Mel Joined Dirty Wknd for her first ride back in Feb 2017 after signing up for Ride London. Hopefully she won't mind us saying that she was 'as beginner a cyclist as you can be' when she joined, but as you'll read below, through hard work, determination and a willingness to learn, she went onto smash the 100 mile sportive a few short month's later! So impressed were we by her progress, and that fact that she always had a massive smile on her face, we made Mel our 'Ride Over The Year' 2017 (it's a very big deal!) Complete beginner to Rider of the Year in a few short month's. This is her incredible story!

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The Hell Of The Ashdown is the best early season sportive in the South East of England and it's back for 2022!

Taking on 10 tough Kent climbs, with a new start and end point at Westerham Brewery, Sunday the 27th Feb is  set to be a great day!

The event is currently sold out, but should 100% be on your list for next year if you missed out. If you're riding then check out our route breakdown below.

I have ridden the HOTA route many times, so the below musings are made up of my memories and some general Strava segment searching. You can scroll to the bottom to see my ride data from the 2019 HOTA challenge, for reference. 

And if you need some help to train for the event then we have some HOTA training rides, hill rep sessions and other events on our members app. Join the community (28 days free in Feb) and get stuck in!

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Our club kit partner Attacus make some of the finest cycling garms around, and we're proud to call them friends and allies!

As such, they're giving our members a great 20% off their kit site wide!

This 20% cycling kit discount is for members only and a great way to get yourself some much coveted Attacus kit.

Members can log into the 'Members App' to access the discount code. 

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Anyone who has ridden with me before will have heard me talk at length about the beauty of bike touring (sorry about that). I could talk about it for hours because it's probably my favourite type of cycling. Riding from point A to point B with everything you need to survive on your back brings a very real sense of freedom. Not only are powering yourself - you're carrying your home (tent) clothes (spare bib shorts) and supplies (Clif Bars). You can go anywhere and do anything and that's a pretty special prospect. 

When my family decided to have Christmas in Bruges this year it took me about 0.1 nanoseconds to decide I was going to cycle there. The thought of setting off from home with all your kit and riding across countries has always appealed to me, and before looking at the logistics I'd made up my mind. Luckily when I did eventually look up the logistics (roughly 4 days before setting off), it turned out to be a pretty simple ride. 230km give or take a few from Dirty Wknd Towers in Hackney to the Grote Markt in Bruges. On December 23rd. Easy peasy.

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As long as you have the right kit there aren't many weathers you can't cycle in (of course, please be careful/stay indoors during really heavy rain/snow/ice). And yes, we know; more kit to buy! This burgeoning cycling addiction is really crippling your bank account.

But think of it as an investment - winter kit is hard wearing so should last you a few seasons, and if it means you can keep doing the thing that you love all winter, then that's pretty great!

Over the many years I've been cycling I've bought some truly terrible bits of kit. This guide will hopefully help you to avoid those mistakes, and buy the 'right' bits of kit that you will actually use over and over again. 

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