Hardest Surrey Hill

karlosh

So i'm looking to put in some hard training over winter. I have recently moved and am near the Surrey Hills area. I have found a good number of hills out there but which is

a - the longest
b - the steepest
c - hardest physically

GemmaAtkinson1

go do whitedown. your legs will quickly become acquainted with mr lactic. and climb the steep side not the softy side :-)

Bhima

I heard Box Hill is a nightmare. Not done it myself though, so i've got no idea.

phil s

None of them are hard. There are a few steep bits here and there but nothing long enough to call tough

karlosh

phil s wrote:

None of them are hard. There are a few steep bits here and there but nothing long enough to call tough

And this is the reason i need to train as my opinion of the local hills is different

andyp

Horseblock Hollow and Whitedown are probably the two hardest, but neither should present too much of a challenge to a reasonably fit cyclist.

gbs

Horseblock Hollow is totally new to me - where is it please?
:?:

timmyflash

How does Ditchling Beacon compare to these? It's the only hill i've climbed (once), but might try and start doing a route to Surrey Hills (live in Putney). Just want to know what i'm letting myself in for..

Headhuunter

Try Yorks Hill, although that may be in Kent. Box Hill is long but it's not particularly steep IMO. Yorks Hill os short and incredibly sharp...

jibberjim

gbs wrote:

Horseblock Hollow is totally new to me - where is it please?
:?:

Also known as Winterfold.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 11776&z=13

mark_d

Bhima wrote:

I heard Box Hill is a nightmare. Not done it myself though, so i've got no idea.

Nowhere near. It's probably the easiest of the hills -- 2.4km at 5%. The worst bit is the terrible surface.

Winterfold has some steep pitches (22 or so percent) but I always find the climb up to Combe Bottom from the A246 (Combe Lane) is least pleasant. It's not that long and has only one steepish pitch but it's always the first of the ride and has a nasty dragging start.

Ranmore from Dorking is tough, too, especially if you're giving it some stick.

gbs

jibberjim wrote:

gbs wrote:

Horseblock Hollow is totally new to me - where is it please?
:?:

Also known as Winterfold.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 11776&z=13

To Jibber Jim:What a brilliant resource - even though spotting some of the blues is difficult. Thanks.

NWLondoner

mark_d wrote:

Bhima wrote:

I heard Box Hill is a nightmare. Not done it myself though, so i've got no idea.

Nowhere near. It's probably the easiest of the hills -- 2.4km at 5%. The worst bit is the terrible surface.

Winterfold has some steep pitches (22 or so percent) but I always find the climb up to Combe Bottom from the A246 (Combe Lane) is least pleasant. It's not that long and has only one steepish pitch but it's always the first of the ride and has a nasty dragging start.

Ranmore from Dorking is tough, too, especially if you're giving it some stick.

The thing i hate about box hill is the bloody speed humps on the first section. They totally ruin any momentum that you may have had.

mrc1

White Hill Lane going back towards Caterham is a horrible hill. Very Steep, relatively long (in the context of Surrey) and comparable to Ditchling Beacon IMO.

andyp

An relatively unknown one, but still in the Surrey Hills, albeit off the normal beaten track, is Chalkpit Lane from Oxted.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... ngdom&z=15

It's very steep, with sections of 20% and pretty long. Personally I think it's harder than Whitedown or Horseblock Hollow.

softlad

any hill can be made more difficult - just try going up them quicker. But if you are looking for long, steep climbs in surrey - there aren't any...

vorsprung

I live in Devon and the easy commute to work that I do every day on a single speed has a longer, steeper and higher climb than Box Hill

I'm sure people in Devon, Wales and the North are all thinking similar thoughts

If you want to train to get better at hills its the same as any other training.

Pick a hill that takes the most amount of time to climb in your area. Warm up and then ride up the hill at max speed. Time yourself. Cruise down and recover for 10 minutes. Ride up again, not holding back at all. Keep repeating until your time gets a lot worse. Easy cruise home.
It's most important to really go at it like the clappers

Before you have another go make sure your legs are recovered. If this means you only do the exercise once a week so be it

I wouldn't bother with this kind of stuff this time of year but a 10 week block in early spring would probably be good.
Going up hills fast is a question of power to weight ratio so loosing weight is good idea too

cooljase

softlad wrote:

any hill can be made more difficult - just try going up them quicker. But if you are looking for long, steep climbs in surrey - there aren't any...

No, you're right. So one way to do it (instead of riding the same short section over and over again, which is just too boring) is to link together a bunch of Surrey's short, sharp ramps and make a ride of it.
I adapted this route off someone on Bikely, I think, and I love it:
From the B2024 near Tatsfield, go L up Church Hill, follow Rag Hill Road over A233 and small roads until you get to Knockholt, turn R down Old London Road down Star Hill (you'll get some speed here), L at the bottom on A224 then first R over M25 and into Otford. Past the station, first R then first L (I don't know the name of this hill but it's a good one), then R at the fork at top on Clarke's Green Road, follow your nose towards the M25 then R on St Clare Hill Rd (watch for the turning, it's tiny and easy to miss), straight down to Ightham. Up the hill out of the village then R into Ivy Hatch then small roads across to the A225 again. Take the big roundabout to Sevenoaks Weald then R in the village centre and up and over the A21 (another great climb) L at top on little road towards Ide Hill, then B2042 towards village of Four Elms. Climb Toys Hill, through Brasted, then join the pilgrim's way and you're back where you started.
I do this from central London (so up and over Crystal Palace on the way out and back) and it usually adds up to just over 135km with 1,600m ascent depending on the exact route out and back. I reckon it's a classic.
Anyone got another route with more climbing in fewer kms?

islwyn

Cooljase, that looks perfect for me - would you mind mapping that route on a website so it's easier for me to follow? Looks great though! I really need to train my hill riding... If it wasn't for me being practically glued to the rear wheel in front of me last night, I'd still be on the hill now.

ric/rstsport

karlosh wrote:

So i'm looking to put in some hard training over winter. I have recently moved and am near the Surrey Hills area. I have found a good number of hills out there but which is

a - the longest
b - the steepest
c - hardest physically

the hardest climb (i think) although i think it's in sussex is the climb that's near The Winnie The Pooh shop (the House at Pooh Corner?). There's a Surrey League RR that used to go up the climb (don't know if it still does, not lived darn sarf for 10 years!)

Ric

Mccaria

Not Surrey Hills but more Kent/Surrey borders. You can put together a compact route that goes over :

Bayleys hill
Toys Hill
Ide Hill
Yorks Hill (Catford hill climb)

These hills are in such close proximity that you are pretty much either going up or down. I did a 38 mile run on Sunday with just under 4,000 feet of climbing.

Then head back to Surrey taking in Chalk Pit Lane (it is steep but not a favourite as it is narrow with a blind corner and we locals use it as a cut through between Oxted and Woldingham) and/or White Lane (used for Bec hill climb)

None of these hills are that long but string a few of them together and you have a pretty good hill work-out.

phreak

Headhuunter wrote:

Try Yorks Hill, although that may be in Kent. Box Hill is long but it's not particularly steep IMO. Yorks Hill os short and incredibly sharp...

Did Yorks Hill again last weekend and it seems quite tame. Not easy or anything, but it's probably akin to doing 1/10 of the Mortirolo so can't be classed as being a really tough climb. I mean there's tough and there's tough

phreak

cooljase wrote:

softlad wrote:

any hill can be made more difficult - just try going up them quicker. But if you are looking for long, steep climbs in surrey - there aren't any...

No, you're right. So one way to do it (instead of riding the same short section over and over again, which is just too boring) is to link together a bunch of Surrey's short, sharp ramps and make a ride of it.
I adapted this route off someone on Bikely, I think, and I love it:
From the B2024 near Tatsfield, go L up Church Hill, follow Rag Hill Road over A233 and small roads until you get to Knockholt, turn R down Old London Road down Star Hill (you'll get some speed here), L at the bottom on A224 then first R over M25 and into Otford. Past the station, first R then first L (I don't know the name of this hill but it's a good one), then R at the fork at top on Clarke's Green Road, follow your nose towards the M25 then R on St Clare Hill Rd (watch for the turning, it's tiny and easy to miss), straight down to Ightham. Up the hill out of the village then R into Ivy Hatch then small roads across to the A225 again. Take the big roundabout to Sevenoaks Weald then R in the village centre and up and over the A21 (another great climb) L at top on little road towards Ide Hill, then B2042 towards village of Four Elms. Climb Toys Hill, through Brasted, then join the pilgrim's way and you're back where you started.
I do this from central London (so up and over Crystal Palace on the way out and back) and it usually adds up to just over 135km with 1,600m ascent depending on the exact route out and back. I reckon it's a classic.
Anyone got another route with more climbing in fewer kms?

Did a similar thing last Sunday. Went out from Deptford via CP, over Ide Hill, then Yorks Hill. Swung back round, back over Toys Hill, up through Westerham and Biggin Hill and back into London through Catford.

Worked out at around 90km in total. Not too bad. Not too tough though. Shall probably try and add some more hills to it as my legs improve.

bobtbuilder

mark_d wrote:

Bhima wrote:

Ranmore from Dorking is tough, too, especially if you're giving it some stick.

I hate that climb. Just drags and drags! :evil:

Whitedowns, Winterfold are steeper, but Ranmore from Dorking leaves me fecked every time.

okgo

Winterfold is a bit of a sod.

Last two times I've been up it I've been wheelspinning, mainly due to my weight I guess, but its a surreal feeling!

None of them are hard, but if you want to go up them at the pace Jim does they bloody are!

racingcondor

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Starhill Road. It may not be as hard as some but it's a great ride.

Personally I hate Toys travelling North. South it's a lovely even ride at a good grade, North it just feels like hard work.

colinsmith123

Love Toys in both directions. Favorite climb around here. I'm rubbish at climbing (don't know why, but there you go) but I'd go over either of these before Ide Hill heading south any day. Mainly due to the knackered road surface.

phreak

Toys is my favourite hill in the region as well. Possibly the most continental style hill we have with the grade and length. The others tend to be short and sharp.

option_click

My vote goes to Succomb's Hill in Caterham/Whyteleafe. Bloody steep.
Something like 25% or 1/4.

FCatC

Kidds Hill in Ashdown Forest is very tough, about a mile at around 11/12% ave. Also Brasted Hill off the A25 (at Brasted) is tough. Short sharp, doesn't really dip below 15%.

Toys (E) and Ide Hill are the best for balance between speed and steepness. As Lemond used to say, "it never gets easier, you just get faster".

il_principe

NWLondoner wrote:

mark_d wrote:

Bhima wrote:

I heard Box Hill is a nightmare. Not done it myself though, so i've got no idea.

Nowhere near. It's probably the easiest of the hills -- 2.4km at 5%. The worst bit is the terrible surface.

Winterfold has some steep pitches (22 or so percent) but I always find the climb up to Combe Bottom from the A246 (Combe Lane) is least pleasant. It's not that long and has only one steepish pitch but it's always the first of the ride and has a nasty dragging start.

Ranmore from Dorking is tough, too, especially if you're giving it some stick.

The thing i hate about box hill is the bloody speed humps on the first section. They totally ruin any momentum that you may have had.

That and the appalling road surface.

Henhurst lane is an evil little f*cker.