John Bornhoft Memorial Hill Climb, Leith Hill, Surrey, 28.September 2013

Although I hadn't fully recovered from my recent cold and cough yet, I thought I give it a go. I didnt know the south climb of the hill too well, only from the Prudential 100, some 7 weeks earlier, which was already a bummer, but 1.5km hillclimb didn't really sound too serious. I rode all the way there, 35k relaxed ride with plenty of time. The weather turned sour, it began to drizzle, was getting freezing cold. Warm up was a bit of a laugh, as the headquarters were 4km from the startline and once you have stripped of your warming longlings you are exposed to the cold for until your startime. Long story cut short, I went to fast into the climb, after 300m I realised my breathing got quite heavy already, my heartrate was on max and my calves and thighs began to get locked up. The rest is up for your imagination, the photo below might illustrate a bit what I went through on the remaining 1,200m.

This undertaking was a mistake. Even days later I still got the taste of blood in my mouth when I coughed. I developed a chestinfection from this again, the third one within a year, again being treated with penicillin and dragging on for 5 weeks.