Britain's 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs

Is Hartside summit listed I wonder.

(xpost to Porkpie) - Yeah, Winnats (see above) is there plus quite a few from the Peak District or Sheffield. I'm heading up to the Peaks on Thursday, but not taking the bike, just planning to wander around Kinder Scout on foot.

Is that in the north-east, pashmina? It's not listed. The toughest one from that part of the world is Chapel Fell.

what rating does the rest and be thankful get in the book?

15 members of the club I've been riding with are doing the bealach na ba (which scores an 11/10 I think) in september

jealous... I think

oh, sorry, you already said - a 6/10. head racing ahead of my eyes

thought hell's glen was worse actually (the 17% section particularly) but I might just have been tired

chris, have you tried swain's lane?
http://vimeo.com/13757661

winnats looks horrendous:

http://www.climbbybike.com/profile_520/Winnats-Pass_profile.jpg

28%?!

Winnats is a horrible long steep grind, I was 17 when I did it and about 7 stone lighter than I am now.... There are plenty of you tube clips of people riding up it to get an idea of it, really bleak at the top too.

Nbd, you should find time for lathkill Dale too, one of the more unsung bits of the peaks but one of my favourites. And I could just go a long mountain bike ride along curbar edge, mind you, not sure you're allowed to do that anymore.

Ach missed a post. Cozen, have walked swains lane and it's pretty fierce.

thinkin baout heading to the alps in january for this

day 1: flat to undulating, 105km
day 2: tawonga gap then falls (and back over tawonga on the way home, 130km
day 3: mt buffalo, 75km
day 4: rest day, haha
day 5: mt hotham, 112km
day 6: rolling to buckland gap rd (2.3km @ 10% avg!), 120km

i'd have to be in some kind of form by the end of this, right?? think i may be in the market for a 27t cassette

I headed down to where Kent meets London today and ticked off another couple of (soft southern) monsters today.

First up, Toys Hill. In total it's about two miles of climbing with a height gain of about 180 metres at an average of 5%, but that doesn't really tell the story: the climb gets steadily steeper and steeper. The last mile averages 10% and includes a lengthy section between 14% and 18%. The book (which this thread is based on) gives it 7/10 and says "...this climb is as serious as it gets along the North Downs ridge." I'm not sure about that as I thought the next one was tougher...

That link didn't work properly. Hopefully this will:
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/toyshill.jpg

The next one was Yorks Hill:
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/yorkshill.jpg

This isn't quite so long. There's about a mile of climbing at an average of 8%, but again, this really doesn't tell the story at all. The 'road' is a narrow lane filled with mud and grit and holes and it just gets steeper and steeper. It ends up twisting and turning through a wooded area with steep grassy banks on either side of the road. Looking at the map I made it about 15% for the last 500 metre, but the book says it's 18% and this interesting article: http://www.rapha.cc/ride-to-the-catford-hill-climb claims it reaches 24%. Whatever it was, it was a miserable, lung-breaking grind. I looked at my computer at one point and my speed was 5.4mph.

It's used each year in October for the Catford Hill Climb:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/audioslideshow/2010/oct/11/catford-cycling-club-hill-climb-classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PNvxBtxLME

proper pain face there:
http://www.rapha.cc/images/catford_hc-5.jpg

My own face of pain:
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/yorkshillnear.jpg

seeing ppl racing w/out helmets looks odd to me now.