As I rode the long way home last night, I pondered the route I was taking, wondering idly just how lumpy the lumpy bits are. So I plotted the route into bikely. When I looked at the elevation profile, I was surprised...
The spike at 15km is Shooter's Hill in Woolwich. Not exactly Mt Ventoux, granted, but it's more than a trivial undulation. It's not a tough climb, not all that steep, but it does go on a bit.
The steepest bit of the route is actually the first small climb at around 9km, which is Maze Hill in Greenwich.
This is the shorter route I usually take on my post-work ride:
The spike is Fountain Drive in Dulwich, with the descent of Crystal Palace Park Road.
Looks pretty much like a hill to me. And certainly feels like a hill when I'm grinding up it...
The minor climb before it is Denmark Hill.
Of course, the graphs also show that the first 4-5km of either route are far from challenging, which I'm sure is where London gets its reputation for flatness. All I'm saying is that you don't have to stray very far from the centre to find some meaningful gradients.
d.