Cyclists in southeast England are indebted to Glyn Durrant, who with his team of supporters and local club members, runs the Surrey Cycle Racing League. These very popular races are held throughout the year on a number of courses around the region. This article takes a look at the characteristics of the courses raced in the Surrey League.
Thanks to Russell Short, Surrey League course are available as routes on Strava. I have created a map that displays all thirty-one circuits. You can view it, if you go to the trouble of opening to this page, then you have to press on the download icon and open the file in your browser. If you hover over the marker on each course, it indicates the usual finish line and the name of the course. The different colours help identify where loops pass over the same roads.
The courses have a range of characteristics, each one suiting some riders better than others. Although they are all road races, shorter circuits like the 4.6km lap around Kitsmead Lane are repeated many times, giving more of a criterion feel, in contrast with longer routes like the 24.1km Lingfield loop that offer less opportunity to memorise the finishing straight.
The amount of climbing is a key feature. For example, the Newchapel course is almost pan flat, whereas Beachy Head has an elevation gain of 228m over a length of 11.7km. Since you end up at the same point on each loop, we can assume that you are climbing for about half of the distance, giving an average climb (and descent) of 3.9%.
The organisers tend to position the chequered flag at the top of a rise, but the final effort required on Milland Hill is far greater than, say, Seale, which is slightly downhill for the indicated finish line. The rider leading the last Milland Hill climb will tend to be someone who can generate a high level of power at the end of the race. In order to identify steep finishes, the gradient of the final kilometre is calculated using the finish line as it appears in the Strava route. This is not 100% reliable, because the actual finish line can be different on the day.
Some courses are more technical than others, involving twists, turns and sharp corners. These favour riders with good bike-handling skills. One way to assess this is to calculate the “fractal dimension” of the route. This method is a bit experimental, so it would be interesting to receive comments from riders on whether they agree with the ranking. The metric gives a figure close to one for smooth, straight courses, but higher numbers for twisty circuits. None of the routes is very technical, but Sharpethorne and South Nutfield score more highly, due to some very sharp turns.
Putting all this together leads to some interesting results. Consider the amount of climbing versus the length of each circuit. Beachy Head is a medium length route that is well suited to climbers, though heavier riders have a chance to catch up on the fast descent. Sharpethorne, Staplefield and Lingfield are long and hilly, whereas you have less time to recover from the climbs at Ladies Mile, Staple Lane and Seale, because they are much shorter. Meanwhile Milland Hill and Bletchingly form part of a medium-length hilly group, contrasting with the Laughton, Coolham, Kirdford group of flatter courses. The very flat Newchapel course should suit the heavier diesel-powered TTers.
Taking account of the technical nature of the courses, Newchapel, Sharpethorne and Beachy Head form a triangle of extremes. The flat non-technical Newchapel course can be ridden at a very high average speed. Sharpethorne requires both climbing ability and good bike handling skills. Beachy Head is hilly but not too technical. Most of the other routes are intermediates.
The hilliest course does not necessarily have the steepest finish. That honour is reserved for the brutal climb that concludes Milland Hill, though the Bletchingly finish is also tough. Note once again that this depends on where the finish line is positioned on the day – I’m sure the finish of Beachy Head was at the summit, last time I did it!
The Surrey League offers a range of courses that provide opportunities for different types of riders. None of them is super-technical. Unfortunately we don’t have any mountains so strong puncheurs tend to do well. Remember that it is well worth reminding yourself what type of course you are riding, before you start the race. Please take a look at the spreadsheet summary of the data with useful links available here: SurreyLeagueRoutes
Science4Performance 