The clocks are about to ‘spring forward’, but will your winter training have left you ready to spring into the sportive calendar?

The Sharpener is a 100k course designed to test that question, giving riders the best mix of terrain and scenery Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire has to offer.

Starting and finishing in the picturesque Buckinghamshire village of  Haddenham or ‘Midsomer Oaks’ as the Midsomer Murders writers renamed it, the Sharpener heads out towards the iconic windmill at Brill via a series of short sharp climbs to test your strength.

20 miles in and the terrain changes as riders head towards Oxfordshire and a middle segment designed to give an opportunity to open up the legs a little and enjoy the open countryside. En route riders will pass Le Manior aux Quat’Saisons before aptly stopping at the mid-point food station.

The final third changes again as riders pass the chalk streams and watercress beds in the beautiful hamlet of Ewelme before the grinding climb of Brightwell Hill brings them into the Chilterns and Christmas Common.  The looping almost European switchback decent of Aston Hill then returns riders back to the Aylesbury Vale and a fast return run to Midsomer Oakes for coffee and cake…

Info for Riders

The clocks are about to ‘spring forward’, but will your winter training have left you ready to spring into the sportive calendar? The Sharpener is a 100k course designed to test that question, giving riders the best mix of terrain and scenery Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire has to offer. Avoid Bank Holiday chores and let the Sharpener test your progress.