Tyres
5 November 2026
A cold, still night ride across the Weald in Kent to Bethersden and back through Smarden, with just four vehicles on the road and no repeat of last month’s flat tyre on Hunton Hill.
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Down Linton, Up Hunton
4 November 2026
Last night’s loop in reverse: down Linton Hill in Kent, across the Weald through Marden and Collier Street, and home up steep Hunton Hill, 11 minutes quicker with just two vehicles on the road.
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Truck Fly-Bys on Linton Hill
3 November 2026
A cloudy, easy night loop through Chainhurst, Collier Street and Marden in Kent, then back up Linton Hill for the first time in nearly six months, with truck fly-bys on the A229.
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Over the Weald to Brenchley
2 November 2026
A clear, cold night loop in Kent under a half moon: across the Weald to Brenchley, a pause at The Bell in Golden Green, then home through Hadlow and Mereworth and up from Teston, with just five vehicles on the road.
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K-EDGE Max XL Combo Mount: Garmin Over the Light
2 November 2026
Why I moved to the K-EDGE Garmin Max XL Combo Mount: machined aluminium strong enough to carry my Exposure light underneath, with room on top for the big Garmin Edge 1050.
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Switching Directions
1 November 2026
A midnight streak-keeper run the other way round: down Hunton Hill to Yalding, out to Laddingford and Nettlestead, then a new PB up Bow Hill and home over Yalding Hill, with just seven vehicles on the road.
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Midnight Traffic in the Fog
31 October 2026
A foggy Halloween-midnight streak-keeper down Hunton Hill to Chainhurst and Marden and back up Church Hill, with no heart-rate monitor, Yello on the playlist and just three vehicles on the road.
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Half Moon over Hunton Hill
30 October 2026
A midnight streak-keeper from Yalding out to Nettlestead and Laddingford and home over Hunton Hill, with Nickelback on the playlist, a half moon overhead and just 10 vehicles on the road.
