Thursday at Hog Hill

As I drove up towards Hog Hill, I could not but help notice the rather substantial increase in elevation of the road leading up to the circuit; it looked like a pig of a climb (forgive me). Once I'd got up to the clubhouse at the track, I saw the rather nasty looking climb up to the start-finish, I started to wonder what I was letting myself in for. Right then!

Hog Hill is pretty easy to get to from my office, so I'd arrived very early. This was great, and gave me a lot of time to get everything together, which included pinning the number "1" onto my jersey.

The preceding race, that from the faces of many of the competitors looked like torture, eventually came to an end and gave me a chance to do a quick recce of the full course. First off I managed to take a "wrong turn" onto the little loop that saw me back at the start finish, oops. Second time lucky, and soon I found myself at the crest of the hill with a glorious ribbon of cycling tarmac before me.

I was calm as we lined up on the start line. I was expecting to take a massive hammering over the next hour so I guess I was in a state of denial more than anything else. As we started rolling I began to feel better and better. The awful fatigue that had racked my body since Palace was receding as the effect of the endorphins grew and soon I had gone from tentatively feeling my way around to getting stuck into the bike race.

A few laps in I was feeling pretty racy and moved forward from pottering in the midfield to lurking near the front. I was definitely spurred on by the cooperation I got from my new Dulwich clubmates, but mostly I was just feeling really good. I'm told that at one point our small group at the front had put some air between us and the main group, but we were caught. Nevertheless, I was feeling very confident and was even starting to contemplate nabbing a point or two...

So you can imagine how gutting it was when my right calf decided to go into spasm after a small acceleration out of the hairpin. I slowed on the back straight and tried to massage it out. It felt much better after that and I got up the climb without hassles, but it started twitching again near the crest of the descent. I tried again to massage and stretch it down the hill, but it was in vain. I continued in this vein for the next lap and half until one last blast up the hill did me in and I was forced to stop with my calf in a horrible cramp.

My water bottle told part of the story; in all the excitement I had barely touched it, which can't have helped. So all I could do was massage my leg back to a useful state and watch the last four or so laps play out.

So bitter-sweet. I was gutted not to be able to finish, but excited to have had such a good race, especially after still feeling a bit of Tuesday's Palace outing in my legs before the race. I certainly am looking forward to my next race at The Hill.

Bonus blog inclusion: Hog Hill circuit from the saddle of the Ribble

Photo thanks to British Cycling

The circuit starts anticlockwise from opposite the clubhouse. The circuit drops off the plateau with a gentle left hander and then heads sharply into a lovely banked sharp left hander where the run back up the the crest begins. This geography gives this corner a wonderful rollercoaster feel. It can be taken pretty much as fast as you dare, with an amazing rush as you're pressed into the ground at the apex by the g-force.

The tarmac then heads over a gentle left hander over the crest of the hill and then a lovely long, gentle downhill stretch which gives you a chance to tuck in and gather your breath. Then into a gentle right hander as the circuit flattens out, another two quick right handers followed by a lovely hairpin that sometimes has you wishing that your crank arms were just 5mm shorter as the riders ahead accelerate away out of the hairpin onto the back straight. The back straight is a good opportunity to consolidate before a fast left hander and then the final run up to the hill.

At first the hill starts very as a very mild incline, but then kicks up a bit, and then a lot as it also takes in a right hander before the short run back to the start-finish line. This is easily the most characterful part of the track and it certainly can be murder when it wants to. Overall I love this circuit. It is both exciting and challenging. I'm sure it is a place you can grow into and has a lot to offer. I'll definitely be back soon.