The 44th Tour of the Hills took place on Sunday 9 August in very hot, dry and sunny conditions. It was a great success with thankfully no accidents or bad incidents. We had 134 entrants, of whom 114 actually started off from the hall and 87 finished, though many of the 27 DNFs got a fair way round, and some of them might well have chosen not to have their brevet cards stamped. There was a 75% completion rate from the 4 intrepid WSCC members who entered the event, so it’s good to know we are more or less as hardy as the other starters!
No fewer than 17 club members had signed up for the TOTH course check that we did on the previous Wednesday, though in truth a fair few of them (you know who you are!) were conspicuous by their absence when it came to the final ascent of Barhatch. The main takeaway from the course check was that the course was in unusually good condition, though the surface on a few of the downhill sections remains less than ideal.
There were also 20 on the Greensand ride in groups led by Kevin Hawken, Neil McIntyre and David Ross.
TOTH entry numbers were at least a third up on last year The reasons behind the increase remain a mystery as we followed the usual formula of contacts with local clubs, posters, business cards and social media posts. Perhaps we were helped by some extra support from the Audax UK marketing team, who posted some very witty teaser ads themed around the mysteries of the famous TOTH “turboslab” energy bar, but many of the riders came from local clubs.
The higher numbers made for a really good atmosphere in the hall and out on the course, but they also added up to a lot of work for the catering team and the marshals and other helpers.
The catering operation ran like clockwork, with Jill Ridyard having recruited a new catering committee to spread the load this year – thanks to Alison Ingram, Jessica Shipp, Marion Isaac and Alison Dorsett for their help in making this work. On the day, they were ably and cheerfully assisted by shifts from Alison Mayger, Jessica and Phil Gasson, Mark Waters and Peter Hackman.
Meanwhile, out in the field the 7 marshal stations were ably operated by Maggi Moss, Mark Alderton, Ian Ayres, Chris Boggon, Nick Flew, Peter Hathaway, Penny Knight, Alan Mayger, Brendan Minihane, Bill Pollard, Ian Pickering Clive Richardson, Ben Smithies, Roy Wigmore and Heidi and Martin Vinson. Keith Gooders cheerfully took on the role of keeping this lot in check, running the marshalling operations from the hall. The biggest challenge was ensuring that the water resources were balanced against the unpredictable demands at the various points on the course, and Keith had help from Alison Warren and Paula Mangan (both of whom also kept a watchful eye over bikes parked outside the hall) in running emergency supply missions at various points in the day.
(with a little help from AI!)
John Carolin had bravely stepped up to take over the Audax UK admin for TOTH this year, but after doing all the hard work in the run up to the event he was unable to be there on the day, so I took over once again. Helen Stewart and Julie Coles provided vital assistance in checking the riders in at the start and end of the course, and hopefully we managed to keep the machine running smoothly. The admin team was completed by Keith Stainer, who kept control of the cashbox and card reader for the Greensand and on-the-day TOTH entries
From the number of helpers listed above, it should be obvious that there’s a huge amount of work involved in delivering the TOTH, and it is great to report that we had no shortage of club member volunteers for these roles yet again. The willingness of club members to step in year after year is no doubt partly due to the club being so full of wonderful people, but it is also greatly assisted by the huge positive feedback we get from riders each year. All those efforts were hugely appreciated by the riders – here’s a selection of the lovely comments received post-ride:
“Thanks for another fab event”
“Thanks again for great organisation and service from the volunteers”
“An amazing TOTH event! Thank you to everyone who worked in registration, catering marshalling and behind the scenes to make this happen. All looked so slick! ?????”
“Many thanks to you and your WSCC team for organising and running another fantastic event today. Everything from the communications, the route planning, the catering and all the friendly faces at HQ and at the checkpoints was superb. Please pass on my thanks to all involved. “
“Thanks so much for an AMAZING Audax, the teams at the control points were so supportive & the spread of food afterwards. Please pass on my thanks to Everyone. I’ll be back.”
One other comment overheard in the hall was “That was the worst thing I’ve ever done!” But we’re definitely taking that as a compliment to the Surrey Hills rather than a comment on the fantastic WSCC volunteers. Thanks everyone!
With the success of the Elstead Audax rides in June, we can safely say that 2026 has been a really good year for WSCC cycling events. Plans for the 45th edition of TOTH are already underway, so (provisionally) mark your diaries for 8 August 2027!
Derek
