100 Greatest Climbs

kingstongraham

cgfw201 wrote:

BuckMulligan wrote:

Can anyone on here lay claim to having ticked off all 100? Strava evidence not required, I'll take your word for it

There's a VeloViewer thingy set up here for this
http://veloviewer.com/segmentHunterSeries/3

Looks like only one completion on there. My 25/100 is surprisingly high up the boards.

Don't know quite how that works, but that shows me not completing any in Wales, when I have done Bwlch, Rhigos, Llangynidr, Tumble and Black Mountain.

Happiest with Salcombe Hill, just wanted it to be over quickly.

drlodge

Check on Strava that you have the segment registered and actually did the "registered" route. When I did Cat n fiddle the first time, I missed out the first 2 hundreds yards of the segment so it didn't register.

kingstongraham

drlodge wrote:

Check on Strava that you have the segment registered and actually did the "registered" route. When I did Cat n fiddle the first time, I missed out the first 2 hundreds yards of the segment so it didn't register.

Yup. Checked the Rhigos segment. And Llangynidr I've done at least twice and Tumble a few times.

kingstongraham

KingstonGraham wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Check on Strava that you have the segment registered and actually did the "registered" route. When I did Cat n fiddle the first time, I missed out the first 2 hundreds yards of the segment so it didn't register.

Yup. Checked the Rhigos segment. And Llangynidr I've done at least twice and Tumble a few times.

They've appeared now. Strange. So I've done 10, not including the Bwlch from that side all the way to the top... Done every other way up it. Only 3 in the SE though - I should pull my finger out.

drlodge

But as Ugo said, the ones in the SE are really not worth bothering with. One ride down my way and you'd bag a few if you really want to (Leith, Box, Whitedown, Barhatch are the ones I can think of). Some of those might be in another 100 climbs anyway. Radnor Road is nice. Come to think of it, if you're heading to the Surrey Hills, just do the Tour of The Hills audax route.

ugo.santalucia

drlodge wrote:

But as Ugo said, the ones in the SE are really not worth bothering with. One ride down my way and you'd bag a few if you really want to (Leith, Box, Whitedown, Barhatch are the ones I can think of). Some of those might be in another 100 climbs anyway. Radnor Road is nice. Come to think of it, if you're heading to the Surrey Hills, just do the Tour of The Hills audax route.

Simon Warren tried to be inclusive of the all island and as a Hill climb specialist obviously he has included all the national hill climb courses. That is the reason you find absolute turds like Highgate in London, things in Essex, Leicestershire and Berkshire that really shouldn't be there. The downside is that Scotland and the North east are severely under represented, while Yorkshire takes the lion share. Other choices are down to local fame, although they really don't belong to that book, like Monsal Head in the Peak District... it's hardly a climb for Peak Standards.

He made up with the second book, but I still think Scotland is under represented and some real gems are missing completely. I think the ultimate 100 Greatest climbs is still to be sorted, maybe it's something we should do right here on Bike Radar!

craigus89

I agree, anything in Central London surely shouldn't be included. I understand wanting to not leave places out, but if it is strictly about the best 100 climbs in Britain, if every single one of the top hundred happened to be in the Lake District then that's how it should be.

The South West is poorly represented as well in my opinion, but I guess wherever you live you might feel that way. I could reel of plenty that would should be included that are better pure climbs than tonnes from otherwise flat parts of the country. Plus a few that are better than the ones included in the South West.

ugo.santalucia

Craigus89 wrote:

I agree, anything in Central London surely shouldn't be included. I understand wanting to not leave places out, but if it is strictly about the best 100 climbs in Britain, if every single one of the top hundred happened to be in the Lake District then that's how it should be.

The South West is poorly represented as well in my opinion, but I guess wherever you live you might feel that way. I could reel of plenty that would should be included that are better pure climbs than tonnes from otherwise flat parts of the country. Plus a few that are better than the ones included in the South West.

I think the coastal toll road from Porlock, although a steady 6%, it's one of the best climbs in the country... certainly one of the most enjoyable for views and lack of traffic.

I think the Snake pass, for the history in British cycling, the weather often hostile and the fact that it is the only Alpine looking road in the UK, should be there too

craigus89

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

I agree, anything in Central London surely shouldn't be included. I understand wanting to not leave places out, but if it is strictly about the best 100 climbs in Britain, if every single one of the top hundred happened to be in the Lake District then that's how it should be.

The South West is poorly represented as well in my opinion, but I guess wherever you live you might feel that way. I could reel of plenty that would should be included that are better pure climbs than tonnes from otherwise flat parts of the country. Plus a few that are better than the ones included in the South West.

I think the coastal toll road from Porlock, although a steady 6%, it's one of the best climbs in the country... certainly one of the most enjoyable for views and lack of traffic.

I think the Snake pass, for the history in British cycling, the weather often hostile and the fact that it is the only Alpine looking road in the UK, should be there too

Porlock toll road is probably the most Alpine-esque climb in the country - 6.6km at a very very steady 5-6%. It was built at a steady gradient purely so that Caravans don't have to go up the severely steep Porlock Hill which is listed in the book. A lot of the rest of the South West is just not very well known in the cycling world.

Haven't done Snake Pass but planning on doing a loop including it and Holme Moss next weekend as I'm staying in Sheffield with the in-laws.

drlodge

Where you live shouldn't influence the decision, actually where the hills are shouldn't influence the decision either unless where the hill is is a factor e.g. due to the view.

Perhaps we should try and first establish the factors that make a good climb. For example:
- average gradient (the steeper it is the harder it is)
- distance of the climb (the longer the climb the harder it is)
- distance of the climb that is > 10% (sections that are very steep make the climb even harder, compared to a long climb of constant lower gradient). May be try and be clever and give increased weighting to sections with increasing gradient (10%, 15%, 20%, 25%.)
- the view/scenery ascending and at the top (central London is not very scenic)
- typical weather conditions? Scotland's weather is typically less nice than down south, which makes it harder.

ugo.santalucia

drlodge wrote:

Where you live shouldn't influence the decision, actually where the hills are shouldn't influence the decision either unless where the hill is is a factor e.g. due to the view.

Perhaps we should try and first establish the factors that make a good climb. For example:
- average gradient (the steeper it is the harder it is)
- distance of the climb (the longer the climb the harder it is)
- distance of the climb that is > 10% (sections that are very steep make the climb even harder, compared to a long climb of constant lower gradient). May be try and be clever and give increased weighting to sections with increasing gradient (10%, 15%, 20%, 25%.)
- the view/scenery ascending and at the top (central London is not very scenic)
- typical weather conditions? Scotland's weather is typically less nice than down south, which makes it harder.

There is a point system for that, which is not very flattering to UK climbs... I think the superlative "greatest" has to be seen more like "memorable" than "hard"... incidentally the hardest climbs typically stick in your mind, so on occasions they can be used as synonims.
I will never forget the view from the top of Bealach na ba... it is memorable, it is one of the greatest climbs... probably the greatest in the country, although it's nowhere near the hardest in the land

davep1

Craigus89 wrote:

Porlock toll road is probably the most Alpine-esque climb in the country - 6.6km at a very very steady 5-6%. It was built at a steady gradient purely so that Caravans don't have to go up the severely steep Porlock Hill which is listed in the book. A lot of the rest of the South West is just not very well known in the cycling world.

That description could be Boxhill, although it's only 5%. Wasn't it built by the Canadian Army so they could get their tanks up there, including the three Alpine-esque hairpins? And the views are pretty good. There aren't many UK hills built with hairpins to keep the gradient steady.

craigus89

DaveP1 wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

Porlock toll road is probably the most Alpine-esque climb in the country - 6.6km at a very very steady 5-6%. It was built at a steady gradient purely so that Caravans don't have to go up the severely steep Porlock Hill which is listed in the book. A lot of the rest of the South West is just not very well known in the cycling world.

That description could be Boxhill, although it's only 5%. Wasn't it built by the Canadian Army so they could get their tanks up there, including the three Alpine-esque hairpins? And the views are pretty good. There aren't many UK hills built with hairpins to keep the gradient steady.

5% and only 2.4km. But yes, I don't think the British knew what hairpins were when our road network was being designed and built.

kingstongraham

Craigus89 wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

Porlock toll road is probably the most Alpine-esque climb in the country - 6.6km at a very very steady 5-6%. It was built at a steady gradient purely so that Caravans don't have to go up the severely steep Porlock Hill which is listed in the book. A lot of the rest of the South West is just not very well known in the cycling world.

That description could be Boxhill, although it's only 5%. Wasn't it built by the Canadian Army so they could get their tanks up there, including the three Alpine-esque hairpins? And the views are pretty good. There aren't many UK hills built with hairpins to keep the gradient steady.

5% and only 2.4km. But yes, I don't think the British knew what hairpins were when our road network was being designed and built.

The bastards that built salcombe hill certainly didn't.

bobmcstuff

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

I agree, anything in Central London surely shouldn't be included. I understand wanting to not leave places out, but if it is strictly about the best 100 climbs in Britain, if every single one of the top hundred happened to be in the Lake District then that's how it should be.

The South West is poorly represented as well in my opinion, but I guess wherever you live you might feel that way. I could reel of plenty that would should be included that are better pure climbs than tonnes from otherwise flat parts of the country. Plus a few that are better than the ones included in the South West.

I think the coastal toll road from Porlock, although a steady 6%, it's one of the best climbs in the country... certainly one of the most enjoyable for views and lack of traffic.

I think the Snake pass, for the history in British cycling, the weather often hostile and the fact that it is the only Alpine looking road in the UK, should be there too

Bealach na Ba looks fairly alpine, no?



Cairn Gorm is also pretty steady away, ~5.5km at ~6% I think - not got the hairpins though. There's a fair few more in Scotland I think should be in, one that comes to mind is the climb out of Fort Augustus near Inverness - 390m of elevation gain, easy to access from Invernerss, and features in the Etape Loch Ness (which some tens of thousands of cyclists will have done by now).

Doing the Snake Pass hill climb on Sunday... eeep :? .

kingstongraham

this book is simply a guide to point you in the direction of amazing roads.

ugo.santalucia

bobmcstuff wrote:

Bealach na Ba looks fairly alpine, no?


Doing the Snake Pass hill climb on Sunday... eeep :? .

Bealach na ba is a narrow road with passing places, which carries excessive traffic in summer. It is stunningly beautiful, but it doesn't feel Alpine, the fact that you can see the coastline for example.

Snake pass is an A road, go there early or it can be busy. What makes it Alpine is the steady gradient and the fact that it looks like a continental road, rather than a line of tarmac thrown randomly on the side of a hill. From there you can go down to Ladybower reservoir, then towards Hope and you can decide whether to climb the Mam Nick or the WInnats pass... for the latter you need small gears

sloppyschleckonds

Box Hill maximum gradient 6%!? How is that even on the list

mrb123

ugo.santalucia wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Bealach na Ba looks fairly alpine, no?


Doing the Snake Pass hill climb on Sunday... eeep :? .

Bealach na ba is a narrow road with passing places, which carries excessive traffic in summer. It is stunningly beautiful, but it doesn't feel Alpine, the fact that you can see the coastline for example.

Snake pass is an A road, go there early or it can be busy. What makes it Alpine is the steady gradient and the fact that it looks like a continental road, rather than a line of tarmac thrown randomly on the side of a hill. From there you can go down to Ladybower reservoir, then towards Hope and you can decide whether to climb the Mam Nick or the WInnats pass... for the latter you need small gears

Hartside isn't unlike a European climb. 7.5km at a steady 5-6%. Plenty of twists and turns and a couple of semi-hairpins.

nwallace

Just spotted the Scotland book is on Pre-Order; Simon was pottering around Fort Augustus on Strava a few weeks back, so suspect what will be in round there.

I will need to get it to compare his list with John McKendrick's

Should be ideal winter training since I've signed up for the Tour of the Highlands next year, and I need to get my climbing improved before it.

rolf_f

Western side of Holme Moss feels a bit alpine to me. At least like the top of an alpine climb.