Silly Commuter Hill Climbs

Canny Jock

rjsterry wrote:

Right, here is the 'official' list from Simon Warren's book.


Scotland
Mennock Pass
Cairn O' Mount
The Cairnwell
The Lecht
Cairn Gorm
Rest and be Thankful
Bealach Na Ba 11/10 :shock:

I've driven a few of these - Cairn O'Mount is challenging, The Lecht has some incredible gradients as the road doesn't really weave, but Bealach Na Ba was scary even in a car - my girlfriend wouldn't let me drive back down it she was so terrified! The gradients maybe aren't quite as steep as The Lecht, but it winds on a lot further.

http://www.stevecarter.com/ansh/visits.htm

One day...

Bassjunkieuk

Damnit, all this book does is make me want to move to either Wales or up norf :-)

meanredspider

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Damnit, all this book does is make me want to move to either Wales or up norf :-)

We struggle to recruit people in Inverness. I find that astounding - there must be enough people who love the outdoors, the extremely high quality of life, the cheaper housing and the incredibly low crime rate. I love it up here. The occasional trip to England is a bit of a bind (it's further to the Scottish boarder from here than it is from the boarder to Cambridge) but it's worth it. From my house I can see mountains and the sea, I have a forest full of red kites at the back of me, I can cycle to an MTB trail centre, I can be at the West Coast (Ullapool, Gairloch) in under an hour, or Fort William for downhilling, Aviemore is 40 minutes and so on... yet I work for a blue-chip multinational with all of the benefits that come with that.

rjsterry

Alright, alright, don't rub it in

So can we expect a full set of times for the Scottish climbs from you soon?

@Canny Jock: The picture of the Lecht in the book looks like someone has just taken a very large ruler and drawn a straight line up the mountain, then covered it with tarmac.

Kieran_Burns

meanredspider wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Damnit, all this book does is make me want to move to either Wales or up norf :-)

We struggle to recruit people in Inverness. I find that astounding - there must be enough people who love the outdoors, the extremely high quality of life, the cheaper housing and the incredibly low crime rate. I love it up here. The occasional trip to England is a bit of a bind (it's further to the Scottish boarder from here than it is from the boarder to Cambridge) but it's worth it. From my house I can see mountains and the sea, I have a forest full of red kites at the back of me, I can cycle to an MTB trail centre, I can be at the West Coast (Ullapool, Gairloch) in under an hour, or Fort William for downhilling, Aviemore is 40 minutes and so on... yet I work for a blue-chip multinational with all of the benefits that come with that.

Any jobs in IT Support (Infrastructure?)

meanredspider

rjsterry wrote:

Alright, alright, don't rub it in

So can we expect a full set of times for the Scottish climbs from you soon?.

possibly - my colleague is a keen hillclimber

rjsterry wrote:

@Canny Jock: The picture of the Lecht in the book looks like someone has just taken a very large ruler and drawn a straight line up the mountain, then covered it with tarmac.

The Lecht is an example of what people were saying about the approach - you'd be totally forked by the time you got there! The road there, the A939, is utterly superb - one of the great driving roads. Which approach to the Lecht is it (from the East or West?)?

meanredspider

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Any jobs in IT Support (Infrastructure?)

Um - no, I don't think so. Medical device design - embedded software in particular and also Human Factors specialists

Headhuunter

ketsbaia wrote:

Well there's a point of disagreement already. I reckon Toys Hill is definitely easier than Yorks Hill. Even heading north.

There are some terrific short climbs in that neck of the woods, though. Looking forward to crossing swords with them this weekend.

Definitely. Yorks Hill is definitely top of the tree in Kent and possibly Surrey too. It's pretty short but it's very steep. Followed closely by Sundridge which is a little less steep but a bit longer following that the steep side of Toys. The less steep side of Toys from Brasted is just long but not especially steep. You also missed Ide Hill and Star Hill, although they're pretty average, long but not so steep drags

EArmstrong

rjsterry wrote:

Right, here is the 'official' list from Simon Warren's book.

South West...

South East...

Midlands...

Yorkshire
Shibden Wall
Pea Royd Lane
Jackson Bridge <- I live right at the bottom of this
Home Moss <- I've climbed it once, despite it being only two miles away, tbh, its not that bad
Halifax Lane
Park Rash
Oxnop Scar
Malham Cove
Langcliffe Scar
Buttertubs Pass
Fleet Moss
Tan Hill
Greenhow Hill
Norwood Edge
Boltby Bank
Rosedale Chimney
White Horse Bank
The Stang
Carlton Bank

Right, time to extract some times for the Jackson Bridge Climb.

ketsbaia

Yorkshire's got some ridiculous climbs.

I went down Greenhow Hill a couple of years ago. I was going to go up it, but got put off by the 17% section at the start of it, so I did a circuit that went the other way. Coming back down it was terrifying. I think I wore out a set of brake pads.

Reckon I'd give it a good go now, but I've been in training for the last six months.

rjsterry

Funny you should say that. My first experience of White Downs was coming down, having ridden up the long but not very steep other side from East Horsley. Somewhat daunting. Very warm rims by the time I got down, and with that hairpin at the bottom, there's no way you can just let it go. Even hung right off the back of the bike, the rear brake was doing almost no work. The rocks all over the road are 'fun' as well.

I've also gone up it in the wet, which was interesting: pedal-pedal-spin-pedal-spin-pedal-pedal.

tailwindhome

Any climbs in Northern Ireland get a mention in the book?

rjsterry

'Fraid not TWH. An opportunity to correct this omission?

Canny Jock

meanredspider wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Alright, alright, don't rub it in

So can we expect a full set of times for the Scottish climbs from you soon?.

possibly - my colleague is a keen hillclimber

rjsterry wrote:

@Canny Jock: The picture of the Lecht in the book looks like someone has just taken a very large ruler and drawn a straight line up the mountain, then covered it with tarmac.

The Lecht is an example of what people were saying about the approach - you'd be totally forked by the time you got there! The road there, the A939, is utterly superb - one of the great driving roads. Which approach to the Lecht is it (from the East or West?)?

Either side is a challenge, not sure what it says in the book but I reckon the approach from the Aberdeen side (East) is going to be the most challenging. As above, it is a long pretty much continuous climb with some really steep bits chucked in. Worth it when you get to (nearly) the top though:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=the+lec ... 2,,0,14.41

roger_merriman

rjsterry wrote:

Funny you should say that. My first experience of White Downs was coming down, having ridden up the long but not very steep other side from East Horsley. Somewhat daunting. Very warm rims by the time I got down, and with that hairpin at the bottom, there's no way you can just let it go. Even hung right off the back of the bike, the rear brake was doing almost no work. The rocks all over the road are 'fun' as well.

I've also gone up it in the wet, which was interesting: pedal-pedal-spin-pedal-spin-pedal-pedal.

for what ever reason I never seem to get lack of traction even on wet slimy steep hills, at least up, any how. bike is heavy old long thing which probably helps as does the fact i'm a MTB at heart.

did you spot the pill box?

UndercoverElephant

Ah, Rosedale chimney. Now THAT is a hill climb. With good pubs.

rjsterry

roger merriman wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Funny you should say that. My first experience of White Downs was coming down, having ridden up the long but not very steep other side from East Horsley. Somewhat daunting. Very warm rims by the time I got down, and with that hairpin at the bottom, there's no way you can just let it go. Even hung right off the back of the bike, the rear brake was doing almost no work. The rocks all over the road are 'fun' as well.

I've also gone up it in the wet, which was interesting: pedal-pedal-spin-pedal-spin-pedal-pedal.

for what ever reason I never seem to get lack of traction even on wet slimy steep hills, at least up, any how. bike is heavy old long thing which probably helps as does the fact i'm a MTB at heart.

did you spot the pill box?

Yes. I've since found out that there is a whole string of these right along the North Downs. There's also a late 19th century fort at the top of Box Hill (now full of bats apparently).

meanredspider

Canny Jock wrote:

Either side is a challenge, not sure what it says in the book but I reckon the approach from the Aberdeen side (East) is going to be the most challenging. As above, it is a long pretty much continuous climb with some really steep bits chucked in. Worth it when you get to (nearly) the top though:

Certainly the road up from Cock Bridge is impressive

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/map?searchKe ... 2,809640,5

I make that something like 15:1 over above 1km - I know it's fun to drive (provided it's not icy - when it's bloody scary...)

Edit - why does the word C-0-C-K show up as "fool"?

staringatthesea

Anyone have any views on Cothelstone Hill up over the Quantocks from Bishops Lydeard and how it compares to those listed in the south west? I've enjoyed that one a few times.

nickthetrick

This is a great website for plotting routes and getting profiles:
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/

Sometimes it's the incessantly rolling roads that are the hardest! Here's a route that someday I want to do, maybe on the tourer. Some of the climbs are 2nd gear for a car.
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=146500

Challenge anyone to find a more up and down route over 30k!

Another brutal climb in Scotland is the route north from Fettercairn.

There was some guy compiling a list of the toughest road climbs in britain (different from the one mentioned in this thread), I forget his website - his name is Alan Kind, mondard@mac.com

meanredspider

nickthetrick wrote:

Sometimes it's the incessantly rolling roads that are the hardest! Here's a route that someday I want to do, maybe on the tourer. Some of the climbs are 2nd gear for a car.
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=146500

I can imagine - Achmelvich has the most beautiful beach/cove - beautiful place to camp - and Loch Inver is great for mackerel fishing in the summer.

Stupidboypike

Looks good.

Thanks for that.

rjsterry

StaringattheSea wrote:

Anyone have any views on Cothelstone Hill up over the Quantocks from Bishops Lydeard and how it compares to those listed in the south west? I've enjoyed that one a few times.

Well it did feature in the ToB recently I think, so yes. Looks pretty decent to me.

jimmypippa

Wynnats is about 4-miles from my house.

One of the problems is that it is often full of homicidal car drivers. And numpty car drivers, and the odd lorry.

My wife worked in Edale for a time, and she chose Wynnats in preference to Mam Nick when it was icy. (At least you can't fall off the side).

I'd guess that Mam Nick would be worth something It isn;t as hard as Wynnats, but is still 200m in 2-km. There are also quite a few less-rated climbs round here, with steep bits, and good views.

I like the Peak District

Bassjunkieuk

Just found out whilst playing with google maps on my desire that I can access the surrey hills map thing I posted earlier! Now I really have no excuse for not finding them

rjsterry

jimmypippa wrote:

Wynnats is about 4-miles from my house.

One of the problems is that it is often full of homicidal car drivers. And numpty car drivers, and the odd lorry.

My wife worked in Edale for a time, and she chose Wynnats in preference to Mam Nick when it was icy. (At least you can't fall off the side).

I'd guess that Mam Nick would be worth something It isn;t as hard as Wynnats, but is still 200m in 2-km. There are also quite a few less-rated climbs round here, with steep bits, and good views.

I like the Peak District

'Tis true, you are a bit spoilt for scenery. Luckily I have a brother who lives in Derby, so every now and then (at least pre-littl'un) I pop up for a weekend of cycling and walking. Tried to offer him a return match on the North Downs, but he forgot to book his bike onto the train - wussed out more like.

rjsterry

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Just found out whilst playing with google maps on my desire that I can access the surrey hills map thing I posted earlier! Now I really have no excuse for not finding them

BJUK, I think you'd like White Down. Leith Hill is good as well for the views, although the roads were terrible last time I went, and that was pre-big freeze, so you might want some 25 or even 28Cs. If you're feeling particularly energetic, as you come round the south side, from Coldharbour, there is a small carpark with a (quite a lot of) steps up to the summit, where there is a tower with a shop selling cake and drinks. You can apparently see the South Downs from there on a clear day, and the central London landmarks are clearly visible in the opposite direction.

Bassjunkieuk

Whilst I was looking at the hills on google maps I realized I'd already done Pebble Hill (the B2032 that runs from A25 north, over the railway crossing) when I completely missed Box Hill on my 80 mile route that I completed one Sunday :-) Went up it first (that was a nice surprise!) then down it on the way back which was much more fun and not quite as terrifying as I initially imagined.

Most appear to be slightly further west then where I got to (think I turned around on the A25 at the A24 R/B) but I was sans map and trying to navigate from a vague memory of the area on Google Maps :-) Hell part of the reason I wanted that phone was so I could explore more easily! I also have a relatively small lock now which should secure back wheel to frame so I can secure bike somewhat if I want to get food/drink.

EArmstrong

Right!

My First record of using one of the listed climbs in a commute.

Jackson Bridge, Yorkshire

Roughly 1 Mile Climb
Starting at Junction Lat/Long: 53 33 47.70 1 44 58.50
Ending at Junction Lat/Long: 53 33 40.23 1 44 05.41

Took me 8 minutes 42 seconds.

Total (Roughly) Delta Height: 166 Meters

rjsterry

Oooh, first proper time

Actually, I know a lot of you did L2B recently, one way or another, so let's have some Ditchling Beacon times.