100 Greatest Cycling Climbs

nweststeyn

daviesee wrote:

nweststeyn wrote:

Hit a 'fun' 78.6km/h on the way back down though1

Yup!
IIRC I hit 54 mph as I passed a car 8)
Wasn't as much fun at the bottom though. There was a cattle grid back in the day :shock: Don't know if it is still there.
Biggest, fastest hop I have ever done, or intend to do. Don't know whether the smiley should be :P or :shock: but ended up as 8)

Luckily - for me - the cattlegrid appears to be gone

mroli

@Pross - an interesting question.

Firstly, I think Simon is free to put whatever climbs he likes in. You are never going to please all the people all the time and I think he did well to put a good geographical spread in and there are reasons for a lot of these climbs - racing history/use as hill climb roads etc. However, I do have a few "least favourite" climbs and they are probably:

38 Jiggers Bank. Thought it was a bit Meh actually. Apart from the Iron bridge at Ironbridge, there was nothing really special FOR ME about this climb. Not particularly beautiful, not particularly steep, not particularly long.

2 Weston Hill. OK, it was absolutely bucketing it down with rain that day, but I had been up some ludicrously steep hills in a car the previous days to go to the races (and on the bike in the countryside around Bath the previous day) and just thought it was nothing special.

53 Norwood Edge - didn't think much of this either. Apart from the start on a pretty viaduct, it was just a slog up a moderately steep hill with lots of traffic.

92 Ffordd Penllech. It was good to climb it and now you can go up climbs that steep, but really it is the wrong way up a one way street and is a bit "circus". I can see why he put it in, but I wouldn't.

I quite liked Terrace Hill which gets a lot of stick - it has history for the author and is in an amazing part of the world - beautiful on a sunny day. Generally though, by doing the book, I have seen (through clenched eyes) some amazing parts of the UK....

Pross

mroli wrote:

@Pross - an interesting question.

Firstly, I think Simon is free to put whatever climbs he likes in. You are never going to please all the people all the time and I think he did well to put a good geographical spread in and there are reasons for a lot of these climbs - racing history/use as hill climb roads etc. However, I do have a few "least favourite" climbs and they are probably:

38 Jiggers Bank. Thought it was a bit Meh actually. Apart from the Iron bridge at Ironbridge, there was nothing really special FOR ME about this climb. Not particularly beautiful, not particularly steep, not particularly long.

2 Weston Hill. OK, it was absolutely bucketing it down with rain that day, but I had been up some ludicrously steep hills in a car the previous days to go to the races (and on the bike in the countryside around Bath the previous day) and just thought it was nothing special.

53 Norwood Edge - didn't think much of this either. Apart from the start on a pretty viaduct, it was just a slog up a moderately steep hill with lots of traffic.

92 Ffordd Penllech. It was good to climb it and now you can go up climbs that steep, but really it is the wrong way up a one way street and is a bit "circus". I can see why he put it in, but I wouldn't.

I quite liked Terrace Hill which gets a lot of stick - it has history for the author and is in an amazing part of the world - beautiful on a sunny day. Generally though, by doing the book, I have seen (through clenched eyes) some amazing parts of the UK....

Cheers. I knew the wording was wrong but couldn't think of a better way to phrase it! Just from reading your blog and looking at the pictures there were a few that I wondered what the attraction was as they seemed like fairly average climbs but I guess it is their significance to the author that makes them count and it is hard to know where the best climbs are outside of your normal area. Unfortunately the suggestion thread for the new book is probably too late to help him. The main street through Colvelly would make a nice novelty climb for the new book

random man

mroli wrote:

I quite liked Terrace Hill which gets a lot of stick - it has history for the author and is in an amazing part of the world - beautiful on a sunny day. Generally though, by doing the book, I have seen (through clenched eyes) some amazing parts of the UK....

Went up terrace Hill today with Frank the Tank. I thought I'd done it before but hadn't. I expected something like Harby Hill which we'd just come up, considering it only gets 1/10 in the book, but we both thought it was harder than expected. I'd give it 3

mroli

Oh - and favourites - well, I guess I really loved Constitution Hill. I'd never done a cobbled climb like that before and really enjoyed it. Same with Shibden Wall/Swiss Hill, but Constitution Hill came first.

Winnats Pass was just beautiful. Incredible road through beautiful surrounds.

Rhigos, I started and thought "this climb is rubbish", then got half way up and was like "wow" - beautiful...

Bealach Na Bah is amazing for the bit right at the top where you zig zag back on yourself and look down the valley behind you.

But I think my absolute favourite has to be the Devil's Staircase. Just for the hill itself and the surrounds and the riding around it. Lovely day when I rode it and it was just all pretty magical.

prb007

Read the post and your blog with interest - glad to see 3 of your top 5 are in God's country! Chapeau, a donation on its' way. Pete, Wales.

mroli

Pete - very kind. Thank you. Just don't tell my room-mate about my love of Welsh Hills - he's Welsh, speaks Welsh to his girlfriend as language of choice and is a trustee at the London Welsh Centre. Been unbearable since the 6 nations....

prb007

mroli wrote:

Pete - very kind. Thank you. Just don't tell my room-mate about my love of Welsh Hills - he's Welsh, speaks Welsh to his girlfriend as language of choice and is a trustee at the London Welsh Centre. Been unbearable since the 6 nations....

aaaah the six nations........... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suAAkYwF ... re=related

Frank the tank

random man wrote:

mroli wrote:

I quite liked Terrace Hill which gets a lot of stick - it has history for the author and is in an amazing part of the world - beautiful on a sunny day. Generally though, by doing the book, I have seen (through clenched eyes) some amazing parts of the UK....

Went up terrace Hill today with Frank the Tank. I thought I'd done it before but hadn't. I expected something like Harby Hill which we'd just come up, considering it only gets 1/10 in the book, but we both thought it was harder than expected. I'd give it 3

Whatever you do NEVER let Random man be ride leader.

mroli

The run into Terrace Hill is great - makes it fantastic. Dead straight, dead flat road with Belvoir Castle on the left. Left turn, dead straight, dead flat road and then Terrace Hill. On a sunny day - lovely. BTW - 98 and 99 Michalgate and Terrace Hill up now. Just one more to go and I'll leave you in peace!

mroli

OK - finally today, Mott Street DONE. 100 climbs finished in one calendar year. I'll go back and add in missing video/photos/garmin stuff etc when I can and do a recap, but now at http://www.100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com you can read and see all the details you could possibly want. Simon Warren came to meet me and congratulate me at Swain's Lane later on in the day. What a top, top bloke (with a top, top beard!). Get your orders in now for "Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs" - I'll be leaving these for someone else to do I think.

Cheers

domhnall_dearg

Nothing to say other than 'chapeau'.

mroli

Guys - to resurrect this one, I though you might be interested in Steve Benton's task - he's trying to do all 100 climbs in 13 days(!) I think he's a bit mental because this is logistically very difficult - you are basically driving across the country as well as doing the climbs and that is going to be hard. He started this am: http://100climbsin13days.blogspot.co.uk/ is his blog @stevebenton1800 is his twitter. He's starting with Streatley and finishing with Swain's Lane...