UK's flattest city?

bd12mz
bd12mz Posts: 79
edited March 2010 in Commuting chat
Bristol is a city of a lot of hills
is there a generally flat area of the UK?
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  • asprilla
    asprilla Posts: 8,440
    Norwich?
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  • amnezia
    amnezia Posts: 590
    Norwich or Cambridge.
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    bd12mz wrote:
    Bristol is a city of a lot of hills
    is there a generally flat area of the UK?
    Ummm... yes?
  • lastant
    lastant Posts: 526
    Norwich definitely isn't the flattest - there's some steep hills in the city!

    I'd say somewhere like Peterborough, got to be in the top ten at least.
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  • Manchester is pretty much flat - not many hills around Leeds either. Sheffield is more like Bristol.
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  • topher9
    topher9 Posts: 54
    'not many hills around Leeds either'

    i can tell you from first hand experience - there are a lot of hills around Leeds.
  • WesternWay
    WesternWay Posts: 564
    Is there a nice free way to find out how much ascent/descent on a route (without me having to go and ride the bugger). I am sort of tempted to try a route that doesn't involve Archway Hill, but am not keen on Muswell Hill :-)
  • Harry B
    Harry B Posts: 1,239
    London is pretty flat until you start to get to the edges
  • Gussio
    Gussio Posts: 2,452
    Harry B wrote:
    London is pretty flat until you start to get to the edges

    London felt hillier than normal this morning when I ran, rather than cycled to work :?
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Manchester is pretty much flat - not many hills around Leeds either. Sheffield is more like Bristol.

    Manchester is flat, Just happens to be surrounded by some big stuff
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  • stuaff
    stuaff Posts: 1,736
    Manchester is pretty much flat - not many hills around Leeds either. Sheffield is more like Bristol.

    Manchester is flat, Just happens to be surrounded by some big stuff

    Ditto for Portsmouth. In the city, the nearest thing to climbs are a couple of railway bridges. Go a mile or so north and it's a bit different....
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  • Stuey01
    Stuey01 Posts: 1,273
    WesternWay wrote:
    Is there a nice free way to find out how much ascent/descent on a route (without me having to go and ride the bugger). I am sort of tempted to try a route that doesn't involve Archway Hill, but am not keen on Muswell Hill :-)

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  • topher9 wrote:
    'not many hills around Leeds either'

    i can tell you from first hand experience - there are a lot of hills around Leeds.

    There may be plenty of hills surrounding Leeds but I can tell you from experience having lived there for several yoears there aren't many big hills in the city itself.
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  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    it isn't edinburgh thats for sure.
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  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    SE London has got quite a few hills from zone 2 and 3 outwards....
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  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Some small climbs in Manchester though too:

    http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 25.06,,0,5
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  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    I thought this thread was about the UK's FATTEST city! :oops:
  • Some small climbs in Manchester though too:

    http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 25.06,,0,5

    I remember driving past that & thinking - 'wow I can't believe it, a hill in Manchester!'
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  • spen666
    spen666 Posts: 17,709
    Pokerface wrote:
    I thought this thread was about the UK's FATTEST city! :oops:


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  • I would think that Peterborough certainly comes high on the list. The steepest slope I encounter on my daily commute is a foot bridge over the ring road. I do have to ride up a bit of an incline from the side of the river up to a housing estate. It's probably a 100m long stretch with a 15-20m elevation.

    Otherwise, I can't think of many other slopes. It's even more flat when you get out to the East of the city. Just have a look at Google Street View for proof: http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&hq=&h ... 81.97,,0,6

    Actually, my parents live at the top of a hill in Peterborough. This street view shows the steep bit:
    http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&hq=&h ... .23,,0,4.1
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,483
    WesternWay wrote:
    Is there a nice free way to find out how much ascent/descent on a route (without me having to go and ride the bugger). I am sort of tempted to try a route that doesn't involve Archway Hill, but am not keen on Muswell Hill :-)

    MapMyRide will display n altitude profile for a given route, plus total climb and descent.

    Thing is, where the countryside is flat, the cities tend to be built on the hilly bits to keep them out of flood plains/marshland. Conversely, where the landscape is hilly, cities tend to be built on the flat bits, as it's easier, but then spread out into the hills (Bristol)
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  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    Is there any of these mapping sites that will give you details of specific sections of a route. Let you zoom in so you can see how long a specific climb is.
  • lastant wrote:
    Norwich definitely isn't the flattest - there's some steep hills in the city!
    +1

    Once you get out into Norfolk, it's fairly pancake-like, but there are some serious gradients around the city.
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  • WesternWay
    WesternWay Posts: 564
    Thank you both of you for your profiling tips. I shall be on it
  • hamstrich
    hamstrich Posts: 112
    I'd have to agree with Cambridge or Peterborough. I've only been through bits of Peterborough but didn't encounter any noticeable changes in elevation.

    Cambridge really only has one noteworthy incline, known as 'Castle Hill', which peaks at about 4-5%, with an elevation change of about 15m. Amazingly you still hear people moaning about having cycle up it. The only other significant gradients in the city are bridges.
  • biondino
    biondino Posts: 5,990
    SW London is city-sized.
  • bd12mz
    bd12mz Posts: 79
    Manchester sounds good - thanks y'all :)
  • prawny
    prawny Posts: 5,439
    spen666 wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    I thought this thread was about the UK's FATTEST city! :oops:


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    I want to think it was the profanity software on the site that did the censoring there.
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  • dav1
    dav1 Posts: 1,298
    cambridge is flatter then norwich.

    Norwich has a few short sharp climbs, a few small hills around ringland and some more climbs in the river yare vally around whitlingham broad.

    For cambridge it stopps being flat around 10 miles south towards saffron walden.

    How about ely? I expect it will be somewhere in the fens.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,218
    hamstrich wrote:
    I'd have to agree with Cambridge or Peterborough. I've only been through bits of Peterborough but didn't encounter any noticeable changes in elevation.

    Cambridge really only has one noteworthy incline, known as 'Castle Hill', which peaks at about 4-5%, with an elevation change of about 15m. Amazingly you still hear people moaning about having cycle up it. The only other significant gradients in the city are bridges.

    Was waiting till someone would mention castle hill...

    Beyond the fact it has a university it's hardly a proper city though. A good hard 15 minute ride and you can go from one side of Cambridge through to the other, even with traffic lights.