This was my first HONC, and first ever event of this sort and I had a great time.
I have a friend who lives locally, so we knew in advance that the first climb was going to be a walk.
I managed to miss two turns, the first just up the hill from the ford. I was on my own and in roadie hill climbing mode and just didn’t see the turn. The situation was not helped by my being deaf in my right ear, so I was only vaguely aware of the shouts; it was when I realised there were no bikes in front or behind me that the penny dropped. The second missed turn was only by a couple of yards by the bridge just after the feed station, and was actually caused by a lady in an MX5 pulling alongside me to ask the marshal the way to somewhereoranother.
I finished the 50k in 3hrs 20 on my 1992 Roberts and thought the whole event was brilliantly organised, marshalled and run.
With a bit of luck I’ll be back there in a couple of weeks to do some of the route again, including the first climb, with my buddy who lives in the town.