The session went well.... the overnight start to British Summer Time certainly didn't keep the thousands away from the BMX event that was taking place at Cyclopark alongside our venture further down the hill.
I was most impressed with the formidable barriers that had been strung up to keep the various riff-raff within bounds.
We had wave of Kent Velo Kids who included Catriona Veal who had never been on a road bike before.
Her support team got her kitted onto a suitable stead and she was off. Great stuff.
It turns out mum is a great cycling fan.... but only tv.
Come on Alison we like/need having adults providing support on their bikes.
Another first-timer was David Mayhew, aged 10 and a Redhill Raider.
David wants to do triathlon so perhaps he had come hoping for rain and the makings of a swim
.... but we had the luck with us and kept dry.
Bee Gregory did the division and she coached the younger group while I had the older tribe.
I put the emphasis on having a lot of group riding for getting in the miles.
Two sub-groups riding in pairs, putting the stronger pair on the front for a bigger proportion of the time helped... with the strong side-winds showing the value of slipstreaming
(if you didn't watch the Gent-Wevelgem professional race in Belgium, being run at the same time as us, you will have missed seeing Geraint Thomas blown out of an escape group of six and into the ditch where he went head-over-heels)
So it was windy everywhere.
My version of the Devil (otherwise called the elimination race) is that the winners (not the slowest) get eliminated.
As a result, as the group steadily diminishes, it is the least-sprinty riders who are left.... and that way they get more practice, close the gap and hopefully get the message 'I can do it' .... certainly the final race with just four riders left was the most hotly contested of the lot.... well done you four.
The welly-hoying exercise was postponed because of the strength of the wind... but it will return.
Last month the younger group enjoyed a new exercise which was a standing-start sprint effort as far as a line positioned 50m ahead... and after that they had to try to freewheel to the top of the little hill.
So this time the big 'uns did the same thing.... and the KVK girls said it was the best part of the day.
Max Mansell-Rowe inspired greater efforts by being the first to reach the cone at the very top of the hill.
Riders had seven runs and each time they got noticeably better at gear selection, faster start and harder acceleration.
One rider was blessed with a gear/chain/changer set-up that sounded like the Thames Barrier was being raised in a thunderstorm.....which was good... the louder the noise you knew the harder the rider was pushing.
Perhaps all bikes should be fitted with some sort of sound detector like that so the coach could tell (just by listening) who was trying and who was slacking.
I've just booked more three Power Pack dates for the autumn.
Do please keep coming as the economics are tighter than they were in 2014.
Norbury Sawmill hill climb training: next session Thursday 9 April at 12 noon (if you are looking for something to do in the Easter holidays)
It's midway between Dorking and Leatherhead, so near the foot of Box Hill.
John