Porlock Hill

moorjohn

mmm... brings back memories.


one of the few descents in this country where you have to watch out for your rims overheating too.

Anybody done the 1 mile drag down the hill into Dartmouth. I was there last year and was comfortably catching up on the cars...

8)

vs

A post I can comment on with experience. I live in Lynton and have cycled 100,000 miles on Exmoor, so I have done these climbs (Porlock Hill, Toll Road, Lynmouth Hill) a great number of times.

Porlock Hll is the steepest, no matter what the mapping sofware says, Lynmouth is no way 32%. I have ridden Porlock Hill on a 39 x 23 and Lynmouth Hill on a 39 x 21 before compacts but now prefer a more comfortable ascent on a 34 x 25 for both.

The two hairpins on Porlock Hll are incredibly steep, particularly the second one and the section between the two is also very steep. After the second hairpin the gradient gives a bit and then relents but it's still a tough climb to the moors, even from there, by normal standards.

The toll road out of Porlock cannot be mentioned in the same breath but it is a wonderful climb, however they have started charging the £1 toll; for many years I was waved through with a 'good luck buddy', oh dear how times have changed!

There is another toll road from Porlock Weir although the last time I rode it the surface was in very poor condition; it is the much more challenging of the two tolls.

Lynmouth Hill is much shorter and as mentioned it does feel a bit like a wall when the middle section comes into view; however it is very climbable on a compact because you're not going to be on it for too long.

There are two other great climbs out of Lynmouth: Countisbury Hill, 20% plus for a short time at the bottom leading to a stunning ascent overlooking the Bristol Channel; Watersmeet Road leading to Hillsford Bridge, a 5 mile climb used by the Tour of Britain, the first couple of miles are very gentle, it then kicks up towards the moor at 12%ish.

West from Lynton, past the Valley Of Rocks you will find a series of hidden gems on very quiet roads. The climb from Lee Bay through Woody Bay is a fine climb through a series of hairpins. This leads down Kings Lane to Hunters Inn, ridden in the other direction is another climb in excess of 28% at the bottom. Just a short way onwards is the real gem, the road to Trentishoe, a fab climb of a couple of miles to more coastline moorland, just magnificent; there's also a shorter, much steeper way to the top. Onward and down into Combe Martin. Then turn around and ride a choice of two ascents back towards Trentishoe both at times more than 20%.

There are two fearsome climbs out of Lynton (the village at the top!) Sinai Hill, past the Crown Hotel in the old part of the village, is steeper at the top than ether Porlock or Lynmouth Hill and it really is an issue keeping the front wheel grounded. There is also a hidden climb off of the top of Lydiate lane. From Lynton turn right at the hairpin off the main road and you are soon faced with is a 25% plus climb past Lyn Farm on a pretty rough road, wheel slippage is almost always a problem; this road was in my opinion, a surprising inclusion to the 2009 Tour of Exmoor but wisely dropped from the 2010 route as I think most had walked it.

All that said I think the toughest climb on Exmoor is probably the climb to Dunkery Beacon from Luccombe. Not as steep but the top 1 mile or so is relentless.

All in all a wonderful place to cycle!

ajcherry

Yes i did ride the other toll road but descended it because it was easier to find from the A39.I`m inclined to agree with the road surface, it`s still in poor condition in places.

Another tough climb i did,that i`m sure your familiar with vs, is the climb out of Woolacombe.Challacombe Hill grid ref 464 425 OS Map180 as mentioned in Simon Warren`s 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs.

I agree the climb up to Dunkery Beacon is a real killer.On the evening i did it i was accompanied by a swarm of flies buzzing around my head that i only manage to shake off when it started raining near the top.The thing i did notice cycling around Exmoor is how very different the weather could be once up 400m+ high even in August.

Also i did a hill at Crowcombe up from the A358 to the Quantock Hills.Map OS181,grid ref 149 374.This one i did in the pouring rain and suffered a fair amount of wheelspin on the smooth surface which added to the difficulty of the climb.

All in all where ever you ride in north Devon and Somerset its certainly very hilly but you will be rewarded with breath taking scenery.

I manage to complete 231miles over 3 days at an average speed of 14mph.

rob21

did porlock hill this week....what a killer :shock:

http://app.strava.com/activities/201414136

and Countisbury hill near lynton is another beast :shock:

rob21

vs wrote:

A post I can comment on with experience. I live in Lynton and have cycled 100,000 miles on Exmoor, so I have done these climbs (Porlock Hill, Toll Road, Lynmouth Hill) a great number of times.

Porlock Hll is the steepest, no matter what the mapping sofware says, Lynmouth is no way 32%. I have ridden Porlock Hill on a 39 x 23 and Lynmouth Hill on a 39 x 21 before compacts but now prefer a more comfortable ascent on a 34 x 25 for both.

The two hairpins on Porlock Hll are incredibly steep, particularly the second one and the section between the two is also very steep. After the second hairpin the gradient gives a bit and then relents but it's still a tough climb to the moors, even from there, by normal standards.

The toll road out of Porlock cannot be mentioned in the same breath but it is a wonderful climb, however they have started charging the £1 toll; for many years I was waved through with a 'good luck buddy', oh dear how times have changed!

There is another toll road from Porlock Weir although the last time I rode it the surface was in very poor condition; it is the much more challenging of the two tolls.

Lynmouth Hill is much shorter and as mentioned it does feel a bit like a wall when the middle section comes into view; however it is very climbable on a compact because you're not going to be on it for too long.

There are two other great climbs out of Lynmouth: Countisbury Hill, 20% plus for a short time at the bottom leading to a stunning ascent overlooking the Bristol Channel; Watersmeet Road leading to Hillsford Bridge, a 5 mile climb used by the Tour of Britain, the first couple of miles are very gentle, it then kicks up towards the moor at 12%ish.

West from Lynton, past the Valley Of Rocks you will find a series of hidden gems on very quiet roads. The climb from Lee Bay through Woody Bay is a fine climb through a series of hairpins. This leads down Kings Lane to Hunters Inn, ridden in the other direction is another climb in excess of 28% at the bottom. Just a short way onwards is the real gem, the road to Trentishoe, a fab climb of a couple of miles to more coastline moorland, just magnificent; there's also a shorter, much steeper way to the top. Onward and down into Combe Martin. Then turn around and ride a choice of two ascents back towards Trentishoe both at times more than 20%.

There are two fearsome climbs out of Lynton (the village at the top!) Sinai Hill, past the Crown Hotel in the old part of the village, is steeper at the top than ether Porlock or Lynmouth Hill and it really is an issue keeping the front wheel grounded. There is also a hidden climb off of the top of Lydiate lane. From Lynton turn right at the hairpin off the main road and you are soon faced with is a 25% plus climb past Lyn Farm on a pretty rough road, wheel slippage is almost always a problem; this road was in my opinion, a surprising inclusion to the 2009 Tour of Exmoor but wisely dropped from the 2010 route as I think most had walked it.

All that said I think the toughest climb on Exmoor is probably the climb to Dunkery Beacon from Luccombe. Not as steep but the top 1 mile or so is relentless.

All in all a wonderful place to cycle!

i rode up porlock on a compact 50/34 chainset and a 30/12t cassete but only just

davep1

tinmancan wrote:

i recently tested my new tarmac pro on these hills! used to ride a compact but my new bike has a 53 on the front no idea what that means?
:shock:

Compact would be 50/34, your current bike is probably 53/39 at the front. Depending on your cassette that sounds like a good effort!

DeVlaeminck

freehub wrote:

Is it harder than Winnats Pass in the peaks? I got up that in 34/19.

Looking at Strava they look similar but Porlock is a bit longer, Winnats might have a more consistent steep bit with 0.4 miles averaging 16.5%. Only ever driven up Porlock so wouldn't like to say one is harder than the other but if Strava is accurate Porlock might just edge it.

DeVlaeminck

Actually looking at it on some list of uk climbs porlock looks as steep and over twice as long - maybe i had the wrong road?

Then again the same site has it both longer and steeper than Bwlch y Groes in Wales and my impression of them having driven and ridden the Bwlch is that it was harder by some distance so who knows.

ugo.santalucia

DeVlaeminck wrote:

freehub wrote:

Is it harder than Winnats Pass in the peaks? I got up that in 34/19.

Looking at Strava they look similar but Porlock is a bit longer, Winnats might have a more consistent steep bit with 0.4 miles averaging 16.5%. Only ever driven up Porlock so wouldn't like to say one is harder than the other but if Strava is accurate Porlock might just edge it.

I have done both. Winnats is far more pleasant. Porlock is steep, twisty, often wet and full of traffic and stinks of brake pads and burnt clutches... in one word it is horrible. Of course it can be avoided via the stunning toll road

itboffin

Did Porlock three ways today and Dunkerry Beacon plus tons of other climbs, damn that was a hard day in the saddle.