Cheltenham area

marcthehammer

Hi.
Im trying to increase my core fitness by hill climbing.Does anybody in the area know if Cleeve hill is any good for this? Ive been up it a few times but dont know if it is steep or long enough to be of any use. thanx for you help.Marc.

de_sisti

marcthehammer wrote:

Hi.
Ive been up it a few times but dont know if it is steep or long enough to be of any use. Marc.

??????
If you've been up it a few times you must know it's steep.

If you test your climbing ability
why not try the Cotswold Corker Audax ride in February. Going up Bushcombe Lane
(one particular route up Cleeve Hill) will soon get you warmed up on that ride. Chuck in
Suedley Hill very soon afterwards too, then rolling countryside all the way to Northleach.

Oh! Someone back me up please.

master_grunthos

Plenty of hills around. There's a nice long drag up to Birdlip, the simplest route to it is to head out of Cheltenham on the A46 towards Gloucester then at Brockworth (after passing over the A417 but not going on it) turn left at the round about with the Shell garage onto Cirencester Road then as the road bares left at a pub which is in front (on the right hand side of the road) make a right turn just before the pub onto Ermin Road then follow this road up to the village of Birdlip. This link should give the route in Google Maps I hope:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 8&t=h&z=14

Cleeve Hill is OK but can get busy with fast traffic It's good both sides so you can go over to Winchcombe then back again if you want. Other options up Cleeve are some steeper routes up Bushcombe Lane, Stockwell Lane and Gambles Lane, these are short and steep from the Woodmancote end of Bishops Cleeve. I don't recommend them at the moment as they'll be very slippy. I think this link should show all three:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 5&t=h&z=15

Have you tried the climb up Leckhampton Hill out of Cheltenham on the B4070 Leckhampton Road?

Have you thought of going a bit further away? There are some longer climbs to try such as SnowsHill Hill

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 1&t=h&z=13

Stanway

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 87891&z=14

Salters Hill (Salters Lane)

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 43945&z=15

Sudeley Hill out of Winchcombe up Castle Street

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 5&t=h&z=15

Combining some of these it's easy to plan a hilly route to the East of Cheltenham

You could try the Cotswold Corker next month for a challengingly hilly but relatively short Audax

MG

master_grunthos

maander got in there first as i was typing!

I see you are also staying in tonight maander. Too icy at the moment.

de_sisti

It was still a bit icy in places so I thought I'd better not risk it. I went to Cineworld instead. I'll be out on Saturday morning
(don't know where I'll be going to), then on Sunday it's to Beechenhurst. I'll be setting off earlier than the County riders and hope
I can stay away until the cafe. If they catch me I take a tow (if they're not too quick for me).

trickeyja

I am also from Cheltenham, and agree with the above posts. Lots of good hill climbs around. However I would be inclined to add Ham Hill and Aggs Hill to the mix, I often go up either way and the down to Whittington. Good climbs. As others have mentioned, Bushcombe Lane etc are challenging but if you are new to hill climbing you may want to try some less steep ones first.

One of my favourite hilly routes is up Aggs Hill, through Whittington and Syreford, over to Shipton, down to Withington or Compton Abdale and the way back through Withington and Upper Coberley is very undulating with quite a few hills before a fast descent of Leckhampton Hill.

Alternatively as has been suggested, Bushcombe, Gambles or Stockwell followed by Salter's Hill the over to Guiting Power area etc. I know lots more routes but those are some hilly ideas.

http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/trickeyja

master_grunthos

Of course, Ham Hill. I totally forgot about that one. When I started road cycling I used that to build up leg strength by just doing it over and over, it's nice and close too.

marcthehammer

Just tried to route up birdlip.
OMG how steep is that!!! Maybe one day if i try it every week i might make it to the top in 20 years!! But i guess every week i can try and go a little higher.And i did pass someone on the way down who didnt quite make it as far as i did.

de_sisti

marcthehammer wrote:

Just tried to route up birdlip.
.

Which route did you take up to Birdlip?

trickeyja

I'm assuming he took the route from the Witcombes up the steep hill (1 in 6)

Well done on your first attempt, you should get better with practise. I last cycled up there on Thursday and it still brings my speed down to about 6mph at the steep parts! It's a good and fairly long hill.

marcthehammer

This one http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr ... 8&t=h&z=14

de_sisti

Well done. That's a good climb. The CTC Thursday A group did it a couple of weeks before
Christmas. It's a good challenge.