Box Hill Off-road Challenge

Mark Gladwin set us all a challenge after a ride in October to climb up the back of Box Hill from the Wyvale Garden Centre on the A25. I was the only one to attempt it on my Raleigh but failed to find the right route. Mark had explained that the entrance to the track was difficult to find and so the other day I took the track down from the Smith & Western pub car park and indeed descended to the lane where I had first made an attempt.

The start of the trail is above.

Mark had previously pointed out that you have to follow the tree line and above you can see two routes beyond the hedge in front. Years ago I had been up the track following the hedge in the middle of the picture. This was the route I described in my recent blog where I ended up carrying my Raleigh over gates and up and down loads of steps. The route however Mark planned was under the canopy of the upper tree-line. The descent down is in itself very tricky and challenging with some deep ruts. Having discovered the route I decided to try and climb up on my new Cube MTB with a low bottom gear. Even the first part is quite steep and very lung busting. I got as far as the first bend in picture below.

At this juncture there is a track to the left to a private dwelling. You must carry strait on up to the right and then you have to circumnavigate a fallen tree and the gradient gets steeper. To be honest I did not make it to the top one of the problems being that if you pull your foot out or have to stop the gradient is too steep to get started unless you have extreme skill and strength. You need to be physiqued-up with few clothes on and much less excess  fat than me to make it all the way up. You also need a dry day with much less Autumn leaves on the ground than yesterday. I visited the remnants of the Brocham Bonfire with the ashes still burning on Monday before making my attempt. I had far too many warm clothes on for the ascent. I will make it a New Years revolution to have another go in 2017.