I got scalped up Balham hill

DonDaddyD
DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
edited August 2011 in Commuting chat
See I told you it's a great, lovely, superbly and supremely unpredictable stretch of road.

I'm holding +21mph along the Balham straight, Tooting Bec to Balham tube and I can feel this guy behind me. Spidey sense is telling me he is not gaining or losing ground. I'm safe as long as I keep going. I do.

From Balham tube to Balham hill I'm thinking about how I will approach it! I pick 21mph start winding as I hit the dip ensuring I've got enough momentum until I reach the summit. Alas the guy behind me has got the same idea and picks 25mph rides through the dip, up and around me. Scalp. "ouch that hurt".

But in that glorious defeat the beauty of Balham hill's design stood true.

There is no other road that lets you sprint absolute. Yet it's length instills the belief that no matter what speed you choose you could always attack it with more. However, while you are in the middle of riding up it, no matter how brief, the incline makes upping your speed very difficult so once you are on it that's it. Not due to difficulty but a combination of length of the incline and the incline itself.

It is perfect scalping ground. Cheetah or Prancing Gazelle? You choose.

Balham Hill should be entered as one of the 7 Wonders of the Great London Commute. Seriously.

Love it.
Food Chain number = 4

A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game

Comments

  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Or, to put it more economically, DD got scalped........
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Gazzaputt
    Gazzaputt Posts: 3,227
    Did this post require it's own thread? Couldn't this been posted in the SCR thread?
  • SimonAH
    SimonAH Posts: 3,730
    I thought it was a euphamism and he'd been held down on a table by two guys whilst a third looter, um, looted him.
    FCN 5 belt driven fixie for city bits
    CAADX 105 beastie for bumpy bits
    Litespeed L3 for Strava bits

    Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    @DDD

    I took a scalp there at 25mph+ this morning about 8.20am. Was it you? If so I'll slow down and say hi next time.

    Me, big bloke, Red Top, Black Shorts, Black / White Lid, Red Bike see below.
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • keyser__soze
    keyser__soze Posts: 2,067
    Gazzaputt, +1 :)
    "Mummy Mummy, when will I grow up?"
    "Don't be silly son, you're a bloke, you'll never grow up"
  • hatbeard
    hatbeard Posts: 1,087
    Sketchley wrote:
    @DDD

    I took a scalp there at 25mph+ this morning about 8.20am. Was it you? If so I'll slow down and say hi next time.

    Me, big bloke, Red Top, Black Shorts, Black / White Lid, Red Bike see below.

    I was in the pillockton on CS with you today somewhere between clapham and e&c. I recognised your face but couldn't place where from.

    I was in an lfgss cap, fakenger bag, black fixed gear bike.
    Hat + Beard
  • Origamist
    Origamist Posts: 807
    Just in case DDD's rhapsodizing over Balham Hill has failed to ignite your cycling passion or SCR mojo (or you're just curious as to what the hell he is going on about :wink: ), here's some film shot going down the hill...

    From about 10secs to 45sec:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrT-wrsrVcA
    Folders
  • kurako
    kurako Posts: 1,098
    Stop calling it a hill. You can practically stop pedalling at the bottom and still carry enough speed to get to the top. It's a pimple. It should be downgraded just like Pluto.
    Univega 700
    Univega Via Strato
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    It's not a hill it's a bump. It is called "Balham Hill" on the AtoZ map thing.....
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • kurako
    kurako Posts: 1,098
    Sketchley wrote:
    It's not a hill it's a bump. It is called "Balham Hill" on the AtoZ map thing.....

    +1 to renaming it to Balham Bump
    Univega 700
    Univega Via Strato
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    However "I got scalped up Blaham Bump" does sound wrong.....
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    You guys have obviously not seen the monster that is Mill Hill East in Barnes...
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    Origamist wrote:
    Just in case DDD's rhapsodizing over Balham Hill has failed to ignite your cycling passion or SCR mojo (or you're just curious as to what the hell he is going on about :wink: ), here's some film shot going down the hill...

    From about 10secs to 45sec:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrT-wrsrVcA

    There's a bit of a slope from 35 to 42 seconds.....
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    Good place for this pic?

    leighton-meester-3.jpg
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Origamist wrote:
    Just in case DDD's rhapsodizing over Balham Hill has failed to ignite your cycling passion or SCR mojo (or you're just curious as to what the hell he is going on about :wink: ), here's some film shot going down the hill...

    From about 10secs to 45sec:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrT-wrsrVcA

    Sorry - where is the hill? Is it some trick of the camera or is it hidden in a single frame or something?!!
    bails87 wrote:
    There's a bit of a slope from 35 to 42 seconds.....

    Oh right - a seven second hill!
    Faster than a tent.......
  • notsoblue
    notsoblue Posts: 5,756
    JonGinge wrote:
    You guys have obviously not seen the monster that is Mill Hill East in Barnes...

    I lost good men trying to take the summit.... I still get flashbacks. I go Queen's Ride these days. One day I'll have the courage to try it again.
    FCN 4 PX SL Pro SRAM Red
    FCN 8 Scott Sportster '05
  • Levi_501
    Levi_501 Posts: 1,105
    Blham Hill great, esp when the petrol station was at the bottom. Standing start races 8)
  • jimmypippa
    jimmypippa Posts: 1,712
    Rolf F wrote:
    Origamist wrote:
    Just in case DDD's rhapsodizing over Balham Hill has failed to ignite your cycling passion or SCR mojo (or you're just curious as to what the hell he is going on about :wink: ), here's some film shot going down the hill...

    From about 10secs to 45sec:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrT-wrsrVcA

    Sorry - where is the hill? Is it some trick of the camera or is it hidden in a single frame or something?!!
    bails87 wrote:
    There's a bit of a slope from 35 to 42 seconds.....

    Oh right - a seven second hill!

    Maybe some hipsters could be filmed descending that hill on fixies?
    http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=6404
  • jzed
    jzed Posts: 2,926
    MTFU
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    hahahahahahahahaha......hahahahahahahahahahaha I have been up bigger speed bumps than that.

    I am glad we have slightly more challenging gradients in SE London
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    Paul E wrote:
    hahahahahahahahaha......hahahahahahahahahahaha I have been up bigger speed bumps than that.

    I am glad we have slightly more challenging gradients in SE London

    Too right, Deptford Bridge is a beast
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  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    dhope wrote:
    Paul E wrote:
    hahahahahahahahaha......hahahahahahahahahahaha I have been up bigger speed bumps than that.

    I am glad we have slightly more challenging gradients in SE London

    Too right, Deptford Bridge is a beast

    Just after turning left under it I swear that first bit always has my quads screaming for mercy within 10 seconds, but it's worth it for the view at the top.
  • kurako
    kurako Posts: 1,098
    That's not a hill. THIS is a hill! It defeated me on many occasions as a nipper.

    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=city+ro ... .1,,0,2.07

    Ha ha! Now you all know where I grew up.
    Univega 700
    Univega Via Strato
  • Origamist
    Origamist Posts: 807
    Rolf F wrote:
    Origamist wrote:
    Just in case DDD's rhapsodizing over Balham Hill has failed to ignite your cycling passion or SCR mojo (or you're just curious as to what the hell he is going on about :wink: ), here's some film shot going down the hill...

    From about 10secs to 45sec:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrT-wrsrVcA

    Sorry - where is the hill? Is it some trick of the camera or is it hidden in a single frame or something?!!
    bails87 wrote:
    There's a bit of a slope from 35 to 42 seconds.....

    Oh right - a seven second hill!

    It's that special kind of "hill" that I go faster going up, than down...
    Folders
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    I'm not saying its steep what I'm saying is that as a short stretch of road it's fantastic.

    You hit it and you have to pick your speed. Go too fast (and the incline does sap a little) you run the risk of blowing your stack before you get to the lights/Clapham Common straight.

    Go too slow and you run the risk that someone behind you has picked a speed faster than yours.

    Should you get overtaken such is the incline that it's difficult to up your speed and counter the sprint/attack. That's the beauty of it.

    So if the guy behind you is going faster than you when you're on the hill 9 times out of 10 you've lost. But you can't go balls out because of the road (Clapham Common) that follows.

    It's a great example of psychological warfare. A great test (for commuters).
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game

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