Cycling UK Forum

ukdodger wrote:

trilathon wrote:Simon Fell part of Ingleborough on the Three Peaks Cyclocross Race...one heads into it after about 5 miles of bunch cycling at 25 mph plus and slightly uphill to suddenly being confronted with off road and then 30-40% gradient of tuffty grass...I could barely walk up it, where as I've cycled over the likes of the Hardnott and many other road passes with four panniers on the bike and occasionally with a full disk and trispoke when racing. Context and condition is everything.

I went over (I think it was Hardknott) in a car in first gear and it was at almost full revs. If you got over that on a laden bike I'm amazed to say the least.

I remember taking my old Mini traveller up Hardknott back in the 80s with 4 of us in it, I had to keep stopping and letting the engine idle for 10 minutes to get the temperature back down from almost boiling. Very impressive to cycle up it.

tykeboy2003 wrote:

ukdodger wrote:

trilathon wrote:Simon Fell part of Ingleborough on the Three Peaks Cyclocross Race...one heads into it after about 5 miles of bunch cycling at 25 mph plus and slightly uphill to suddenly being confronted with off road and then 30-40% gradient of tuffty grass...I could barely walk up it, where as I've cycled over the likes of the Hardnott and many other road passes with four panniers on the bike and occasionally with a full disk and trispoke when racing. Context and condition is everything.

I went over (I think it was Hardknott) in a car in first gear and it was at almost full revs. If you got over that on a laden bike I'm amazed to say the least.

I remember taking my old Mini traveller up Hardknott back in the 80s with 4 of us in it, I had to keep stopping and letting the engine idle for 10 minutes to get the temperature back down from almost boiling. Very impressive to cycle up it.

My car was a 1600cc VW with two of us in it. The electric fan was sucking air so hard I could hear it over the engine noise. Once over I stopped and lifted the bonnet to let it cool.

DaveGos wrote:http://clee-cycles.co.uk/clee_cycles_incline_challenge

The top half of this climb uses a service road and is 25 to 30 percent

I rode up that hill last month - it is indeed a killer and the hardest hill I have done to date

I wrote about it here

The only hill that has beaten me is the wall near Prestatyn. Far harder than anything I've done in the peaks, the pennines, or snowdonia! I was on the wrong bike though, a couple fewer teeth on the front might have saved my shame.

There are 2 climbs out of Sidmouth (Devon) that are not nice. Peak Hill is tortuous, and Salcombe hill, to the observatory is almost vertical.....not my favourites!

Porlock hill isn't nice. Nor is Lynmouth hill either.
Both had me on the ropes. I was running 36/28 though...

Cheers James

If we're talking steep hills on inappropriate gears, I'll nominate my mate's lad's ride up Old Wyche Road (Malvern) on 42x28 last Thursday night. (17.54° works out as 31.6%).

He'd missed the start of the club ride, and his idea of navigation is following the blue line on Google Maps on his phone. When he'd recovered (in the pub at the top), we interrogated him, since the steep section is one way downhill, and it turned out that the associated turn by turn instructions said "push for 200m" .

The UK hill I've found hardest was back in my student days, when I did Winnat's Pass on 46x28.