Ride 259 of the year and day 139 of the streak was a night one. It was soft and still out there – 9.7°C, cloudy, 94% humidity and barely a breath of wind from the west-south-west – the kind of damp air that hangs in your headlight like fog. The plan was simple: Zone 2, out to Egerton, home along the ridge.
It starts the easy way, dropping off the hill from home down to Hunton and out onto the flat Weald lanes. From there it was Marden Road and on through Staplehurst, spinning a steady 90-plus cadence with the heart rate sitting in the low 110s and nothing but the beam ahead of me.
Then, just under fifteen kilometres in, between Staplehurst and Headcorn, the headlight found a wall of orange: barriers, cones and a big Road Closed sign. I stopped for a minute, bypassed the road works and was rolling again before the legs had time to cool.
Ten minutes later I pulled up on the green at Headcorn, where the village sign and the old fingerpost were lit up under a tree still holding on to its autumn leaves. Maidstone 10, Tenterden 9, Biddenden 4. A couple of minutes standing in the quiet, then out east past Swift’s Green and Smarden, the road rising so gently you barely notice it.
The real work came at Egerton, the far corner of the loop. Rock Hill Road climbs 82 metres in just over a kilometre and I took it at 206 W in 4:31, with the steep section at 234 W and the heart rate touching 149 – the top of the night. The Egerton Hill segment went at 203 W for 57 metres of gain. Nothing heroic, but enough to remind the legs what a hill is.
From the top it’s the reward: the Greensand ridge home, west through Ulcombe, East Sutton and Chart Sutton, along the A274 and back past the Cock Inn to Linton. Long, gently undulating, and the lanes all to myself.
The numbers
- Ride: #1130 on Strava, ride 259 of 2026, day 139 of the streak
- Distance: 51.6 km
- Moving time: 2:09:28 (2:13:46 elapsed)
- Elevation: 359 m
- Average power: 132 W
- Heart rate: 114 bpm average, 149 max
- Cadence: 91 rpm average
- Highlight: Rock Hill Road, Egerton – 1.06 km, 82 m, 4:31 at 206 W
- Conditions: dark, cloudy, 9.7°C, 94% humidity, barely a breath of WSW wind
- Year to date: Distance 21,173 km, Elevation Gain 216,297 m
The route
Download the GPX (start and finish trimmed for privacy)
Road works and all, a good night out.