I Raced My QuickPro Up a Brutal UK Hill Climb

Friday night hill climb racing, and this week it’s a climb I’ve never ridden before: Croaker Hill, finishing up the private service road to the TV tower on Sutton Common. Rough surfaces, cattle grids, constantly changing gradients, and 30 degree heat. A proper brutal one.

This is my new QuickPro Ar:One’s second race, and this time you can actually see it. I’ve gone tubeless GP5000s for the rough stuff, and the pacing plan was all about modulating the effort: backing off and getting aero on the flat and downhill sections, then committing hard on the steep walls.

The really interesting bit came after: the organisers ran an intermediate time split, and it told me exactly where I’m losing time to the win, and exactly what to work on next.

Get Yourself an AR:One Here: https://www.pandapodium.cc/product/quickpro-arone-carbon-road-bike-frameset/?ref=25637

Next week: Pym Chair. The queen stage. Brutally steep. Do not miss it.

Chapters
00:00 A climb I’ve never ridden: Croaker Hill
01:32 30 degrees: pre-race
02:05 Race POV: the full effort
04:14 The 11% wall
05:40 Onto the rough stuff
07:45 The finish and the view
08:32 Chinese bikes are taking over UK hill climbs
08:56 The result
09:23 Debrief: the time split that told me everything
10:41 Next week: Pym Chair

The bike
QuickPro Ar:One (full build video on the channel https://youtu.be/zdiQtbvrPfw)

Got a question about the climb, the bike, or hill climb racing? Drop it in the comments.

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