Help with hills in the South East

ketsbaia

CXXC wrote:

was staying down with my brother so not my local route / loop, started out of tonbridge and this was the first hil of the ride, looking at streetmap it could be Hubbards Hill, close to Sevenoaks Weald.

The bridge over the A21 is deceptively steep as I think the A21 underneath you is also climbing

Ah yes, I know the one you mean.

*noted*

CXXC

Norky wrote:

CXXC wrote:

what about "the weald"? it climbs up over the A21 and you pass The Weald sign on your left, perhaps it goes by another name?

Erm, I'm pretty sure "The Weald" refers to a large region between the North and South Downs... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weald. The word comes from an Old English word meaning "woodland". The A21 certainly goes through part of the Weald. [/url]

yep you're right, but wasn't sure whether that particular climb was known locally as simply "the weald"

Norky

I presume you've seen this: http://www.jibbering.com/hills/...

ketsbaia

Yeah, I saw that. Nice site. I'll certainly cherry-pick a few out of there for the Surrey selection.

Wrath Rob

River Hill, near Sevenoaks?
Rotham Hill?

I was going to suggest Toys Hill too but was beaten to it.

Canny Jock

I would definitely add Exedown Hill, I did it on the Bikeradar sportive recently and it hurt. It starts properly just after the sharp corner (about 20% I think) but there's also a really annoying long gradual drag before you get there:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Exedown ... 21136&z=16

It's also used by the West Kent club for hillclimbs:

http://www.wkrc.org.uk/article-Hitching ... title.html

ketsbaia

I've got 56 now.

Could do with some slightly further afield, though.

Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex (?) and Sussex are pretty under-represented at the moment.

davis

ketsbaia wrote:

I've got 56 now.

Could do with some slightly further afield, though.

Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex (?) and Sussex are pretty under-represented at the moment.

In addition to the route Norky and I linked to, Blackdown Hill in Sussex/Surrey and anywhere around Harting are pretty good.
There are a few main roads crossing the South Downs, but the hills aren't particularly noteworthy and the traffic is a bit rubbish.

ketsbaia

Cool.

It's the stuff you don't get to hear about but are the mainstay of local CC hill-climbs that I'm after.

For example, the road up to Dallington on the B2096 is a belter and one I'd never have come across if I'd gone the right way on my trip down to my parents' in Battle. It's only just over 500 metres or so, but seems to go on for much longer. Not too much traffic either.

rjsterry

There are some nice short but very steep climbs around Winchelsea near Rye (Sussex coast).

coopster_the_1st

ketsbaia wrote:

I've got 56 now.

Could do with some slightly further afield, though.

Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex (?) and Sussex are pretty under-represented at the moment.

I can supply you with a list of these once I have ridden them. I have joined a club cycling in the area so will list them when we ride them :roll:

Whiteleaf is reputed to be the toughest but I have yet to ride it!

For a hill climb around here, go for Windsor Hill starting from Wooburn Green. A 1/2 mile evil little bugger that gets steeper the further up you climb and maxes around 17%

Also, what about Ashdown forest? Recently did a 3km climb from Hartfield on the B2026 past Chuck Hatch. Then a great decent down Kidds Hill. There may be better ones in the area but these are the only ones I rode

ketsbaia

I did the B2026 a while ago in both directions when I rode to my sister's in Lewes and back. Don't remember any of the slopes being too testing, but I'm told there are some good ones around there.

Bassjunkieuk

SteppenHerring wrote:

My personal nemesis though is Pebblehill Road - the B2032 north from Betchworth Station. Box Hill is actually by far the easiest way up the North Downs - unless you like the A23 or A24.

Done that one, by accident I might add! Was out on a Sunday morning exploration ride with the hope of heading down Zig Zag Road. As I'd only rec'cy a rough route from Google I just headed along the A24 before turning norf at the r/b at the bottom. My heart sank a little when I saw it.......good climb tho and I managed to miss Box Hill, missed the turn embarissingly, but did have an excellent blast along some country lanes and eventually found my way to near J9 of the M25 :shock:

Norky

ketsbaia wrote:

Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex (?) and Sussex are pretty under-represented at the moment.

Most of the ones I mentioned are (West) Sussex, with a couple just over the border into Hampshire.

Town Lane up the Trundle I remember as being a sod, but coming as it did 2/3 through a longish sportive my memory might be over-selling it.

As Davis said Tower Hill coming South from Harting is a good stiff climb. ~150 metres climbing in 1.9 km. Coming the other way from the A286 is much longer and generally shallower, but with couple of kicks up at the end.

Also Stoner hillcoming out of the aptly-named Steep has some lovely but fleeting views through the trees to the East. I think davis has that on his hilly route already though.

ketsbaia

Norky wrote:

Also Stoner hillcoming out of the aptly-named Steep has some lovely but fleeting views through the trees to the East. I think davis has that on his hilly route already though.

Ah, yes. I remember that from the Magnificat. Flew up it, IIRC. Nice climb. Will put it on the list.

Norky

Another nice climb has just occurred to me heading South into Tillington: lovely quiet road through the trees into alongside the wall around Petworth Park then over the top where it opens out by the cricket green giving a beautiful view over the Downs before a fast descent (watch for cars coming the other way) into the village for a stop at the Horse Guards (seems a bit 'posh' but good food and well-kept beer)

ketsbaia

Right. I've got 102, so now starts the tricky bit of climbing 'em.

First up.

EKE_38BPM

Lets see the list then.

oscarbudgie

Mott St / Lippetts Hill at High Beech is a good Essex climb - used by Lea Valley CC for their hill climb comp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bieDOtq4yUg

ketsbaia

oscarbudgie wrote:

Mott St / Lippetts Hill at High Beech is a good Essex climb - used by Lea Valley CC for their hill climb comp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bieDOtq4yUg

103.

ketsbaia

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Lets see the list then.

It's on my laptop at home. If I remember, I'll post it up this evening.

il_principe

rjsterry wrote:

There are some nice short but very steep climbs around Winchelsea near Rye (Sussex coast).

Seconded, this is where I grew up. Short sharp climbs round these parts - Battery Hill and Winchelsea Lane are two good ones, as is Doleham.

ketsbaia

We're off.

Sort of.

Headhuunter

No one's mentioned Sundridge Hill in Kent - that's a bit of a killer

Canny Jock

HH, which was the nasty one we rode down then up again a few weeks ago? That was pretty painful!

Headhuunter

Canny Jock wrote:

HH, which was the nasty one we rode down then up again a few weeks ago? That was pretty painful!

Hmmm, not sure. I didn't actually know many of the roads on that ride as it was further east than I usually go. The whole ride was fairly "lumpy"...

ketsbaia

I think that was Well Hill, CJ.

@HH - Could add Sundridge Hill as well, but I'm conscious I've got about nine or 10 in that area as it is. I'll bung it on the list anyway as there's bound to be some I don't get round to.

wulfhound

Imagine you already have this one, but will mention Hesiers Hill / Beddlestead Lane.. going south, you get plenty of height gain going up Beddlestead, and a fantastic view back towards the City / Docklands in the far distance from the top.

Going north, not sure if the height gain up Hesiers is enough to meet your criteria, but bloomin 'eck is it steep...

Bassjunkieuk

wulfhound wrote:

Imagine you already have this one, but will mention Hesiers Hill / Beddlestead Lane.. going south, you get plenty of height gain going up Beddlestead, and a fantastic view back towards the City / Docklands in the far distance from the top.

Going north, not sure if the height gain up Hesiers is enough to meet your criteria, but bloomin 'eck is it steep...

Heisers Hill is a wicked little beast! Don't think it quite amounts to 100m height gain (may not be far off). I remember first spotting it when out riding the road it meets and I spotted it going into and out of the valley. We came back that way on the rather wet SCR group (well 3 of us that MTFU'd) ride at the end of February. Thankfully by the time we got there the rain had subsided so we weren't pedaling upstream like earlier in the day on another hill :-)

Headhuunter

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

wulfhound wrote:

Imagine you already have this one, but will mention Hesiers Hill / Beddlestead Lane.. going south, you get plenty of height gain going up Beddlestead, and a fantastic view back towards the City / Docklands in the far distance from the top.

Going north, not sure if the height gain up Hesiers is enough to meet your criteria, but bloomin 'eck is it steep...

Heisers Hill is a wicked little beast! Don't think it quite amounts to 100m height gain (may not be far off). I remember first spotting it when out riding the road it meets and I spotted it going into and out of the valley. We came back that way on the rather wet SCR group (well 3 of us that MTFU'd) ride at the end of February. Thankfully by the time we got there the rain had subsided so we weren't pedaling upstream like earlier in the day on another hill :-)

Don't know that hill but I love that you describe it as a "wicked little beast", like it's a naughty dog that's cr@pped on the carpet or something