The BHCC Spring Classic

May 17 2026

Hailsham

Date Confirmed

Distances: 66, 122km

Difficulty: Moderate terrain with rolling short steep hills or moderate, sustained climbs

Sunday 17 May 2026 sees the 10th edition of The BHCC Spring Classic. HQ for 2026 is again at The Reid Hall, Boreham St, Boreham, BN27 4SD and rolls out into the Sussex Weald and the Ashdown Forest, through undulating country lanes with very little traffic, challenging you to take on some of the finest climbs that East Sussex has to offer. There will be coffee and food at HQ all day, a marquee with seating in and out, and we will be serving great local beer courtesy of Route 21 Brewery. All finishers will receive a voucher for a draught beer. There will be a feed station on each route stocked with fruit, drinks and a wide selection of home-baked sweet and savoury goodies.

Both routes run through the Sussex High Weald AONB taking in some of the most beautiful lanes and villages in the area.

Epic’ route 102km – 1600m climbing (16m/km) – provisional start time 08:30

‘Challenge’ route 64km – 1000m climbing (15m/km) – provisional start time 08:45

The ‘Epic’ Route – GPS file

A rolling start followed by a gentle (mainly!) 10km climb to Netherfield. Down to Mountfield to the start of the Brightling Prime (18km). This climb up to Brightling is stunning, a narrow but very quiet road that winds its way up past Darwell Reservoir. Look out for Mad Jack’s great Pyramid as you pass Brightling Church. The Prime finishes at the crossroads near the observatory (28km). From the crossroads it’s a long fast descent followed by a short sharp shock to take you to Burwash. Then it’s down again to another beautiful road along the Rother Valley towards Mayfield where the long and medium routes diverge (41km). There’s a short descent to Coggins Mill followed by a steep start to the climb to Mark Cross then it’s mainly downhill to the feed station at Groombridge (59km). Shortly after the feed station get into a rhythm on the steady 4km climb to the top of Ashdown Forest (68km). After the long descent it rolls to Horam (90km) where both routes re-combine for a fast run in to the finish through Vines Cross and Cowbeech.

The ‘Challenge’ Route – GPS file

A rolling start followed by a gentle (mainly!) 10km climb to Netherfield. Down to Mountfield to the start of the Brightling Prime (18km). This climb up to Brightling is stunning, a narrow but very quiet road that winds its way up past Darwell Reservoir. Look out for Mad Jack’s great Pyramid as you pass Brightling Church. The Prime finishes at the crossroads near the observatory (28km). From the crossroads it’s a long fast descent followed by a short sharp shock to take you up to Burwash. Then it’s down again to another beautiful road along the Rother Valley towards Mayfield where the routes diverge (41km). From here there’s a short descent to cross the Rother followed by a 3km climb to the feed station at Broad Oak (46km). Then along the ridge to Heathfield before a fast descent to Horam where the routes re-combine for the run in to the finish through Vines Cross and Cowbeech.

The BHCC Spring Classic 2024