Big hills in Hampshire?

shakey88

Hi there.I live in the southampton area in hampshire and i'm looking for some major hills to conquer but so far i've only come across a few short sharp climbs probably no more than 8 or 10% and just a few hundred metres in length
Anyone know of any killer hills around here which could test me?
I did Ditchling Beacon last month which almost done me in but it was the biggest hill i've climbed so far but great fun to do.
I'd climb it all the time if it wasn't so far away
Any info would be gratefully received.Thanks
Rich

robthehungrymonkey

They're not massive, but there are a fair few around winchester. Head north and ride round the downs for a bit.

They tire me out anyway!

OOtzen-Booty

Forget Hampshire come on down to Dorset [Purbecks] for some hills.

itboffin

shakey88 wrote:

Hi there.I live in the southampton area in hampshire and i'm looking for some major hills to conquer but so far i've only come across a few short sharp climbs probably no more than 8 or 10% and just a few hundred metres in length
Anyone know of any killer hills around here which could test me?
I did Ditchling Beacon last month which almost done me in but it was the biggest hill i've climbed so far but great fun to do.
I'd climb it all the time if it wasn't so far away
Any info would be gratefully received.Thanks
Rich

Walbury Hill is the highest in the SE at 297m but the whole area is up/down all across the Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire borders. I ride these hills 5-6 times a week with an avg daily ascent of about 3000ft, it's a killer but fun at the same time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walbury_Hill

I came down to the New Forest a couple of weeks ago and was shocked to find somewhere so flat, those we're the easiest 50 miles ever.

If you're looking for routes/rides just PM me I have plenty.

itboffin

I also did the highest hills in Wiltshire (294m) yesterday on my single speed pure pain & suffering with lots of zig zagging puffing and sweating. Great views and downhills, here's my route and a couple of photos.

https://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/wor ... ?id=813222

Looks small from here but this is 290m and about 20%

mortozola

Nothing too challenging but give the following a go:

Old Winchester Hill - east of Warnford - various approaches
Beacon Hill (Exton) - head west from Exton
Steep - north out of Steep near Petersfield
Hannington
Watership Down

FatLarry

Is this route too far North for you...

http://www.sportivecycling.org.uk/

Richard_D

What about Zig zag hill just east od Shaftsbury. Admittedly it would about 40 miles to get to it from Southampton.

PostieJohn

Check out the 'southern sportive' annual route.
Starts in Petersfield, but you could pick up the route from Havant onwards.
Then you can spend the rest of the day wondering why you ever asked this question.

shakey88

Thanks everbody for all your suggestions guys.
I'm doing the Hampshire hiil 100 next month which will put my climbing skills to the test.
Either that or it will kill me!
I'd love to try the tour of flanders sportive after watching it yesterday,the koppenberg looked an absolute legbreaker!

juggler

Dean Hill - hardest route from West Dean towards Whiteparish 12 per cent according to sign and about 1 km from when it starts climbing. Not too far from Southampton. Out of interest there's a 25 per cent hill in the New Forest but you might get your feet wet as there's a ford at the bottom... Near Mockbeggar I think..

shakey88

juggler wrote:

Dean Hill - hardest route from West Dean towards Whiteparish 12 per cent according to sign and about 1 km from when it starts climbing. Not too far from Southampton. Out of interest there's a 25 per cent hill in the New Forest but you might get your feet wet as there's a ford at the bottom... Near Mockbeggar I think..

Thanks juggler i shall seek them out.
Can't seem to find that ford down in Mockbeggar on google earth.The only one i could find was near Ellingham.
Don't suppose you have any more info mate?

phreak

The Isle of Wight is reasonably hilly. Nothing too major but there isn't much flat road.

Airwave

juggler said "Out of interest there's a 25 per cent hill in the New Forest but you might get your feet wet as there's a ford at the bottom... Near Mockbeggar I think"

I think this is at Blissford nr Fordingbridge Went up it last week on 39x25 it's very short.It's not really going to test you very much so i would'nt cycle a long way to "tackle"it you will be very dissapionted.

shakey88

Just out of interest,anyone know cow drove hill in kings somborne?
It's a good couple of hundred metres long and very steep.Just wondered if anyone knew the gradient at all?

juggler

Airwave wrote:

juggler said "Out of interest there's a 25 per cent hill in the New Forest but you might get your feet wet as there's a ford at the bottom... Near Mockbeggar I think"

I think this is at Blissford nr Fordingbridge Went up it last week on 39x25 it's very short.It's not really going to test you very much so i would'nt cycle a long way to "tackle"it you will be very dissapionted.

Yes indeed... checked Google Earth... Blissford is the place, as you say not very long, but probably steepest.... i came across it by accident and was a bit of a shock....

Cow Drove Hill - came down that on the Test Valley Tour last year... pretty steep but i was going the 'easy' direction

For my money Dean Hill is the one in that area 'Ashmore Lane' on the map cycling towards Whiteparish... try a few hill repeats on that. Sotonia CC do a hill climb up it each year i believe.

Also a few miles away is Kimbridge Lane and Saunders Lane heading towards Awbridge/Kents Oak, not exactly difficult but was used for the 'King of the Mountains' in the 2007 Tour of Britain... who said Hampshire didn't have mountains

But if you are in that area and training for the HHH, then you could probably just ride some of the route...

GavH

shakey88 wrote:

Just out of interest,anyone know cow drove hill in kings somborne?
It's a good couple of hundred metres long and very steep.Just wondered if anyone knew the gradient at all?

It's 400m long and rises 40m in height, so that's about 1 in 10.

topcattim

GavH wrote:

shakey88 wrote:

Just out of interest,anyone know cow drove hill in kings somborne?
It's a good couple of hundred metres long and very steep.Just wondered if anyone knew the gradient at all?

It's 400m long and rises 40m in height, so that's about 1 in 10.

Yup, I know Cow Drove, its on one of my regular routes from Winchester out to Stockbridge. I get the point about it being 1 in 10 in total, but I'm pretty sure that there are parts that are significantly steeper than that. I've just got back from a weekend in Devon where I was able to bag several 1 in 5 hills and one that had a 25% sign; and my subjective rating of those hills was that Cow Drove is definitely more than half as hard.

shakey88

Yes topcat i thought cow drove hill was steeper than 10%,certainly feels steeper anyway.
And thanks for the tip on dean hii,Juggler.I drove down it yesterday on a recce and it's a real beast.I'll be working it into my Soton-Andover-Romsey route over the weekend.
Looking forward to getting back on the bike again after a 2 week layoff(keyhole surgery)
Cheers

GavH

It's been a while since I've been up Cow Drove. I'll incorporate it into the weekend ride this wek. I'll have a play with my 705 and see if I can record the gradient as I go up it at the weekend. Now that I think about it, the top of the short hill near Farley Mount reaches about 13% and it doesn't seem as steep as Cow Drove. Maybe its the fact Cow drove is straight up and quite open whereas Farley is quite closed in with trees and curves its way to the top - optical illusion maybe?
The hardest I've ridden locally is the north escarpement of Watership Down with second behind that the short, but steep climb around the back of the ranges at Barton Stacey. I still can't fathom why that one feels so stiff as 'on paper' it looks like nothing special.

GavH

Just did Cow Drove after work. Hits 12% after 20-30 metres from turning onto it (before you get to the speed limit signs) and then alternates between 11 and 12 % all the way up until about 20-40m from the top (before you get to the junction.

All I can say is thank goodness my Front mech waited until AFTER I got up before it decided to break again.

gbs

shakey88 wrote:

Just out of interest,anyone know cow drove hill in kings somborne?
It's a good couple of hundred metres long and very steep.Just wondered if anyone knew the gradient at all?

Bikehike data suggests 38m ascent, 430m distance, ave 8.8%, max 10%

fossyant

Move up north - Peak District or Lakes...... lots of hills.....

GavH

gbs wrote:

shakey88 wrote:

Just out of interest,anyone know cow drove hill in kings somborne?
It's a good couple of hundred metres long and very steep.Just wondered if anyone knew the gradient at all?

Bikehike data suggests 38m ascent, 430m distance, ave 8.8%, max 10%

You're right about the 8.8% average however that includes the MUCH easier sections at the foot of and top of the hill. I've quite clearly detailed in my post above where the steep bit starts and stops and is still night on 380m of climbing at much more than 8.8%.