August’s segment is a less frequently taken route out of Stockbridge, climbing up to a plateau that eventually takes riders down towards Kings Somborne.
The segment begins a short distance after roundabout junction to the East of Stockbridge village, as you follow the A3057 in a Southerly direction.
The climb ahead is around 1 mile in length, with a wide range of gradients, including a minor downhill gradient and a flat run-in to the finish line.
Your effort begins as you pass the entrance to the lane on your immediate right, that would take you on a diversionary route parallel to the told railway line. Instead you press on ahead, up the initial steep section of the A3057 road, under the canopy of trees that masks the gradient, where it pitches up to over 16% before easing off as the road curves to your left.
From here, a further section of around 6% average taken you on, towards the initial respite of what feels like a short and modest downhill section, but is in reality a very short lived break, leading into a false flat before the climbing restarts.
A few moments later you are back to facing gradients of around 6% average, as the road twists left and right, in and out of the tree line, before the final right turn, marked by black and white chevron signs on the left of the road, leads into the plateau at the top of the hill.
The last few hundred yards are a comparatively flat drag to the finish line, which sits parallel to the right turn into a farm lane on the right of the road, just beyond the set of farm buildings you’ll pass on your left.
Please remember to obey the rules of the road and remain vigilant when attempting to set a time on this segment. The link to the segment is here:
https://www.strava.com/segments/37460110
