What is a "major climb"?

[vorsprung]

When I was listing the Avalon Sunrise 400km on Cyclosport I had to fill in various details including "major climbs".  You know how keen some sportive organizers are on emphasizing the macho elements of their events.

The Avalon Sunrise is in Devon but I've tried to avoid the most taxing ascents

Nevertheless there are one or two hills.  But are any of them "major"?  I said "none" on the form for the listing of the Sunrise.  When I was doing the rider info for the event the other night I checked the lengthier climbs.

• Dinder on the A371 up to the Golf club is 230m in 5.5km
• There is a short hill up to Midford on the edge of Bath which is generally not appreciated
• To get out of Batheaston is 144m in a few km
• The final ascent is approx 200m also over a few km

I wouldn't say any of these are exactly "major" or even noteworthy.  The biggest hill that is near where I live is the M5 Bridge up the B3170 to a cross roads at the top, 336m and it takes less than 30 minutes for a slightly overweight Vorsprung

This made me think...are there actually any major climbs in the UK?

Then I remembered Dunkery Beacon and how to get there from Porlock

[matthew]

I guess once the hill is named on a map e.g. think of rides like the Fred Whitton; Kirkstone, 4 other passes, Hardknott, Wrynose.

Not A ride I intend doing without major prior training

[Redlight]

I'd consider the road over to Applecross (Bealach na Bar?) a major climb, although not by European standards. Other than that, I suspect it's very much in the mind of the rider. I recall doing a sportive a few years ago that made great play of one particular climb. At one point I asked a local rider when we would get to it and he said: About half an hour ago.  On the other hand, Bushmill Lane on the Cotswold Corker still fills me with apprehension.

[Kim]

I've no idea of sportive etiquette, but I'd interpret it as major in the context of the route being discussed: ie. what are the lumps that stick out when you plot the profile?  If it's a flatland route with a lump up to 40m, then that's the major climb.  Armed with that knowledge, anyone can look up the relevant hill on the map, laugh at the contours and know that it's not going to involve any real climbing.

[rower40]

Largedean Lane.
I had to walk its smaller brother, so I am in dread of the proper one.

[Feanor]

Whack the route into MapMyRide.

I'd say any climb which scores 3 or harder is a 'major' climb.

eg:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/59093004

BH#1 and the Lecht are rated as 3, and on that route those are what I'd call the major climbs.

[David Martin]

A clubmate did the UK etape du tour in 2007. On the way down he asked someone else when the climb was coming. '5 miles ago' was the answer.

[essexian]

This is such a personal jusgement as, to me, a major climb is going to be much less than what other people think. For example, the major climb around here is just 100m over 2km. Most poeple can do that with their eyes closed but to someone lugging a load of weight around like me, its a bit of a struggle. I once did a ride which was noted as being "mostly flat." When I got back and checked, there was over 600m worth of climbing: hardly flat IMHO. Also, the webpage for the Tissington Trail says is flat.... nearly 400m of climbing over 16km is not flat, again IMHO.

I doubt if you locked 100 cyclists in a room, you would ever get agreement..... not that I would suggest locking cyclists in a room.

[vorsprung]

Whack the route into MapMyRide.

I'd say any climb which scores 3 or harder is a 'major' climb.

eg:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/59093004

BH#1 and the Lecht are rated as 3, and on that route those are what I'd call the major climbs.

I just wasted 15 minutes registering for "mapmyride" and then couldn't work out how to upload existing gpx files to it.
Is this possible?

[jogler]

I subscribe to the gospel according to essexian

[Feanor]

Whack the route into MapMyRide.

I'd say any climb which scores 3 or harder is a 'major' climb.

eg:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/59093004

BH#1 and the Lecht are rated as 3, and on that route those are what I'd call the major climbs.

I just wasted 15 minutes registering for "mapmyride" and then couldn't work out how to upload existing gpx files to it.
Is this possible?

Routes -> Map a Ride ->'Upload GPX' link under the Start Location box.
Or:
Workouts -> Manage Imports

I've tried it out using your GPX files.

Outbound:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/92302527
1 major climb, at 149Km.

Return:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/92304001
2 'significant' at 91 and 161Km.   Will feel 'Major' by that point, I'd say.

Looks like a tough old finish!

--
Ron

[David Martin]

I didn't do any major climbs last night. Just the wee brae up past the prison, then a small rise to Carmichaels, a step up to Fowlis, couple of bumps to Liff and then the drag up to Birkhill. But that lot adds up to a few hundred meters ascent which definitely felt significant.

[mrcharly-YHT]

According to one description, it is a climb that, over several kilometers, averages 7% gradient or more.

So Snake Pass, for example averages 7% for 5.3km (that's the example given of a 'major climb' in England).

Carlton bank in the North York moors is a tough haul - I need bottom gears for it - but at 2.15km long and 191m ascent (8.8% average)  barely qualifies. It's just too short.

That's the problem in the UK. No shortage of tough climbs, but they are all short.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Someone I know who spends most summers cycling in the Alps and used to time trial and mountain bike competitively, says that if you can climb Dundry (a hill just outside Bristol which climbs about 200m over a km or so and peaks at maybe 16%) you can get up any of the Alpine passes, because although they're long and high, they're not so steep. I'm not entirely sure that I'm convinced but it does show mrcharly's point that what we lack in Britain is not steep hills but big ones.

[TimO]

It also depends on what your local environment is like, and consequently what you're used to.  I've always lived in the south of the UK, so never anything terribly hilly (OK, I was brought up in Exeter, but didn't do much cycling as a youngster, so never got to investigate cycling around Dartmoor).

When I lived in Cheltenham, three of the four directions out of the town involved going up a hill, roughly speaking a mile of 1 in 10.  Now I live in London, some of the bridges over the Thames are the steepest hills I meet.

Going up Ditchling Beacon on a FNRttC to Brighton seems like moderately hard work, regardless of the nutters who do it two or three times in quick succession on fixed, and plenty of the people on those rides get off and walk.  Compared to many of the hills mentioned above, Ditchling is bobbins, but for many people in the fairly flat south of England, it's a fair old wheeze to the top.

[jogler]

aye, a major climb is different things to different people.

[David Martin]

I didn't find Snake Pass too bad but it did go on for a bit. The Thursday night ride would count as a major climb  then.. climbs a fair lump over about 4k.

[Exit Stage Left]

Come to Switzerland...

I met a bloke who was living Geneva at the top of Greenhow yesterday, he'd done the Marmotte, so he knew what hills were. He was finding the Ride of the Roses from Morecambe to Bridlington taxing, as it's hard to get a rythm going. Greenhow from the East is pretty significant, from the East it's horrible. I didn't even attempt to ride up Old Church Lane though. The sign at the top gives you the choice of the direct 3/4 mile route or a 2 mile detour.
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Pateley+Bridge&hl=en&ll=54.087099,-1.74659&spn=0.009553,0.015471&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=19.668567,31.68457&oq=PAtel&t=h&hnear=Pateley+Bridge,+North+Yorkshire,+United+Kingdom&z=16&layer=c&cbll=54.087117,-1.746495&panoid=KEOxNnBR2ALkxod2W41RUw&cbp=12,241.35,,1,-0.5

[mrcharly-YHT]

I agree about Greenhow Hill. I'm sure part of the unpleasantness is due to the lack of a decent view or being able to see progress.  It's like being stuck on a treadmill.

[vorsprung]

aye, a major climb is different things to different people.

Yes, that's the thrust of this question: is there some kind of standard for a "major climb"?
Feeding the gpx into mapmyride is one way of doing it

[Exit Stage Left]

Yes, that's the thrust of this question: is there some kind of standard for a "major climb"?
Feeding the gpx into mapmyride is one way of doing it

Another way is to count the % of the other thousand MAMILs you pass, or pass you, while affecting a mock-heroic scowl for the benefit of the photographer stationed at the most picturesque bend.

[Exit Stage Left]

So by my test the climb out of Dentdale on the Etape du Dales is a major climb, as it's where the photographers lurk, he even got me, and I was on another ride entirely.
http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/etd-10753

[jogler]

Another way is to count the % of the other thousand MAMILs you pass, .

this is beyond my experience

I tend to opine the "major" rating of a climb based on the point at which I have to stop,invariably before the top, to shovel heart & lungs back into chest cavity which normally occurs according to the steepness as opposed to duration of the exercise.For example.....

the climb from the Tamar upto St.Annes Chapel

the climb from Ashbourne upto Swinscoe

the former is,for me, a major climb due to being steep thus requiring a lung busting effort although not long
the latter,although rather long is graded to allow a comfortable rhythm to be established for the duration without heavy breathing or high heart rate becoming necessary

My perception is that both have a similar height gain but ICBA to goto Google maps or similar so anecdotal rules,o.k.

ymmv