As Ruth Nicholls from the Scilly Isles slumped across the finish line after the first North Cornwall Tor she confirmed it was tougher than child birth. Nearly 400 riders faced the challenge from the start and back to the finish in Cornwall’s flagship leisure centre, the Dragon centre.

Although officially two routes, either 100-miles or 100-kilometres, many riders rode a hybrid route by intending to do the long but deciding to finish on the short route after some tough Cornish Tors had made a big impression.

For those who managed the complete long route, any will confirm just how tough it was. “The hardest bike ride I’ve ever done” said experienced Michael Ingram of Addiscombe CC. Hats off to Adam Thompson, a local rider and the youngest participant at 14 years. Adam completed the long route and rode with his proud dad.

There was a nasty sting in the tail on both routes – unrelenting climbing right up to the approaches to Bodmin on the shorter option with the wicked Bishop’s Wood on the long. Having rained the previous day the surface was damp on the wooded 1 in 3 and only a handful of riders had the reserves of strength and control to rider up.

The jury is still out on the precise amount of ascending – 3,800 metres (12,500 feet) seems to be the figure. Regardless, riders are already calling this ride the toughest ever in the UK due to the unrelenting nature of the climbing.

Andy Babbage of Christchurch went to text his family after the rider and predictive text actually comes up with North Cornwall Torture…

Rest assured, next years ride will be no less challenging.

www.kilotogo.com

Pre-entries for this Cornish sportive are now closed, but it’s possible to enter on the day. The event headquarters are at Cornwall’s flagship leisure centre – The Dragon Centre in Bodmin.

This is the first cyclosportive for Cornwall and the most westerly in the UK.

The event represents a successful organising venture for North Cornwall District Council and kilotogo.com. North Cornwall has ambitious plans for grass-roots cycling in the community, and as part of its regeneration program sees cycling and leisure rides as a vehicle for not only putting the area on the map but also as an opportunity to show people coming into the area what Cornwall has to offer.

‘The Tor’ is already reckoned to be one of the most challenging and spectacularly scenic organised rides in the UK. The 100 mile route option boasts over 3,200 metres of ascending over Bodmin Moor, the Atlantic coast road and the Cornish Tors. Riders also visit the legendary Tintagel of King Arthur and the knights of the round table fame.

Former Continental professional cyclist Harry Lodge brought his young KFS Sunday Bicycles pro-team down to “recce” the route back in February in between winning the first top road race of the season (the Perf’s Pedal race) and flying off to the Tour of Taiwan. He and the riders agreed that the route was astonishingly tough yet set in a backdrop of stunningly beautiful Cornish scenery.

A full map of the route and more details about the terrain can be viewed at www.northcornwalltor.co.uk

Challenging cyclosportives move further west as Cheshire Cat organisers kilotogo and North Cornwall Distict Council bring a tough new cyclosportive event to the 2008 calendar – The North Cornwall ‘Tor’ on 20 April.

It’s Cornwall’s first ever cyclosportive, and with 300 entries already logged, many people have been inquisitive about this exciting new event – so much so that Harry Lodge took his whole KFS team down to the route a few days after KFS and James Stewart won the Perf’s Pedal race – perhaps using the opportunity as preparation for the Tour of Taiwan. Access to Cornwall has really opened up since the upgrading of the A30, now less than an hour from the M5.

Cyclosportive riders have a choice of 100 km or 100 miles for the ‘Tor’. Both routes contain the vital ingredients of good organisation, tough challenging climbs and beautiful scenery.

Organisers reckon the combination of 3,200m of ascending and the stunningly beautiful Atlantic coast is probably unbeatable in the UK for a tough yet picturesque challenge ride.

Kilotogo’s Geoff Saxon adds “I simply lost count of the number of steep coastal and woodland climbs when we first rode the route in 2007. The 1-in-4s to 1-in-8s just keep coming at you all day”. The steepest climb is Millook at 1-in-3 but Bishops Wood just a few miles from home on the long route will have more than a few riders walking.

The weekend’s events support the Cornwall Air Ambulance which was the UK’s first ever Air Ambulance service. Expect top notch organisation – Transponder timing, 4 feedstations (you’ll need them!), support vehicles, clearly way-marked routes, GPX files from the web-site and all the facilities of The Dragon Centre HQ.

More details of the North Cornwall Tor at www.northcornwalltor.co.uk