Robert Oakley, Kevin Goss and Tony Peek from the Spinners rode all or part of the Dartmoor Classic on 22 June 2025.
They rode the Medio route of 66.6 miles or 107km with 6000ft or 1830 metres of climb. The route is the middle distance route option of the Dartmoor Classic Sportive. The route starts with a 2.3 mile neutralised segment from Newton Abbot racecourse to Clay Pits Way. Here you will see the ‘Timing Towers’ and your official ride time will begin.
After scenic climbs through Dartmoor, at 30 miles you arrive at the famous Princetown feed station to enjoy a variety of food and drinks along with energy bars and Tea or Coffee. Mind you don’t eat too much of the Homity Pie as 10 miles on from Princetown, at 40 miles is the Closed Road Hill climb segment. Here you will have the opportunity to test your climbing strength against fellow participants with prizes to be won for the fastest male & female riders of each age category.
Robert’s Ride
As the Classic fell on my birthday weekend I thought it would be nice to ride it with my son Tom. Only after signing up did I really look at the route and note the elevation. Oh well, it was for charity. I should point out that I am not a lover of hills and my son lives in London, lovely flat London – at least he has youth on his side.
We arrived nice and early and got in line. 7.35 start for the first group of about 50 and then another group every 6 minutes after that. We set off in the third group and had a pleasant ride to the bottom of the hill up to Haytor. After that initial flat section, we were faced with over 3 miles of upward cycling which I found to be quite challenging. The following 10 or so miles should have been reasonably straight forward but as is often the case, the Dartmoor weather decided to throw us a curve ball in the form of a cruel wind. There was some rain too but it was the wind that had us selecting lower and lower gears just to move forward.
Keep reminding myself this is for charity! This was definitely a needed reminder when we got to Holne, not as long as the climb to Haytor but it had a wicked gradient which certainly got my legs burning. I decided that completing the ride was more important than maintaining my pride so when I saw people get off their bikes to walk, I decided to join them – I just didn’t want to be the first out of the saddle. Like the great lad he is, Tom waited at the top for me (as he did on all of the longer climbs).
With the knowledge that we were less than half way to the feeding station at Princetown, there was nothing for it but to just grind out the miles and where possible enjoy the views and appreciate the claps and cheers of the few brave souls who stood at the side of the road to encourage us onwards. As we descended towards Princetown, it was a bit disappointing to see some quicker riders coming back up that same hill. I don’t know why but climbing back up a hill feels worse than tackling a new climb.
We arrived at the feeding station, racked our bikes and one of the first people I saw was the Spinners very own Kevin Goss. Kevin had set off a group in front of us and was looking much more comfortable than I felt. I have to say that as with everything that day, the feeding station was excellently organised with a great selection of food, drinks and supplements. Fed and watered, we set our sights on the finish line and set off once again with climbs and falls until we got to the foot of the time trial stage. While virtually every steward was doing an excellent job, I had little time for the guy at the base of the climb encouraging me to ‘give it everything’. For me this was a steady uphill ride, dropping down the gears until I ran out and then just a long slog to the top (where Tom was waiting once again). We saw Kevin while catching breath at the top and I believe he also took it at a slow but steady pace.
From here there were more falls than climbs until we arrived at Doccombe, yet another challenging hill. Having conquered this penultimate hill, I was delighted to find a long, fast, downhill section which dropped down to river level and followed the water for a few miles. This bit I really enjoyed and it even showed up as one of the quicker sections on Strava (for my age group) until the inevitable, another hill (Tappers). This time quite a tame climb compared to its predecessors.
Only a few more minor ups and downs until we hit the 66.6 mile marker and the finish line. A nice gentle ride through Newton Abbot back to the race course and a welcome drink. The biggest surprise of the day was when I was handed a gold medal, not a quick ride, just a reasonable ride in an older age group. I found out later that I had a slightly better time than Kevin but only because he stopped to help another rider who had run out of spare tubes, always the gentleman.
Would I do it again?…..ask me in a couple of months. Next week is the Nello, another charity ride of similar distance but with less elevation. Hopefully my legs will be OK.
Tony’s Experience
So I arrived early at 6.50am on Sunday morning at the race course, in plenty of time to get my race number, collect my DC jersey and fuel up. Last year I made the mistake of not drinking enough and suffered with cramp for the last 10 miles. Lesson learned, 2 bottles, 4 gels and a bar to get me to the feed station. I had also been keeping an eye on the weather forecast and rain was possible from 11 am onwards. Not a problem as I would be near the end by then and so I decided that no jacket was required.
The marshal was a stickler for time so we were not allowed to go early and had to wait till 7.35am. But at least I was right at the start of the medio group. We set off behind the lead vehicle until we got to the timing towers and we were off. I decided early on to do my own thing. Not to keep up with people, nor to slow for riders. Just to enjoy it.
The route was different from last year and it wasn’t long before we were at Bovey Tracy and the start of our first proper climb Hay Tor. A climb of 3.3 miles with some steep but manageable 10 to 13% sections. Dipping back down to 5% before going steep again and then Hay Tor itself was in sight. Then a final push up to the top before a slight down hill and another bit of climbing. 28 minutes to climb Hay Tor with a cross wind. And by this time the rain had settled in !
At 12 miles you go over a cattle grid and turn left. Same as last year only nobody said it would be this windy. We were suddenly slowed right down by lots of cyclists stood in the road and bikes everywhere. Unfortunately a rider had hit a pot hole and come off . From the look of her, she wasn’t in a good way. I did find out later she needed hospital treatment. So I carried on along the road which was slightly climbing and then it was the down hill time. A long downhill of about a mile maybe . I checked my speed , 40 mph!. I started to slow as I knew there was a bend coming up. As I approached the bend I noticed gravel on the corner and then……… It all happened so fast …..
The next thing I knew I had hit the ground. I’m still not sure what happened or how it happened. But then there was a crashing sound and the guy behind me came tumbling off his bike. A combination of speed , gravel, wet roads and over confidence. So I picked myself up. Slowed others riders down as the came down the hill do we didn’t have a multiple pile up of bikes and bodies.
I picked my bike up to ride it and thought ” there’s something not right here” it was then that I noticed my saddle was missing. In fact the seat post had snapped off at the frame. Later on I realised that the rear mech and hanger were damaged along with the front lever. So my race was over just like that. 15 miles done. There was no way I could carry on. Unfortunately I don’t have a back up car with 5 spare bikes on the roof.
About 100 yards from where I crashed was a marshal at a T junction. He called for help and arranged for myself and the other guy to be collected along with our bikes. I have a garmin cycle device that if it detects a fall will alert an emergency number and if not stopped in time, will notify the emergency service. I did stop it in time from calling the emergency service but it had already notified my wife. She had a message and called me to find out if I was OK. I was then able to get her to come down and collect me from the race course, once we were taken back there by the DC vehicle. Unfortunately due to the accident earlier involving the woman it had taken longer to get to us then expected. But still I was grateful for the lift back .
I did get checked out and patched up by the medics at the DC village. A big thank you to them for looking after me. I did buy a new helmet at the DC village, just to be on the safe side.
But as we are all cyclists, we understand the risk we take, everytime we go out for a ride. As for my bike…. time will tell if it will live to be ridden another day.
