THE toughest climb you ever rode and how did you fare ?

feemackenzie

Buckie2k5 wrote:

feemackenzie wrote:

At the moment, Cambuslang Main Street to the top of the Cathkin Braes, home of the MTB circuit for the Commonwealth Games.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/183586460

and doggers cant see your route you have it set private.

Just seen your line - brilliant !!!

feemackenzie

Update.

Now the Crow Road (Lennoxtown over to Fintry). A local Glasgow classic. it took 15 mins to get up, one stop, and 1.5 minutes to get back down. I think I can go faster.

Next the Tak Ma Doon road out of Kilsyth.

Wirral_paul

For me it's Bwlch Y Groes in N Wales which gets up to 27% and a fair bit of 20% included

http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?qryMountainID=7527

....and i did not like Prenteg Rd hill that was in the Wild Wales ride this year - that got close to 30% too.

By comparison - Ventoux wasnt too bad at all...... obviously longer but not so brutal

ugo.santalucia

When I had a compact, I used to do this one every year in spring, when in Italy... kind of the local Mortirolo

http://www.cycle2max.com/bike-hill-clim ... px?id=1179

Interestingly the photo of the hairpin is mine! Someone must have nicked it from a site I used to maintain once! There is even still my PB there
I no longer enjoy doing it as the reward = descent is not fun at all, too steep and bendy to build up any speed

Wirral_paul

Cracking picture there Paolo - very nice indeed. 8)

elderone

For me, in my first year it has to be the old horse climb from llangllon .It makes the normal horse shoe pass climb, a breeze in comparison. It gets well over 20% for most of it and about 13.5% average. Brutal.
http://app.strava.com/segments/901876

sbbefc

First time I climbed Bwlch Penbarras and the old horseshoe. Bytime I got around to climbing Bwlch y Groes I was much fitter and although very hard it wasnt as bad as the other two the first time I climbed them. Ive climbed a couple of HC climbs in France and although theyre a long tough slog I didnt feel like I would cough up bits of lung at the top.

mididoctors

The lakes in general.... I find hardknott insanely difficult there is no good way to approach this climb. . I would rate areas in the uk for steep hilliness in order 1: lakes 2: devon:cornwall:somerset 3: yorkshire/lancs 4: wales 5: scotland

for combo steepness plus length the Mortirolo is probably the hardest... I haven't done the steep spanish climbs or the zoncolan. There was some killer climb I did in Switzerland a zillion years ago. can't remember name but it was bl00dy hard...so given the yrs in between it may have been the toughest climb I ever did.

overlord2

I don't really find the lakes climbs 'that' difficult. You know they are hard so mentally you are ready for them - at least I am. It's some of these hills around Yorkshire not as steep but there is no rest-bite the bike is either always pointing up or pointing down, after 70 miles or so they are killers.

mididoctors

Overlord2 wrote:

I don't really find the lakes climbs 'that' difficult. You know they are hard so mentally you are ready for them - at least I am. It's some of these hills around Yorkshire not as steep but there is no rest-bite the bike is either always pointing up or pointing down, after 70 miles or so they are killers.

The lakes isn't exactly flat ;-).The dales windsweptness is its selling point for toughness, that and combination of hillieness. getting caught up there in a crosswind can make your day seem very long.

rickeverett

Wouldnt mind having a go at Hardknott Pass.

dodgy

rickeverett wrote:

Wouldnt mind having a go at Hardknott Pass.

Assuming you're UK based, what's stopping you?

rickeverett

dodgy wrote:

rickeverett wrote:

Wouldnt mind having a go at Hardknott Pass.

Assuming you're UK based, what's stopping you?

ha nothing really - but I drove over it once. Gave the car and poor brakes a real strain - felt exhausted driving up.

That would be a challenge for sure.

BigDaddyG

I did its sister Wrynose Pass on Saturday, got to the bridge in the middle and thought Hardknott or Wrynose, turned right and did Wrynose which was hard enough after riding 1200ft up the ulpha valley.

Hardknott is fearsome, even for a local like myself!!

earth

From Stanhope to Allendale in Durham via Rookhope. Was relentless for about 10 miles. There were green fields at the bottom and deep snow at the top. I looked it up on Strava a while later and it was a cat 3 climb that lead to a cat 2 climb.

elderone

earth wrote:

From Stanhope to Allendale in Durham via Rookhope. Was relentless for about 10 miles. There were green fields at the bottom and deep snow at the top. I looked it up on Strava a while later and it was a cat 3 climb that lead to a cat 2 climb.

Have you got a strava link to this as would fancy a go at it when visiting the daughter and grand kids who live near durham

nochekmate

BigDaddyG wrote:

I did its sister Wrynose Pass on Saturday, got to the bridge in the middle and thought Hardknott or Wrynose, turned right and did Wrynose which was hard enough after riding 1200ft up the ulpha valley.

Hardknott is fearsome, even for a local like myself!!

You made a wise choice - Wrynose from that side is straightforward enough as it only really kicks up for the last few hundred metres and there is only the one notable climb on the road to Ulpha as you turn off the A road and climb into the Duddon Valley. Wrynose the other way is significantly harder.

Often in the area as my wife's godmother owns the last cottage on the Walna Scar 'road' before it tracks off over to Coniston.

shockedsoshocked

Blue Bank out of Sleights in North Yorkshire. Fared shite. Never riding it again.

earth

elderone wrote:

earth wrote:

From Stanhope to Allendale in Durham via Rookhope. Was relentless for about 10 miles. There were green fields at the bottom and deep snow at the top. I looked it up on Strava a while later and it was a cat 3 climb that lead to a cat 2 climb.

Have you got a strava link to this as would fancy a go at it when visiting the daughter and grand kids who live near durham

I just looked for it but the segments have changed a bit.

It starts here:

http://www.strava.com/segments/3940558


And these are the directions as I remember.

Take the A689 west out of Stanhope, after about .5 km take a right along what I guess is a B road but it has no number on google maps. It goes past some static caravans and Greenhead farm. Keep on this road to Rookhope where it joins Front Street. Take Front Street west out of Rookhope and carry on to Allenheads. I think this is the peak. From then it is a welcome descent into Allendale.

There is also Cows Hill a bit further down the A689 which I was told about but did not try it. When I did this I had already done about 70 miles that day so it was a tough finish. Maybe with fresher legs it is not as difficult.

elderone

earth wrote:

elderone wrote:

earth wrote:

From Stanhope to Allendale in Durham via Rookhope. Was relentless for about 10 miles. There were green fields at the bottom and deep snow at the top. I looked it up on Strava a while later and it was a cat 3 climb that lead to a cat 2 climb.

Have you got a strava link to this as would fancy a go at it when visiting the daughter and grand kids who live near durham

I just looked for it but the segments have changed a bit.

It starts here:

http://www.strava.com/segments/3940558


And these are the directions as I remember.

Take the A689 west out of Stanhope, after about .5 km take a right along what I guess is a B road but it has no number on google maps. It goes past some static caravans and Greenhead farm. Keep on this road to Rookhope where it joins Front Street. Take Front Street west out of Rookhope and carry on to Allenheads. I think this is the peak. From then it is a welcome descent into Allendale.

There is also Cows Hill a bit further down the A689 which I was told about but did not try it. When I did this I had already done about 70 miles that day so it was a tough finish. Maybe with fresher legs it is not as difficult.

Thanks very much..

Escher303

elderone wrote:

Have you got a strava link to this as would fancy a go at it when visiting the daughter and grand kids who live near durham

If you are looking for some decent climbs around the Durham area, there's a few on this ride http://www.strava.com/activities/82404647. There's 5 or 6 from the 100 greatest climbs books on that one, along with those around Stanhope already mentioned. Take your pick, though to be fair climbs aren't too difficult to find round there! Brilliant and quiet roads through some amazing country.

mididoctors

nochekmate wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

I did its sister Wrynose Pass on Saturday, got to the bridge in the middle and thought Hardknott or Wrynose, turned right and did Wrynose which was hard enough after riding 1200ft up the ulpha valley.

Hardknott is fearsome, even for a local like myself!!

You made a wise choice - Wrynose from that side is straightforward enough as it only really kicks up for the last few hundred metres and there is only the one notable climb on the road to Ulpha as you turn off the A road and climb into the Duddon Valley. Wrynose the other way is significantly harder.

Often in the area as my wife's godmother owns the last cottage on the Walna Scar 'road' before it tracks off over to Coniston.

not if you get into the duddon via kiln back and woodlands

sbbefc

Escher303 wrote:

elderone wrote:

Have you got a strava link to this as would fancy a go at it when visiting the daughter and grand kids who live near durham

If you are looking for some decent climbs around the Durham area, there's a few on this ride http://www.strava.com/activities/82404647. There's 5 or 6 from the 100 greatest climbs books on that one, along with those around Stanhope already mentioned. Take your pick, though to be fair climbs aren't too difficult to find round there! Brilliant and quiet roads through some amazing country.

The climb from st Johns Chapel is also a good climb, one of the best areas in the country to ride.

ugo.santalucia

Just for the sake of being controversial, Britain only has a small number of climbs, the rest are steep roads, in essence bad civil engineering.
I think Baalach ba na and the Great Dun Fell are the only ones I am aware of that would not make a continental Alpine cyclist frown.

I explain: in Italy we also have stupid things like Hardknott... even worse, I think Malga Palazzo is only doable with the smallest gear on a MTB as it averages 17% over a few Km and in places it reaches 40-45%. However, no road cyclist considers that a serious climb... it's a freak, it's a joke, it's only bad road engineering... someone decided to tarmac over a path or bridleway instead of building a proper road.

Other example: take the Winnats pass in the Peak District: surely it's a tough climb, but it's a stupid road that was built as the original road proved to be unstable... so they had to build a freak... yes it's hard, but really, you're going nowhere... it's a couple of hundred meters drop.

Porlock hill is a stupid road... they did build a sensible one, but they charge a toll to get up, so everybody uses this freakish piece of tarmac that destroys your clutch going up and warps your discs going down... on a bike it's best avoided as the climb is awful and the descent dangerous to use a euphemism.

Moral is: there are plenty of vertical stretches of tarmac around the world... are they "climbs" by my snobbish Italian standards? Not really... they do become "climbs" when you stubbornly (or stupidly) insist on doing them with the wrong equipment... if you had a MTB Hardknott wouldn't be such a big deal... bit like climbing an "easy mountain" with trainers instead of boots and crampons... it does become a challenge.
On the contrary, a 2,000 mt drop is a 2 K drop whichever bike you are using and it is tough!

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Moral is: there are plenty of vertical stretches of tarmac around the world... are they "climbs" by my snobbish Italian standards? Not really... they do become "climbs" when you stubbornly (or stupidly) insist on doing them with the wrong equipment... if you had a MTB Hardknott wouldn't be such a big deal... bit like climbing an "easy mountain" with trainers... it does become a challenge.

Hardknott is straightforward with an MTB but then so is the Mortirolo with a Moped - but we are road cyclists and Hardknott is a road. It's true that the single climbs are relatively short here - rarely are you climbing for more than half an hour. But on the other hand, the sheer number of steep climbs, one after the other, that you find around West Yorkshire and Lancashire certainly makes it harder work than, for example, the Alps around Morzine. As people often say (and I agree with them) it isn't the big landmark climbs that tend to wreck you but the endless smaller ones that you aren't psyched up for.

There's more to a climb than length. Sounds like you are a bit too soft for British climbs Ugo

Incidentally, Hardknott isn't stupid - the alternative is a very long drive round the lakes. Neither is Fleet Moss, Holme Moss, Kirkstone Pass and many more that certainly wouldn't cause odd expressions from Alpine cyclists. They are sensible roads driven over the most accessible terrain available and engineered for the purpose they are needed for. Me, if I was in your part of the world I'd certainly be flogging up Malga Palazzo. The problem with the Alps is that they are going to be dull after a while so finding the mad stuff would be essential - there isn't the variety of routes for obvious reasons (same with the Lake District) - the best cycling gives you more options. One week in Samoens and we'd pretty much done everything you could do in a 60 mile or so ride.

ugo.santalucia

Rolf F wrote:

The problem with the Alps is that they are going to be dull after a while so finding the mad stuff would be essential - there isn't the variety of routes for obvious reasons (same with the Lake District) - the best cycling gives you more options. One week in Samoens and we'd pretty much done everything you could do in a 60 mile or so ride.

I think this is YOUR problem. There are thousands of Brits queuing for a place in the Italian and French Alpine events and not a single continental guy entering the FWC or the Dragon Ride... but of course you can swim against the tide and say that British cycling is the best in the world.
Having been cycling here and in Italy extensively for obvious reasons, I have no hesitations in saying that I prefer to cycle in the Alps. You can take flatter routes, when you're done with the big monsters.
On a nice summer day the English countryside is glorious but it doesn't compare for beauty with a day climbing the Col del Nivolet in my region (the road was used to film the last 10 minutes of "the Italian Job")

I am afraid the Mortirolo is a toughie even with a MTB... you still have to overcome a 900 mt vertical drop. If you take the neighbouring Gavia, then you also have to negotiate the changeable weather over 2000 mt elevation.. these are real challenges that a triple chain set cannot help with

sbbefc

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Just for the sake of being controversial, Britain only has a small number of climbs, the rest are steep roads, in essence bad civil engineering.
I think Baalach ba na and the Great Dun Fell are the only ones I am aware of that would not make a continental Alpine cyclist frown.

The Great Dun Fell is a monster of a climb but I wouldn't put it in the same bracket as a UK alpine style climb, with stretches of it ramping up to the high teens and with it being a bridleway. There are a few well engineered roads in the UK with fairly consistent gradients but only 4-6km long eg Milltir cerrig, Horseshoe pass, Holme Moss

guinea

The hardest climb I've done was Ventoux.

I;ve done the geant many, many times, but in 2011 I caught it on a bad day.

I've just looked up Strava. In 2008 and did the chalet Reynard to the summit section in 28.11 minutes. Not stellar, but more than comfortable considering I was just pootling up having fun. Fast forward to 2011 and it took me 48:04 and I was chewing the handlebars in the cold and wind.

It was a completely different climb to any of my previous attempts and it hurt. I was 20 minutes slower and worked way harder.

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

The problem with the Alps is that they are going to be dull after a while so finding the mad stuff would be essential - there isn't the variety of routes for obvious reasons (same with the Lake District) - the best cycling gives you more options. One week in Samoens and we'd pretty much done everything you could do in a 60 mile or so ride.

I think this is YOUR problem. There are thousands of Brits queuing for a place in the Italian and French Alpine events and not a single continental guy entering the FWC or the Dragon Ride... but of course you can swim against the tide and say that British cycling is the best in the world.

I don't have a problem. Personally, I think it is daft to try to say one is better than the other - either way. It is also daft to try to simplify the reasons why European riders don't enter rides like the Fred. There are any number of reasons and the 'epic-ness' or otherwise of the climbs is probably right at the bottom of the list. I've ridden in the Alps - they are lovely - but I don't envy the locals the lack of route choices nor the limited season.

Just because you prefer to ride in the Alps doesn't make it a better place to ride than places like West Yorkshire - there are all sorts of pros and cons and however much I love the mountains, there is something quite special about the Yorkshire Dales that even the Alps can't claim superiority over.

All I would say is that I don't envy those who live and cycle in flat areas - the sheer monotony cycling on the flat lands has to be experienced to be appreciated. Given a choice of The Joux Plane or a 100 miles across the fens, I'd take the easy option any day - to the Alps it is!

Guanajuato

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Just for the sake of being controversial, Britain only has a small number of climbs, the rest are steep roads, in essence bad civil engineering.
I think Baalach ba na and the Great Dun Fell are the only ones I am aware of that would not make a continental Alpine cyclist frown.

Planning on tackling Great Dun Fell in the spring, assuming its not like last year and under snow until late May. I'm not good at climbing, but its a challenge. I was going to do it a few weeks back, but decided that with warnings of 80mph winds at low levels, it might not be a good idea to head up to 3000ft in the most exposed area of the country (its why they built the radar there).

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Other example: take the Winnats pass in the Peak District: surely it's a tough climb, but it's a stupid road that was built as the original road proved to be unstable... so they had to build a freak... yes it's hard, but really, you're going nowhere... it's a couple of hundred meters drop.

Winnats Pass pre-dates the mam tor road by centuries - Its another of those pack horse routes that was tarmaced. the Mam Tor road was a triumph of bad road engineering that they persevered with rebuilding for far too long.
Its what we've always done in the UK. Large chunks of major roads follow the lines of roman roads, some of which followed even older tracks. Hardknott & Wrynose are just the same - ancient drove roads & packhorse routes. In fact, lots of the rural roads in the lakes, dales & peak district are like that. I would guess the same applies to other rural areas.
We do have a lot of short but steep climbs. What would you class as a climb? Would 12km and 500m class (Shap from Kendal). Its a decent climb with sections over 10%, but far easier than some much shorter hills in the area, where there's 2km at a consistent 15% plus. There's just nothing really long enough to get into a rhythm, so its different rather than better or worse.