Britain's toughest climbs

[Wowbagger]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/jul/20/britains-top-10-toughest-cycle-climbs?commentpage=last#end-of-comments

Amusing stuff. Which one is the toughest in the country?

[Feanor]

That's hard to answer, because most of us will only have done a sub-set of them.

Of the ones I have done which are on that list, Hardknott is significantly harder that any of the others.
So that got my vote.

[Wowbagger]

That's hard to answer, because most of us will only have done a sub-set of them.

Of the ones I have done which are on that list, Hardknott is significantly harder that any of the others.
So that got my vote.

I should have mentioned: everyone is allowed 3 votes.

[Kim]

I've never experienced any of those, which seems somewhat amiss...

For the moment, I humbly offer Cofton Hill, which would be wholly unremarkable climb from one of my regular routes if some bastard hadn't covered the whole thing in what rogerzilla once succinctly described as "terminal moraine".  I'm astounded I didn't come off my bike as soon as I left the roundabout.  It's so bad that motorists were staying well below the suggested 20mph speed limit.

Also: where's Smalldean Lane?

[shyumu]

The related information links at the bottom, (underneath the comments) are amusing.  I particularly liked...

clicky

Timely information indeed.

[Wowbagger]

Also: where's Smalldean Lane?

Last seen in Buckinghamshire, I believe, m'lud.

[clarion]

I note Park Rash isn't on that list, which I'd rate harder than Fleet Moss, though that's a beast itself.

As Feanor says, we can only vote on what we know, so I suspect that the daddy of them all is Bealach-Na-Ba, though I haven't had the honour of riding walking up it.

I voted for Rosedale Chimney, because, while it's not long, it hits you like a sledgehammer in the chest.

[clarion]

That's hard to answer, because most of us will only have done a sub-set of them.

Of the ones I have done which are on that list, Hardknott is significantly harder that any of the others.
So that got my vote.

I should have mentioned: everyone is allowed 3 votes.

Ah.  Wish I'd known that.

[Feanor]

I suspect that the daddy of them all is Bealach-Na-Ba, though I haven't had the honour of riding walking up it.

I don't think so.
Although Simon Warren rated it as 11/10 in his book "100 Greatest Cycling Climbs", the rating system is not just hard-ness, it's a bunch of other factors too which add to the enjoyment of the climb.

I've never cycled it either, but I've been there inna car, and on foot, several times.
And I've talked to many local cyclists who have done it, and who have been able to compare it to local climbs.
It's a tough climb, for sure.
And it kicks up at the end.

But it can't compete with Hardknott for sheer sustained silly ( 30%+ ) gradient.

I'd have to say that Wrynose comes a close second, because it hits similar gradients, just not so sustained.   But it also comes shortly after you've done Hardknott, and are 100 miles in on the Fred Whitton route!

It was with some regret that I didn't detour via the 40% climb in Harlech on the BCM600.
But it was my first 600, and I wanted to keep my powder dry.
Also, I don't think I'd brought the right gears to the show.

[Wowbagger]

IIRC the 40% in Harlech is the wrong way along a one-way street.

[Basil]

IIRC the 40% in Harlech is the wrong way along a one-way street.

*thinks*
I don't think it is.  There again, I've only walked it a couple of times.  I've never been there with a bike.

[Feanor]

IIRC the 40% in Harlech is the wrong way along a one-way street.

*thinks*
I don't think it is.  There again, I've only walked it a couple of times.  I've never been there with a bike.

Yes, it is, according to the Simon Warren book I mentioned earlier.
But apparently you're unlikely to meet anything coming down, since it's a fearsome descent.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=52.861516,-4.107299&spn=0.000006,0.008256&hnear=AB14,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=52.861455,-4.10722&panoid=juz5GP69uGj1ICt7OrdAbQ&cbp=12,166.74,,0,4.8

[Wowbagger]

Fordd Pen Llech, Harlech, from the top.

[Wowbagger]

Fordd Pen Llech, from the bottom.

http://goo.gl/maps/9NhE

[Basil]

See sig line. 

[vorsprung]

The only one I've been up is Bwlch-y-Groes and only from one direction.

There are more difficult hills in Devon, for example the ascent  out of Lynmouth or the triple chevron thing on the right between Honiton and Awliscombe

[Wowbagger]

Devon and Cornwall are full of vicious little climbs which are mostly too short to feature on a list like this, but I'd agree that they make for pretty much the most tiring cycling.

The only double-chevron hill I remember climbing successfully was on the tandem. It was this one: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=271032&Y=68705&A=Y&Z=120

[Deano]

I've ridden six of those. Ridiculous that I haven't been up Great Dun Fell, as it's only 50 miles away in a straight line, but it'd be a 200-mile ride there and back.

I've ridden them in such different conditions, that it's hard to say, but I did have to push up Hardknott (and a bit of Wrynose), with a touring load. I'll vote for Hardknott. Bealach-na-Ba is sustained but never that steep. Hardknott has a 1:4 section which I just got up, then an easy section (relatively), then the hairpins and the really steep bit starts.

Chimney Bank kicks up like a wall, but it's short, and the climb out of Littlebeck in the Moors is (IMO) harder in the Moors.

Fleet Moss isn't that bad, Buttertubs and (especially) Park Rash are tougher in the Dales.

The Lecht isn't easy, but the steep bit isn't that long.

I thought a few places in the SW would feature. There must be some brutes around Devon and Cornwall.

[Feanor]

I've only just read the link in the OP, and it's just a selective series of quotes out of the book I mentioned.

It's important to note the direction of the climb: many of these climbs have  a hard side, and an easy(!) side.
The quoted article does not make it clear what direction we are talking about, although the book does.

Assume the more 'interesting' side.

So for Hardknott / Wrynose, we're going West -> East, towards Ambleside.
For the Lecht, we mean heading North, from Corgarf towards Tomintoul.
For the Bealach, we mean going West towards Applecross.

[Deano]

That makes sense. I've only ridden the Lecht north-south, so the easier side. The others, I've ridden the tougher side, or both ways.

[Oscar's dad]

I voted for Wrynose as I have got up it though had to push some of the way. Coming down was quite scary.

I was amused to see The Mighty North Hill but couldn't vote as it isn't really in the Premier League but much loved by those of us here in Essex.

[David Martin]

Bealach na Ba in approx 37 mins? Who are they kidding. I've never done it in under the hour and only the fittest and fastest of club cyclists will do it in under 40 mins.

[simonp]

The only one I've been up is Bwlch-y-Groes and only from one direction.

There are more difficult hills in Devon, for example the ascent  out of Lynmouth or the triple chevron thing on the right between Honiton and Awliscombe

From Lake Vwyrny, Bwlch-y-Groes is much easier than both Hardknott Pass, and Devil's Staircase, which isn't even listed. Bwlch-y-Groes from the west may well be harder, I dunno.

Hardknott and Wrynose are the only climbs that have completely defeated me on a 27" gear. All the fixed riding I've been doing may have improved strength but that might not be enough if I am ever daft enough to try the Fred Whitton Challenge again. The problem is not strength, it's an aerobic capacity issue. I simply don't have the fitness to climb them at a speed at which I can balance a bike.

[David Martin]

My problem on anything steeper than about 1:7 is keeping the front wheel on the ground whilst retaining traction. It is a long time since I have needed to ride anything that steep though.

[Feanor]

Yes, that's what I find too.
That's why you will eventually need to get out of the saddle, even if you have low gears.

To shift your weight forward.

I find that on the CoM, if I stay in the saddle, I'm right on the edge of lifting the front wheel esp. around the top bends where photographers hide.   If I put on any significant power, the front wheel will certainly lift.   I think the top section is around 16%, so not far from your 1:7.

So if I need to push on a bit, I have no choice but to get up and shift my weight forward.
That also requires a corresponding up-shift on the gears to take account of the lower cadence of an out-of-the-saddle rider.   It takes quite a lot of nerve to up-shift on a steep climb!