Surrey Comet sports editor Tim Ashton, pictured, has been hard in training for the RideLondon 100, and time is running out for those final preparations.

Only nine days to go to RideLondon 100 and my training is tapering down.

But I did put in a 50-miler last weekend and overcame the challenge of Leith Hill.

Normally I cycle from my home near Purley to my parents’ on the south coast in West Sussex.

It’s about 50 miles, or more if you take in Brighton and then shoot across the coastline.

What it does have though is the South Downs – and in particular the climb up Ditchling Bostall.

That’s a 125m climb in just under a mile.

I was also lucky enough to cycle up the Hai Van Pass in Vietnam earlier this year – the one Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear called “a deserted ribbon of perfection”.

That’s roughly 450m up over six miles.

Leith Hill, the highest point of the RideLondon route, is 139m in two miles.

And that made me feel a lot better.

So last weekend I ventured out to cycle the RideLondon route from Byfleet to Dorking and on to Box Hill – then to home through Tadworth.

When you say to non-cyclists you’ve cycled over Leith Hill, they tend to be aghast, but in reality it’s not that bad – in fact it’s great for us slow-coaches.

I know there will be far more seasoned cyclists than I, getting out of their saddles, gritting their teeth and grinding their muscles to show the hill who is boss.

But having taken in the Downs, Vietnam and now Leith Hill, they are climbs that reveal, foot by foot, some breath-taking scenery.

So I say there’s no problem admitting the hill is the boss because it will still be there when RideLondon 100 reaches its 100th anniversary – I certainly won’t be.

And don’t rush them, because they open the door to a majestic beauty – something I certainly am not.

I am cycling for Children with Cancer. To sponsor me go to justgiving.com/Tim-Ashton2.