20% hills and road bikes
Comments
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As a short, overweight 49yo living at the base of the North Yorks Moors I get more than my fair share of hill bashing, the moors are renowned for their short sharp hills. I can get up them all (although I have yet to try the Rosedale Chimney) on a modified road bike. The very short sharp hills I like to hit full on on the big ring and hope that speed and aggression will get me over the top. Anything longer I will judge at the bottom and pick a gear which will allow me to sit back and grind away (and I can get down to a 30 on the front and a 29 on back. The one lesson taught to me by an old hand is that if you don't have the climbing ability of Lance Armstrong then don't try to emulate him. Going hard out of the saddle may seem like fun but when you blow you do it big time! And you will be be surprised how many times I get overtaken by people giving it rocks only to pass them again near the top of the hill.
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ay up Dodgy good to see you're still around, missed you on the HotN although you didn't miss much apart from a good soaking.Diogenes wrote:As a short, overweight 49yo living at the base of the North Yorks Moors I get more than my fair share of hill bashing, the moors are renowned for their short sharp hills. I can get up them all (although I have yet to try the Rosedale Chimney) on a modified road bike. The very short sharp hills I like to hit full on on the big ring and hope that speed and aggression will get me over the top. Anything longer I will judge at the bottom and pick a gear which will allow me to sit back and grind away (and I can get down to a 30 on the front and a 29 on back. The one lesson taught to me by an old hand is that if you don't have the climbing ability of Lance Armstrong then don't try to emulate him. Going hard out of the saddle may seem like fun but when you blow you do it big time! And you will be be surprised how many times I get overtaken by people giving it rocks only to pass them again near the top of the hill.
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As Dodgy says if you havn't got Lances ability don't try and copy him, fit a small granny and a dinnerplate cassette and you'll be OK. I was laughed at but on the big hill on the 100 mile mark, I rode, they pushed, enough said.0 -
Hi John, I'm still at it although this weekend I have been flattened by some bug so I am sitting here instead of riding
. The day of the HotN my daughter decided to introduce our granddaughter to the world (bloody bad timing if you ask me) but after speaking to the weekend warriors I seem only to have missed a wash out.
Hope to see you around sometime.
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trickeyja wrote:
A real challenge is Bushcombe Lane near Woodmancote. This is marked as a 25% hill but it is quite probably closer to 30% at the steepest point.
I know it well. :shock: I try it a couple of times a year followed by (nearby) Corndean Lane when I'm fitter in the summer.
For anyone who's done the Cotswold Corker Audax ride, Bushcombe Lane is the first climb that you meet after about 2 miles :shock: .
maander0 -
That hill is just evil. It's the only one that's forced me to walk this year, even when equipped with lower gears than usual.maander wrote:trickeyja wrote:
A real challenge is Bushcombe Lane near Woodmancote. This is marked as a 25% hill but it is quite probably closer to 30% at the steepest point.
I know it well. :shock: I try it a couple of times a year followed by (nearby) Corndean Lane when I'm fitter in the summer.
For anyone who's done the Cotswold Corker Audax ride, Bushcombe Lane is the first climb that you meet after about 2 miles :shock: .Jeff Jones
Product manager, Sports0 -
Some terrific-sounding climbs here - and looking ones, too, thanks to the photos and video clips.
Quite a few are described as 'long', too, but I wonder what we mean by this? Obviously it isn't 'long' in the Alpine or Pyrenean sense (cycling up hill for more than 10 miles or the Himalayan sense - I read 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' where the Crane's cycle from the coast in Bangladesh to somewhere in Xinjiang that is farther from the ocean than anywhere else, and they have a climb that lasts about 100 miles up to the Tbetan plateau). So what do we mean? The climbs I do most frequently are mostly about 1.5 miles and gain about 600 feet and usually take me about 11 minutes, on a reasonable day, but there are some around me that I do occasionally that go on for 2 or even 3 miles (one is 4, but not very steep). Is 1.5 'long'? It feels like it! How does that compare with some of the others listed here?0 -
Bushcombe is a beast, no doubt about it, Corndean as well. Try adding Stockwell Lane with Post Office Lane at the end into the mix and you're really having fun!
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Bushcombe ????
How does this compare with Hardknott or Rosedale Chimney ?0 -
cleeve hill reject wrote:Bushcombe is a beast, no doubt about it, Corndean as well. Try adding Stockwell Lane with Post Office Lane at the end into the mix and you're really having fun!
Stockwell Lane I know (the Cotswold Corker ends by descending it), but where is Post Office Lane?
maander0 -
Post Office Lane is off to the right about half way up Stockwell, by the post box. must be getting on for 35% in places, comes out on the main Cleeve Hill road.0
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I've done a few on mine - mine is a compact though, not an ultra manly double
Peak Hill is a good one (just west of Sidmouth), as is the short one climbing up into Moretonhampstead.
Where's Stockwell Lane? My parents live near Burford (on the A40 between Cheltenham and Oxford) so the Cotswolds are within easy (!) striking range...
Edit: Should've read the previous posts lol
Sure I've been past Woodmancote...0 -
Well i,ve cracked, after reading this post i am so bloody jealous. I live in the Netherlands in the province of Zeeland. I would give almost anything to have a hill of 20% around here.The truth is we have no hills. You can see for bloody miles. The nearest we have to a hill is about 12Kms from where i live and i would guess it,s maybe 4% for about 150Metres. I can freewheel when i go down it. Greetings Ademortademort
Chinarello, record and Mavic Cosmic Sl
Gazelle Vuelta , veloce
Giant Defy 4
Mirage Columbus SL
Batavus Ventura0 -
Anyone familiar with the Path Profiler mapplet on Google? It's pretty cool - I profile all my routes with it, but Bushcombe Ln and Stockwell Ln (the diagrams are in that order) are really, really insane!
I'm going to head out that way next time I'm over there. Can go down one and up the other which is nice
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http://www.heywhatsthat.com/profiler.html
as ever uses google maps so pinch of salt with the grades but looking at a few hills not too far off.0 -
Thooms - I wouldn't go down either at this time of year, steep narrow lanes covered in wet leaves, recipie for disaster! The first 3/4 of a mile of Bushcombe averages about 21%, not for the faint hearted going up or down!0
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That's brilliant. Looked at all my favourite hills, and it confirms what I suspected based on feedback from my legs, heart and lungs.0
