A Weald Of Pain...

WarlKicken

Well now, hello all!

SO I posted last week asking for some climbing in the Kent/ Surrey hills and got some decent replies. I tried out a few knitted together today in my quest to spend longer climbing. All I can say is, ow. Ow. Ow...

I looped down from London to Toys Hill round and up Titsey Hill and home but with a delicious shot of Yorks Hill...yup, I found it...Flip me. It was only my second third 'big' ride of the year and it was a tester. I dropped down to Westernham and up Hosey Hill, legs feeling fine. Twisted and shouted all the way down and round to Toys Hill (exactly how I remember it, the little swine). I love this climb, except the bit that looks like the scene from Inception when the Tarmac is looking straight back at you at eye level!! Shanked a left down towards Emmetts Gardens, round Idle Hill and started a loop when, I saw it. A sign for Yorks Hill.
I'd heard of this 'fabled' behemoth and that it's quite hard to find (I kind of read the sign and had to double take and go back). I couldn't resist getting off route and giving it a little turn. Butter my ****! Unbelievably hard. It just ramps and ramps and ramps and, when all should be said and done....just decides to keep going. Then a little more for pain. If that wasn't tough enough, the tree cover, moist weather of late and terrible road surface all combined to mean that even my little pins pathetic power was just causing wheel spin!! Anyway. Got up it, round and, despite a coffee and flapjack break back in Westernham, the ride home was so painful I wanted to just let a car take me down so I could get an ambulance home. Titsey was tough and anything over about 2% just dropped down to little guy and enjoyed the views.

All in, 93km with 1250m climbing. Here's hoping it gets easier :^) and hopefully Majorca in September!!!

Thanks for reading
WK

Mikey23

Cornwall tor on Sunday, according to my 500 it had 4700 ft in 42 miles, nine major hills all of which had sections over 15% in them!

WarlKicken

Mikey23 wrote:

Cornwall tor on Sunday, according to my 500 it had 4700 ft in 42 miles, nine major hills all of which had sections over 15% in them!

Sounds cracking!! I won't pretend I'm Chris Froome/ Alberto Contador on the ramps but I'm one of those weird people that loves going up :^) coming home today was probably the most pain I've ever been in cycling. My quads felt like someone had replaced 'muscle' with molten lead!!!!

davep1

Heading that way soon but up from Sussex. Will be interested to see how it compares with Ditchling and the Surrey hills. Sounds like you should look up Barhatch Lane and Whitedown...

WarlKicken

DaveP1 wrote:

Heading that way soon but up from Sussex. Will be interested to see how it compares with Ditchling and the Surrey hills. Sounds like you should look up Barhatch Lane and Whitedown...

You'll have to let me know! I searched to see the toughest climbs around there and a lot of people touted Toys Hill but some clever Trevor said about Yorks Hill IF you can find it, it's a lot tougher than Toys in my opinion. Iit just never seemed to end and the road is rubbish and closed in.

wardieboy

WarlKicken wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

Heading that way soon but up from Sussex. Will be interested to see how it compares with Ditchling and the Surrey hills. Sounds like you should look up Barhatch Lane and Whitedown...

You'll have to let me know! I searched to see the toughest climbs around there and a lot of people touted Toys Hill but some clever Trevor said about Yorks Hill IF you can find it, it's a lot tougher than Toys in my opinion. Iit just never seemed to end and the road is rubbish and closed in.

I've ridden them all, for me Yorks is the hardest, the others are on a par being longer and a lesser gradient.

willnewtonclare

Great effort, you hit the wall ie ran out of glycogen you probably need to eat more.
Keep at it, you're enjoying climbing and are going to get rapidly better at it.
You'll find no wet, leafy, sludgy, rock ridden tunnels of trees at 20% plus in the Alps!
Well Done, if you want a route for more I'll send you one.

WarlKicken

willnewtonclare wrote:

Great effort, you hit the wall ie ran out of glycogen you probably need to eat more.
Keep at it, you're enjoying climbing and are going to get rapidly better at it.
You'll find no wet, leafy, sludgy, rock ridden tunnels of trees at 20% plus in the Alps!
Well Done, if you want a route for more I'll send you one.

Always up for something new!! I have a couple of days out the office so have been eating ever dunce getting off the bike in prep for a probable Box Hill run tomorrow. Something not too testing as I think my buddy from home is up Saturday and wants to head back towards Idle Hill way. Bloody climbing is fun (in a painful way)

Miles253

Have you saved the route somewhere? I would like to give it a go at some point

WarlKicken

Miles253 wrote:

Have you saved the route somewhere? I would like to give it a go at some point

Duno if this'll work but: http://app.strava.com/activities/135430526

davep1

WarlKicken wrote:

willnewtonclare wrote:

Great effort, you hit the wall ie ran out of glycogen you probably need to eat more.
Keep at it, you're enjoying climbing and are going to get rapidly better at it.
You'll find no wet, leafy, sludgy, rock ridden tunnels of trees at 20% plus in the Alps!
Well Done, if you want a route for more I'll send you one.

Always up for something new!! I have a couple of days out the office so have been eating ever dunce getting off the bike in prep for a probable Box Hill run tomorrow. Something not too testing as I think my buddy from home is up Saturday and wants to head back towards Idle Hill way. Bloody climbing is fun (in a painful way)

Box Hill Leith Hill and White Down are probably in a loop of about 25 miles. Will post my route later - too hard to do on a mobile!
Here's my route last weekend - http://www.strava.com/activities/134320998. You want the top half of the triangle bit. Go to Ockley then up Leith Hill, and if you take the Abinger Hammer left fork (think that is the sign post) it spits you out at the bottom of White Down. Then turn right over Ranmore Common, either left before the drop into Dorking for the direct country route, or plummet down into Dorking and then the dodgy double carriage way out to Box Hill. Was reading in "Cyclist" Box Hill is the 3rd most visited Strava segment in the world...I counted 48 separate segments listed up there after my ride last weekend!

Bar Hatch Lane isn't far away either, instead of heading up Boxhill stay on the B2126/7 through Forest Green and then Ewhurst, and you get to Barhatch just before Cranleigh. I would say Barhatch is the daddy in this region, possibly Bignor Hill is a little harder but it is a long way from these hills (nr Bury Hill in Sussex). Nr the bottom of Barhatch there is a sign for the gradient, I think it is 22%. You have to travel a fair way before you get to that bit (maybe a mile) but it is one mother of a constantly increasing gradient, and the bit at the top really tests your reserves. Sounds like you would enjoy the Legs of Steel in September! (Bignor is the opposite, really nasty steep bit with loose gravel at the bottom, bt once over that bit just grind your way up to the top)