hilly routes in east anglia?
jewbs
Posts: 139
Hi, I live in west suffolk and all the hills on my local rides are quite short and don`t really give you a chance to settle in to a climb so I would like to find a route that`s not too far away that i could do on a regular basis that has some longer climbs in it. I`m not looking for really steep climbs just longer decent climbs. I would like to keep to within an hours drive, i`m based near bury st edmunds so would be interested to hear any reccomendations. I suppose i`m looking at north essex , hertfordshire, bedfordshire sort of areas but open to suggestions.
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There is a range of hills in Cambridgeshire: the Gog Magog Mountains.
North Norfolk has a coastal mountain range near Cromer/Sherringham (Beacon Hill)
Norwich is surprisingly hilly with Gurney Road, Ketts Hill, Harvey lane, Brackondale and bust-a-gut-steep Gas Lane.0 -
A mountain range in Norfolk? I think you're being EXTREMELY generous with the term "mountain".
I've spent a lot time in East Anglia, and have found that there's very little scope for climbing and descending.
Just looking on Google maps on "terrain" view, it looks like you're going to have to travel a long way to find any real climbs.
Closest set of hills to you is probably the Chiltern Hills, and they're 100 miles away.
Sorry that's not much help0 -
The simple answer is there is nothing that even closely resembles a mountain in Suffolk or any of the bordering counties you are going to have to travel further than an hour.
The longest climb I can think of in Suffolk would be Ballingdon Hill in Sudbury but thats only takes a couple of minutes to climb. There are a few short and steep climbs in Suffolk such as Watsons Hill in Semer and Workhouse Hill in Hartest.0 -
North Norfolk coast road is your best bet, fairly hilly in places, also the area around the gipping valley in Southern Suffolk is quite hilly0
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Thanks for the replies. I am not looking for "mountains". I do the climbs at hartest and semer on my routes and others at rattlesden and near newmarket but as said they are short and so you have to go up and down them a few times to get a decent bit of climbing which is why i would like to find somewhere not too far away that may have a couple of longer climbs on a route and as not necessarily steep climbs. I can drive to the south downs or kent in a couple of hours or even up towards matlock and derbyshire in just over 2 hours which i intend to do but at those distances its the sort of thing you do every now and then especially with the cost of fuel these days. That`s why i would like to find somewhere a bit closer that has more climbing than i have on my local rides. I`ve been looking at my os map at the area around Woburn, brickhills andv ampthill in bedfordshire, looks like its hillier than around home. Can anyone recommend any routes around that area 40-50 miles long with a cake stop of course
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Tell me about it! Undulating is the best way of describing the landscape round here. Hill repeats is the best you can manage. I do Noomarket to Moulton to Gazeley and beyond to fit in a couple of hills. (I believe there's an annual hill climb event on the hill out of Moulton towards Gazeley; short but steep)0
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http://ridewithgps.com/routes/408190
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/336035
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/825931
Some lumpy rides around Barton/Woburn/Dunstable here. I've done an out and back on one road on the last route where the top point is the Downs visitor centre with a cafe.
Dunstable might be a good base then you can head a bit further into the Chilterns. Could look at this too http://www.chilternsaonb.org/cycleway.html0 -
keef66 wrote:Tell me about it! Undulating is the best way of describing the landscape round here. Hill repeats is the best you can manage. I do Noomarket to Moulton to Gazeley and beyond to fit in a couple of hills. (I believe there's an annual hill climb event on the hill out of Moulton towards Gazeley; short but steep)
Yeah i do those hills on some of my routes, i would say its one of the hillier areas locally but frustratingly no long climbs. I`m not after being some sort of mountain goat but it would just be so nice to have a bit more difference in terrain.0 -
hammerite wrote:http://ridewithgps.com/routes/408190
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/336035
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/825931
Some lumpy rides around Barton/Woburn/Dunstable here. I've done an out and back on one road on the last route where the top point is the Downs visitor centre with a cafe.
Dunstable might be a good base then you can head a bit further into the Chilterns. Could look at this too http://www.chilternsaonb.org/cycleway.html
Thanks for those, will definately check them out. still interested to see more routes around that area.0 -
Dunstable, Woburn and Brickhills are most interesting. The other climbs around Ampthill (Greensands ridge) aren't that long or steep, definitely not worth travelling out this way just for those, but can be incorporated into rides with other hills.0
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indysmith wrote:A mountain range in Norfolk? I think you're being EXTREMELY generous with the term "mountain".
I've spent a lot time in East Anglia, and have found that there's very little scope for climbing and descending.
Just looking on Google maps on "terrain" view, it looks like you're going to have to travel a long way to find any real climbs.
Closest set of hills to you is probably the Chiltern Hills, and they're 100 miles away.
Sorry that's not much help
Take it you're not familiar with Dutch or Fenland geographical naming?0 -
It does get a bit hillier South of Cambridge, in a line south of the A505 into Herts, Essex, S. Cambs. I'm not going to tell you it's the alps, but a few more ups and downs than South Suffolk from my experience. I'd be happy to suggest some routes for you. You can ride to the summits of 2 counties (Essex and Cambs) within a few miles (nearly 150 metres each!)
That said, if you're traveling down from Bury, the recommended routes in Beds look good and I might make my way out that way myself for an explore (although I would have said from driving through Beds that the terrain is similar to N. Essex/Herts)0 -
Essex Man wrote:It does get a bit hillier South of Cambridge, in a line south of the A505 into Herts, Essex, S. Cambs. I'm not going to tell you it's the alps, but a few more ups and downs than South Suffolk from my experience. I'd be happy to suggest some routes for you. You can ride to the summits of 2 counties (Essex and Cambs) within a few miles (nearly 150 metres each!)
That said, if you're traveling down from Bury, the recommended routes in Beds look good and I might make my way out that way myself for an explore (although I would have said from driving through Beds that the terrain is similar to N. Essex/Herts)
150 metres positively alpine
I`d certainly be happy to see your route suggestions , would like to do some rides around your area. Definately going to head over to beds, i know its not wales or the peaks but its more undulating than here, always happy to meet up if you want to explore beds together sometime. 0 -
I feel your pain, living in the middle of Norfolk, there a very few decent hills here too.
I get to go up Ketts hill in Norwich every night, its reasonably steep but over in a minute.
We do ride out to the North Norfolk coastline quite often and some of it is fairly hilly but no long grinding climbs like you are after. The best hill we've found in Norfolk is a little back lane up from Sheringham, it is steep but I can do it in under 3 minutes so you would be looking at reps if you wanted to use it for training. As it's a 30 mile ride to get to it once is usually enough for us.
Honestly I don't tend to venture out of Norfolk in case I do find some real hills (that and it's against the conditions of the breeding programme I am currently part of
). While I may be best hill climber in the group I ride with, it's a bit like being the sharpest spoon in the drawer. 0 -
jewbs wrote:
150 metres positively alpine I`d certainly be happy to see your route suggestions , would like to do some rides around your area. definitely going to head over to beds, i know its not wales or the peaks but its more undulating than here, always happy to meet up if you want to explore beds together sometime.
That last sentence has me running for the hills!0 -
Essex Man wrote:jewbs wrote:
150 metres positively alpine I`d certainly be happy to see your route suggestions , would like to do some rides around your area. definitely going to head over to beds, i know its not wales or the peaks but its more undulating than here, always happy to meet up if you want to explore beds together sometime.
That last sentence has me running for the hills!
I thought that after i re-read once i had posted it 0 -
Topaxci wrote:I feel your pain, living in the middle of Norfolk, there a very few decent hills here too.
I get to go up Ketts hill in Norwich every night, its reasonably steep but over in a minute.
We do ride out to the North Norfolk coastline quite often and some of it is fairly hilly but no long grinding climbs like you are after. The best hill we've found in Norfolk is a little back lane up from Sheringham, it is steep but I can do it in under 3 minutes so you would be looking at reps if you wanted to use it for training. As it's a 30 mile ride to get to it once is usually enough for us.
Honestly I don't tend to venture out of Norfolk in case I do find some real hills (that and it's against the conditions of the breeding programme I am currently part of ). While I may be best hill climber in the group I ride with, it's a bit like being the sharpest spoon in the drawer.
Thats the problem, its ok riding around our flatlands but as soon as you go somewhere with a bit of a slope it becomes a struggle as we`re not used to it.
I have to say you can`t put in a single sentance about breeding programmes and hope to get away with it. Surely its only fair to give us the details...all of em 0
