hardknott pass and wrynose

andy610

anyone managed to get up these 2 hills in the lakes hardknott and wrynose

3leggeddog

Yes

Use a triple chainset

Brian B

I failed to get up hardnott pass a few years ago(I had to stop 50m from the top) on my first attempt and was the only hill to ever beat me when I thought I had good enough fitness to get up anything the UK had to offer. This was from the west side and I had to go back a month later and try again and succeeded this time. Wrynose from this side is relatively easy in comparison although it does have its moments and you are usually knackered after coming up hardknott.

Wrynose from the the other side(East - fell foot farm) is almost is bad as Harknott west and most people cant decide which is hardest. I have never done Hardnott from the east side but I ahve heard it is not as bad as from the other way.

I managed to get up both Hardnott and Wrynose in this years Fred Whitten challenge and when you hit these climbs after a 100 hard miles in your legs it was the hardest three miles I have ever done as it took every I had to stay on the bike. I have done a lot of Hor catergorie climbs in France and none of them really upset me as bad as these climbs in the lakes.

piedwagtail91

yes, from west to east. triple mtb chainset.

stevekosky

Yup

In the car

:oops:

Monty Dog

Yep - from both sides in one ride! A couple of years ago I used to go to Cumbria regularly on business and take the bike with me for evening rides. In May you get light evenings and quiet roads - my favourite route was to park in Broughton, ride part way up Dunnerdale, cross and descend into Eskdale, ascend Hardknott from the west, descend Wrynose into Ambleside, do the loop round the back, up to Wrynose and then back over and down Hardknot back to the finish. Used to take about 3 hours and I didn't have a lower gear than 39x23. I needed the ride from Broughton just to get warmed and psyched up - the thought of parking in Eskdale or Boot and whamming your way up Hardknott cold was too painful to contemplate.

John C.

Just remember it's not a race !
Take it nice and slow because it's steeper and longer than you think.

McBain_v1

From what people have posted, it sounds as though attempting these hills on a 39/25 would be suicide :?:

The Mechanic

Not so much suicide, more of a slow, lingering death :twisted:

John C.

Glad that you are seeing sense. at least get a compact but a triple will give you an extra gear.

geoff_ss

I'm quite proud of the fact that I managed Wrynose from Coniston into Wrynose bottom on a Higgins trike with a 40" gear one Christmas some years ago when I was young(er) and strong(er). It IS possible to ride very slowly on a trike but I did get it across the road at one point and only avoided toppling over by lifting the front wheel and pointing it in the right direction It's certainly a very demanding climb and I wouldn't fancy riding it on a busy day; it was just about deserted when we did it.

We avoided Hardnot on that occasion and never returned later as our YHA Christmases were usually over at Patterdale.

I have ridden Hardnot and found it ridiculously easy. Perhaps that's because I was on my 650cc BSA Lightning motor cycle

Geoff