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It's the 40th year this year. I've signed up for my third (maybe fourth?) time. I think I last did it 20 years ago. I hope they still do giant slabs of bread pudding. I haven't had that for 20 years either. Always did previously it on fully rigid (but geared) hardtails with semi-slicks so will give it a go on a gravel bike with 40mm semi-slick profile. Looking forward to it. Signed up for the 140 but thinking I'll probably do the 100. See you there!
I’ve never done it. What’s the course like? I’m guessing shorter punchy climbs
GPX files for the final routes were published this evening. Hilly with a sprinkling of extra hills: https://www.honc.org.uk/e/hell-of-the-north-cotswolds-10207/route-maps
It's hilly, but nothing too massive (it's the Cotswolds after all!).
I did the 100 on a single-speed MTB a couple of years ago and it was tough, but doable - think I only pushed one hill.
Some lovely single-track bits, quite a lot of gravelly bridleway and pretty country roads - it's a very picturesque part of the country.
I've signed up for the 75km (which looking at the GPX is actually 80km...), I've done it a couple of times before but not for over 10 years. I'll be on a gravel bike with semi slicks (Hutchinson Caracal Race 45's) unless it rains a lot more than the current forecast indicates. 80km is about my limit on lumpy road rides currently so I'm expecting to suffer but hopefully it should still be a nice day out! It's a new bike to that I've only ridden once so far, need to do another shake down ride this week to make sure nothing's going to fall off...
Is the consensus semi-slicks should still be fine despite the recent rain... I assume most of the off-road parts drain well?
I assume most of the off-road parts drain well?
Ha! Back in the day when it actually was the Hell of the North Cotswolds, rather than a nice ride in the countryside, at least half the course was a boggy mess, with axle deep mud not uncommon. With a small amount of rain forecast, I would expect it to be slippery in places, but it won't be soft enough for knobblies to make much difference so semi-slicks won't be any worse than anything else. Probably.
HONC is basically my local riding and it’s been bone dry for months. I doubt what little rain we’ve had the past few days will do much more than damp the dust down a little.
Looking forward to revisiting HONC in its "new" format. Remember the clay/ bog fest years - used to run single speed with a wooden kitchen spoon in my back pocket to clear all the mud. Expecting a different experience this year!
well that was fun. Did the 100. Well organised. No slabs of bread pudding but lots of flapjack and other options. Got caught in the downpour that made the final stretches of off-road quite greasy.
Well done all. I was out on a dog walk and saw a lot of riders coming past.
Must have been extra tough in places what with the wind.
👏
Enjoyed that to (the 75, glad I didn't opt for the 100 as I ruined by the end). I ended up running the semi-slick rear and a small knobbly front. I mildly panicked when a quick scan of other bikes on my arrival showed most of them with fairly aggressive knobblies, although I suspect a lot of that is MTBers not wanting to bother with changing tyres just for one event).
The course was great, initially I was a bit meh about the road sections but by half way I was looking forward to them as was a nice chance to drink/eat and made good progress on the gravel bike.
Only a couple of short sections I think the rear semi-slick was an issue but they were steep enough I'd probably have walked anyway, glad I had a bit more grip out front though as had a couple of moments on descents when I started drifting wide but managed to save it.
I also didn't realise until too late that the water crossing was optional so I had wet feet for the last quarter of the ride, was a hotter day than I was expecting though so worked out OK!