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Hell of the North Sectors Pt.1

By Joe Hall • 18th March 2010 02:48pm • Posted in Events

gravé noun
/grɑːveɪ/US/græːveɪ/

• (an area of) farm track/road/footpath/bridleway etc. which consists of potholes, loose paving, stones, rubble and mud.

The first five sectors of our Hell of the North ride take in a varied array of riding surfaces, gradients and scenery. Having ridden them a few times myself I am beginning to realise they have distinct personalities, some more amiable than others but none too difficult to cajole into favour. If you pick yourself a decent line and get your cadence right, rolling along Hertfordshire's Hell-tracks should be absolutely wicked.

Sector 20:
Our first sector comes roughly 15km from the start. A smooth descent and a sharp right turn take us to our first real encounter with Hertfordshire's notorious gravé. Spot the farmhouses here which are reminiscent of northern France. Burnt out VW Golf's (victims of another kind of joy ride) make the scenery even more idyllic.

Sectors 19 & 18:
The gravé on sector 19 is immense. Potholes galore, but if you get your handling and pedalling in the zone, you can fire along like Moser chasing Kelly. After a return to the lanes for a while, sector 18 moves into more wooded regions. Expect mud and the sound of woodpeckers hammering as you rumble (or trundle) past.

Sectors 17 & 16:
Some of the potholes along here are deeper than Lance Armstrong's pockets. Bike control and concentration will see you through. There may also, depending on the weather, be a swamp to negotiate. Whatever the case, just keep riding.

More Hell of the North sector previews next week.

Comments

Martin Stacey

18th March 2010 05:36pm

Gonna dust down my lightweight full susser!!
Great article, great idea!
@slowracer

Tim Bishop

18th March 2010 06:26pm

Martin, I laughed at your comment. Agreed, I think my Cannondale F600 might pass unnoticed..

Jon Cannings

18th March 2010 06:55pm

MTB? there is only one answer to that: SOFT TAPPERS!!!

That's where my VW Golf went to……

Phillip Audsley

18th March 2010 09:39pm

If only I lived in London

Alan Dorrington

19th March 2010 11:23am

Phillip - see the previous post on the Ronde van Oost Lancashire :-)

paul goulden

19th March 2010 02:41pm

This looks like a job for 'Cross bike with Pave 27s'…

Michael Edwards

23rd March 2010 09:53pm

Any idea what time of day we will kick off and roughly where? Need to start the familial negotiations…

Tom Krause

25th March 2010 08:29pm

Come on!! Give us the details!!!

Joe Hall

26th March 2010 12:03pm

More details on the webpage now:http://www.rapha.cc/hell-of-the-north-1

Konrad Manning

26th March 2010 07:00pm

Really disappointed that I cannot make it. Sounds perfect for us 'cross racers. The reason I cannot ride… I will be in Arenberg and Roubaix!

Mike Hurl

29th March 2010 10:11am

What time will the real thing be shown on TV? Wondering what sort of timie limit there is from starting the course to getting to the pub. Also, what plans are there for securing bikes when at the pub?

ross cunliffe

30th March 2010 11:24am

I am really looking forward to this but debating whether its 'doable' on a fixed? Any advice would be welcomed.

Joe Hall

30th March 2010 12:36pm

Hi Ross,
I think the ride is definitely 'doable' on a fixed gear. Just depends on your gearing… If you consider there will be a few shortish but quite steep hills, then work out what ratio you need. I would suggest anything over 75 gear inches might be tough, but then you may have legs of thunder.

carl Keen

30th March 2010 03:04pm

Great a return to my first ever training and racing patch from the early 70s. Haven't been back since. I used to pretend to be Moser then!
Frantically calling up old roadie mates, and deciding if my cross wheels will last just one more ride.

Joe Hall

30th March 2010 03:06pm

Great Carl! Hope you and your wheels can make it. Moser is a good role model…

carl Keen

30th March 2010 03:18pm

Oh my Lord, having a serious nostalga flashback here as that really is were we started riding. Newgate Street, Arkley, Hertford etc, of course it was all fields back then!
Kit was wool and leather, breakfast was steak and water on route was a weakness.
I'll buy new wheels if neccessary.

Mark Meredith

5th April 2010 12:35pm

Have you guys got a link to the route map on bikely or mapmyride or something like that (other than the rather artistic map on the site)? I'm hoping to come along next week and this is my neck of the woods so I'm curious to see exactly where we're heading…

Robin Stephenson

6th April 2010 05:28pm

I'm going to be coming in from Maryland (Stratford) -- Wanstead Park to Upper Holloway -- but the most of the NE London Overground trains seem to be down at the weekends for maintenance.

Is anyone else travelling from E15 or environs?

I'm currently planning on booking a cab…

(unfortunately I can't link directly to the National Rail web site, here's their advance notification)

Engineering work between Richmond and Stratford from Saturday 20 February until Monday 31 May

Start date
20/02/2010
End date
31/05/2010
Route affected
Richmond, Gunnersbury, Willesden Junction, West Hampstead, Hampstead Heath, Gospel Oak, Kentish Town West, Camden Road, Canonbury, Dalston Kingsland, Hackney Central, Hackney Wick & Stratford
TOC affected
London Overground
Description

The line between Gospel Oak and Stratford is closed from Saturday 20 February until Monday 31 May.
[…]

Tom Krause

7th April 2010 10:41pm

Any GPX files available for the route?

Jonathan Knight

8th April 2010 08:04pm

It's gotta be the crosser with 27's. I'm just wondering whether it's knobbles or slicks? SPD or SPDR? And then of course is it mutton chops or handlebar? Decisions decisions!

Alphonso Hardwick

10th April 2010 08:41pm

Fairly new to cycling events and don't quite know what to expect and need to make a bike choice. I've got either a cannondale m500 mountain bike, light, rigid with knobbly tyres OR a trek 1.7 road/race bike light and fast, but will it be able to take the track stages?

Any ideas guys?

Robin Stephenson

11th April 2010 05:55pm

Crikey, that was hard work. Well organised, nice course with some properly challenging bits - the "stream bed" path near the end must have had even some of those overpowered roadie types sweating - and perfect weather. Thanks, a great day out

Charlie Openshaw

12th April 2010 10:01am

Anybody got the route on a Google Map - keen try some parts of it again over the summer?

Charlie Openshaw

12th April 2010 10:19am

OK - found it here:
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=116749

Raymond Tsang

13th April 2010 12:27am

Fantastic route. Shame I had to abandon due to my mates rear wheel getting wrecked in a cycling incident in a section of forest. Hears to next year.

paul mason

13th April 2010 02:09pm

BIG thanks to Rapha for organizing this event – and then feeding us beer and chips at the end, free of charge! Great route, excellent low-key organization, and even the weather gods smiled on us.

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