London: Hill Training

islwyn
islwyn Posts: 650
edited January 2012 in Training, fitness and health
Hello,

First of all I'm Ash & new to the forum so hello! Hopefully I'll be taken in here and will be a regular contributor... I'm a fan of 'Cycling Plus' and obviously love riding... Otherwise I wouldn't be here I guess.

Anyway - I'm signed up for my first 'hilly' sportive, you may have seen it featured in the January issue of the mag, Exmoor Beast.

Now obviously that has some serious hillage, could anyone please recommend a good route close to London (I'm based centrally but will travel to outer London) that I could train? I often do the ride London to Brighton on a weekend therefore tackling Ditchling Beacon however that's quite a way for just 1 hill. Therefore could anyone throw some suggestions my way please? What's Biggin Hill like?

I look forward to your comments.

Thank you,
Ash

Comments

  • mikeradar
    mikeradar Posts: 43
    If you don't mind jumping on a train, then the Chilterns are just 25 mins train journey away in Amersham or High Wycombe, where I do most my hill training.

    Otherwise, the Surrey Hills it is.
  • fbeechinor
    fbeechinor Posts: 35
    Biggin hill is great if you want hills. There's lots out there sunridge hill, Brasted hill, Ide Hill, Toys hill, Woldingham. If you can get to bromley or west wickham and head out from there and plenty of rides 20-60 miles. There's always some of us heading out if you ever wanted to tag along to get to know the area. We are all based around Bromley/Beckenham
  • richa
    richa Posts: 1,631
    Ash,
    Welcome. What part of London - the Surrey Hills would fit the bill. See the Surrey Hills Project for a few favourite hills and some places to stop for cake.
    Rich
  • islwyn
    islwyn Posts: 650
    Hey guys,

    Thank you all for your replies! I live in Chiswick (West) but don't mind traveling somewhere by train or even cycling a fair distance, as long as I have a decent hill rather than Richmond Park circuits haha.

    Fbeechinor, Biggin sounds great, heading out via Bromley way isn't an issue from me so I will check that would, also the possibility of tagging along would be fantastic, at the moment I'm pretty much a solo rider so would love to find a few buddies.

    I never thought about the Chilterns so I will investigate that! And thanks for the link Rich. :wink:
  • fbeechinor
    fbeechinor Posts: 35
    Hi there just let me know when you fancy heading down Bromley direction. Theres someone heading out from here most days. Send me a pm when suits you and we can get it organised.
  • phil s
    phil s Posts: 1,128
    From Chiswick head out towards Ruislip/Harefield area, take Breakspear Road North, follow to Coppermill Lane, West Hyde Lane, out through the Chalfonts, then north to Amersham, then through Little and Great Missenden out to Longdown Hill, loop round through Whiteleaf, back down towards the Chalfonts and back home the route you came out on. About 75-80 miles.
    -- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --
  • islwyn
    islwyn Posts: 650
    Phil that's amazing, do you do this route often?
  • furrag
    furrag Posts: 481
    Lots of our (Kingston Wheeler) members come from around Putney, Richmond, Isleworth, and we mostly head out to the North Downs, around Box Hill. Plenty of varying hills. None quite the length of Ditchling, but certainly some steep ones such as Crocknorth, Winterfold (Barhatch lane), Antsie lane and Whitedown. You can easily do 20-25 miles in the area taking in 3000-5000ft of climbing, and you can tailor the rides to take in longer shallow draggy climbs like Hound House road out of Shere.
  • phil s
    phil s Posts: 1,128
    Islwyn wrote:
    Phil that's amazing, do you do this route often?

    I pick up Breakspear Road from a different direction (I live by Regents Park), and I usually do it three or four times a month. I tend to do the Little Switzerland area around Essendon more frequently.
    -- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --
  • Canny Jock
    Canny Jock Posts: 1,051
    Near Biggin Hill you have quite a few choices - Titsey Hill/White Lane is short but horrible, roughly 22% at the steepest point. Star Hill is longer but only about 10%, further east you have Well Hill and Exedown which are good and around 15%.
  • PhilPub
    PhilPub Posts: 229
    I must bump into some of you guys on a regular basis. I pretty much always head out from Blackheath through Bromley and end up coming back via Toys Hill/Ide Hill / Star/Sundridge/Brasted/Westerham/Titsey Hill, combining two or three for a bigger effort, or heading over to Box Hill. Will have to try a few others that have been mentioned.

    Toys Hill tomorrow I think.
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,905
    PhilPub wrote:
    I must bump into some of you guys on a regular basis. I pretty much always head out from Blackheath through Bromley and end up coming back via Toys Hill/Ide Hill / Star/Sundridge/Brasted/Westerham/Titsey Hill, combining two or three for a bigger effort, or heading over to Box Hill. Will have to try a few others that have been mentioned.

    Toys Hill tomorrow I think.

    I do much the same, but from Deptford. Today went out via West Wickham, along Pilgrims Way, up Toys, down Ide and then back via Star Hill through Cudham etc.

    I tend to prefer longer climbs so Toys and Star are ok in that regard.
  • mikenetic
    mikenetic Posts: 486
    Dulwich Paragon CC do Sat am group rides from Herne Hill out and around Biggin Hill. I've ridden with them a fair bit over the course of the last year, and they're a friendly bunch.

    If you wanted a good course around there then you could do a lot worse than trace the route of the Ride of The Falling Leaves. If it's a decent day it's great, and has quite a few hills chucked in. http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Fa ... eaves-2007
  • islwyn
    islwyn Posts: 650
    Thanks Mike!

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