Ditchling Beacon in Oxfordshire?

DaKid

Hey guys,

Hoping someone might be able to help. I'm doing the London to Brighton in June (for the second time), and I'd dearly love to be able to beat Ditchling Beacon this time. With that in mind, I'm trying to find a hill in Oxfordshire/Berkshire on which to train for it. I'm having real problems coming up with one though.

Ditchling Beacon climbs by near enough 200m in 1 mile, and about the best I can find in South Oxfordshire is 100m or so. Does anyone know of one? I live near Didcot (Wallingford, to be precise), so the nearer the better, but I can drive if necessary

Thanks in advance for any help,

Martin

jimycooper

one thought is that you could do a hill numerous times, and/or find a shorter steeper one and pace yourselfs up it a few times.

luckily for me i live right next to ditcherling beacon and train on it most rides

Wooliferkins

If you can get up Ashbury hill on the road from Ashbury to Lambourn B4000 from bottom to top then you'll have it taped. I was born in Sussex and now live in Wantage. They got carriages and 4s over the beacon hence the succession of false flats. If you want a hilly training loop go here.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2602374

Or any of the git wizard hills between Ogbourne, Aldbourn and Ramsbury

CiB

I've done DB and it's not as bad as it seems - get in your lowest gear and sit there, reminding yourself that you can't stop as there are too many others who have given up already. And as someone pointed out on here last week, it's usually chocca with walking or near-stationary cyclists so your hill-climbing techniques need to be augmented with avoidance tactics + repeated requests to 'keep to the left please'. What is noticeable is that it's terraced - up a bit, flattens out for a few yards, then steep again, then a bit more easy stuff & so on to the top.

There's a hill just outside Bicester just up the road from you between Loughton and Poundon. Follow the back road out of Loughton, over the cross roads and Poundon Hill appears as you round a bend. It's not very long tbh, and prob not steep enough, but it'll get your heart beating. It's a bit flat round here though.

I read on another web forum once some bloke who claimed that he'd done L2B in a whisker over 2 hours, and was so fired up for it that he'd shot up DB and was near the top when he realised that he'd forgotten to change gear and was still on his 53-11 ratio. Amazing... :shock:

DaKid

Thanks for the tips, guys ... do please keep 'em coming.

I'm unfortunately not quite in a position to just go up it ... the muscles are there and the fitness is almost there, but the 300lbs that I'm hauling up the hill makes it approximately twice as steep as it is for most people

CiB

Have a crack at Poundon then. It's a nice loop to rack up it, head back through Marsh Gibbon and back round for another pop, Coming down used to be fun but it's now full of big holes following the winter we've just had. It's a favoured training route for a lot of clubbies too I gather.

jamesfifield

Not sure what it is called, but there is the hill up the cutting on the A40, just before Stokenchurch on the way towards London. Not entirely sure of the size but it certainly almost caught me on the way back home this Sunday (that and the rapid approach of a hangover)!

Steve Kish

Must be something around West Ilsley, surely.

DB is a bit hard but can be done in a small gear at your own pace. Seen the T de F riders sprint up it in a 53 ring, FFS! :shock:

Wooliferkins

jamesfifield wrote:

Not sure what it is called, but there is the hill up the cutting on the A40, just before Stokenchurch on the way towards London. Not entirely sure of the size but it certainly almost caught me on the way back home this Sunday (that and the rapid approach of a hangover)!

That'll be Stokenchurch hill I think. A long drag with a git of kick when you're not expecting it!
Back to topic, some long rolling runs will help on hills and your stamina/weight will benefit you. Plenty of those on the Ox/Berks border. Newbury, Shefford to Lambourn?

DaKid

Ok, thanks guys ... lots of good comments and ideas there. Will give it a go.

If I can somehow get up Ditchling Beacon in 6 minutes (10mph), I will know I've succeeded!

giant_man

Basically it's a hill like any other hill, nice and long. Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem getting up it, but on that particular day such as the L-B ride, there's so many other people doing the same thing they get in your way and if you're unlucky you might have to get off and walk with the others. Not good.

Bodhbh

No expert on the area, but would think you have a few options, with the Ridgeway running just underneath Didcot, the Ridgeway being 200m+ up or somesuch in many places - annoyingly Didcot powerstation spoils the view for a good few miles along it.

If you Google a map of it it more or less traces the high ground so you could try intersecting it at different points for a bit of variation.

(in Watford here, so more familiar with the E end of it, but still exploring tbh - the aforementioned Stokenchurch hill is about as far as I get on a regular basis).

softlad

there's a couple of climbs out of Watlington - the B480 towards Cookley Green has a bit of a monster on it as I recall, as does the minor road from Watlington up to Christmas Common...

Bronzie

Whiteleaf near Princes Risborough has a 130m elevation gain and is >10% for stretches - a real bar-steward.

Chinnor Hill is similar height gain but not as steep. In fact, loads and loads of hills along the ridge in this area.

CiB

Prob of no importance now considering the better options posted since, but when I wrote Loughton I should have put Launton for the run up to Poundon Hill. Whoops.

Dr S

Maybe head over to coombe gibbet and ashmansworth? Couple of stiff climbs there, and pretty close together. I can't get up them yet!

jimmcdonnell

Out of interest, does anyone have Ditchling ridefile from a Garmin device that they could post a link to? ie suitable for Garmin Connect, or SportTracks (or even better for us Mac folk, Ascent)?

I've been up Ditchling on the L to B ride over a dozen times, but I'd like to know the numbers - the earlier post saying it rises 200m in a mile was interesting as I was always convinced it was a half dozen miles long and went half way to the moon...

DaKid

Here ... http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ditchling-Beacon

You can view the elevation profile by going to Show > Elevation Profile.

You can also export GPX and KML route info from the Share menu.

According to the data on the site, it rises by 150m in 1.4km which is an approximately-10% gradient.

zwoooosh

Never heard of Ditchling but looks like a good old climb. Have you taken a stab at Streatley Hill? http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/St ... Hill199922 I use that as my regular climb practice, ocassionally combining with Whitchurch Hill and Goring Hill. Also, second Cookley Hill...

eh

Loads of good climbs near Wallingford, Streatly would be the really obvious one although I'm not sure how representitive it is, however, it is horrid a steep climb. Personally I'd be more tempted to ride down to Watlington then do a circuit of the hills around Christmas Common and Pishill. There is also some good stuff out of Henley. And if you want a longer ride then look at Stokenchurch, Chinnor or even Brill.