Cycling climbs of South-East England

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Cycling Climbs of South East England is the first of the regional guides to road cycling hill climbs in England. It follows the same format as the best-selling 100 climbs. In fact the regional guide includes 50% of the hills in the first two volumes. It means for owners of the original books, there is repetition, but also all the climbs in one place with quite a few new ones too.

The South East includes Oxfordshire and some of the Chiltern hills I know and ride so often – climbs like Chinnor Hill, Muswell Hill and Whiteleaf. The South East also includes the south coast of Sussex and Kent – somewhere I very rarely cycle. Probably the last time I rode near the south coast was the Brighton Mitre hill climb on Steyning Bostal in 2006.

The regional guide didn’t give the same thrill as the first 100 climb book. Because many of the climbs are now well known. But, there are still a few new climbs, I’d not done before. Last week, I checked out Whitchurch Hill- from Pangbourne I’d never ridden around there before, despite being a mere 25 miles south of Oxford. I nice little 3 minute climb with good road surface. Oxford is certainly spoilt for climbs. I will probably end up buying the South West, because Oxford is as close to the Cotswolds as the Chilterns.

whitchurch-hill

The South East doesn’t have all the big climbs of Yorkshire or Wales, but there’s certainly enough interesting climbs to make a good edition out of. It also features many climbs which feature in the London Olympics and Surrey classic (e.g. Box Hill, Leith Hill) And if you watch the Prudential Ride London classic, it shows you don’t need a col du Tourmalet to make an exciting race.

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Hill climb courses / events 2015

A list of  hill climb events for 2015 from CTT.

I usually spend a lot of time trying to work out what kind of hill all the course codes are so this is a page with some of the info I have, but bear in mind it is incomplete, and possibly inaccurate.

  • Sometimes it is hard to find info on the course. If you have more info, or link to event website, drop us a line or leave a comment.
  • To enter hill climb click on name of event. Note some events, have separate event for J/W. Best to check at CTT site.
  • The most helpful thing to know is roughly how long a hill climb will take. Time of 1st ride is either CR or estimate CR for men. Some course records are from memory. But, it will provide a rough guide to kind of hill

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Chiltern cycle festival – Penn house hill climb

After the national 100 mile TT last week,  it was – in the words of Monty Python – time for something completely different. A short hill climb held in the setting of Penn House estate near Amersham, as part of the Chiltern Cycle Festival. Not only a hill climb, but three rounds, with a head to head to decide ‘King of the Chilterns’

chiltern-festival

I arrived early to have a look around the Chiltern cycle festival and a few of the sportive riders making their way back from their ride around the the Chilterns. There were lots of interesting cycle stores and displays, with retro looking bikes and clothing definitely in vogue. There were quite a few cyclists kitted out in their finest wool and Alpaca jerseys and shorts. You can say what you like about retro cycling – but it is very aesthetically pleasing. It seemed a good atmosphere and was a nice place to hold a cycling festival. Lots of children and families enjoying cycling, which is good to see.

However, in this sedate, relaxed atmosphere of vintage bicycles and L’Eroica sportives – I felt somewhat out of place with a modern bling, blong, low weight carbon fibre bike – electronic gear shifters and one piece lycra skin suit. At least, I wasn’t wearing a pointy time trial helmet, that would have been too much…

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I always wanted to cycle uphill

June was a very disciplined month, with around 1,300 miles on the bike. It was geared to long-distance time trial training, lots of fast miles on a TT bike – The disciplined training even meant avoiding steep hills (the shame…) and knocking out hundreds of miles at 20mph+ It’s all very well, but now, the national 100 is over – there is a certain freedom; it marks the end of the long-distance time trial season, and leaves me slightly bereft of imminent targets. The next big thing on the horizon is really the last weekend in October 2015…

With nothing to target or taper for, it’s time to get the new Emonda out of the bike shed and head into the Chilterns for some gloriously unstructured hill climb training, up as many steep hills as possible – trying to make up for all that TT nonsense of looking for long, straight, flat roads.  I shall have to buy this mug or get it for a birthday present (hint, hint …)

cycling uphill mug

From 100 climbs shop.

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A Corinthian Endeavour – The Story of the National Hill Climb Championship

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A Corinthian Endeavour at Waterstones

A Corinthian Endeavour at Amazon.co.uk

The National Hill Climb Championship

For the past 10 consecutive years, I’ve entered the national hill climb championship. I don’t always prioritise cycling, but the last weekend in October is sacrosanct. It’s the one race, I always want to do. Since taking part in the championship and edging around the podium places, I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at the (incomplete) list of past winners and podium finishers. (See: Men | Women) A list of winners is the one link with the past – but a list of names only gives you so much. Certainly there are riders like Brian Robinson, Chris Boardman and Malcolm Eliot who need no introduction, but until now people like Frank Worthen and Vic Clark have been nothing more than names in a history book.

A Corinthian Endeavour

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‘Hill Climb Agony’. Photo by Bernard Thompson. One of my favourite cycling photos of all time.

The book gets off to a very good start by being able to interview the 95 year old Vic Clark. Vic was the first rider to successfully defend the title (1946-48) and a link to the very early era of the championship – since he raced against both Frank Worthen (winner 1944) and Bob Maitland (winner 1945). In a way the book is good timing – there are only so many opportunities to interview 95 year old former cyclists (though may Vic continue to prosper for many years to come!)

In Vic’s interview he gives a generous comment (after losing by 1 second) that Harold (Frank) Worthen deserved to win the first title in 1944. In his own words:

“You’d have thought I’d have been dissappointed, but I wasn’t, I was glad for Harold because there was nobody who could ride hills like him. It wouldn’t have been right for his name not to have been on that trophy.” (p.18)

An auspicious start for the spirit of the championships, and perhaps the idea for the title of the book –   “A Corinthian Endeavour”

More than anything else, it is interesting to learn about the personalities, characters and differing careers of this very diverse group of people who have won the championship. Even by the standards of British Cycling, I think it’s fair to say it’s a pretty eclectic mix of individuals and personalities; you learn it’s a championship with a very rich history. A championship that means so many different things be it Darryl Webster’s rather reluctant four in a row, to the hill climb specialist who sees it as the highlight of his career.

Gear ratios alert

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Paul Curran – Rosedale Chimney

As a hopeless, post-modernist hill climber, who has – to his great shame – never owned or even ridden a fixed gear bike, I have never paid any attention to understanding what people mean when they talk about 60” gears and the like. In the opening chapter, gear ratios were coming so thick and fast that I had to resort to our very modern friend of Google.com to convert these ratios into modern money I can understand. 42*16 I can just about deal with – though, national champion or not, I still have no idea how anyone can cycle up Winnats Pass in a 69” like they used to do in the good old days! (I think I’d use 39*25 whatever that is in inches.)

If you feel flummoxed by an avalanche of gear ratios, fear not, it’s far from being a book about the technicalities of hill climbing.

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Luz Ardiden

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Luz Ardiden is a ski resort built in 1975 and has featured several times as a summit finish in the Tour de France. It starts from the same town as the Col du Tormalet – to the north east of Luz Saint Sauveur in the Midi Pyrenees,  It is a classic Pyrenean climb – averaging 8% for a height gain of 982m, with frequent hairpin bends. It offers some stunning views from the top.

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Luz Ardiden near the top.
  • Distance 8.1 miles / 13 km
  • Average gradient: 8%
  • Height gain: 982m / 3,223ft
  • Summit height: 1702m / 5585ft
  • PB: 43.29 / 11.2 mph (18 km/h) 17 May, 2015
  • Category: HC

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Col du Tourmalet

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The Col du Tourmalet was first featured in the Tour de France in 1910. Since then, it has featured in the race over 73 times and is one of the most prestigious climbs on the Tour.

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1926 Lucien Buysse on the Tourmalet

The early intrepid riders were climbing poor road surfaces on heavy two speed bicycles; in those days, to climb a Pyrenean pass like the Col du Tourmalet was a herculean task. With lightweight bikes and good road surfaces, it is a little easier than for those early pioneers, but it is still 2,100m to ascend.

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Eventual winner Octave Lapize walking up the Tourmalet in 1910.

In the Tour de France, the Col du Tourmalet is often the penultimate climb of the day. It is conveniently situated near many mountain top finishes like Luz Ardiden, Hautacam. There are no shortage of other climbs in this part of the world. One thing always guaranteed with the Col du Tourmalet is that the peleton will be split into little pieces with perhaps twenty or thirty minutes between the front and back of the peleton.

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The Col du Tourmalet can be climbed in both directions, and offers a similar gradient and challenge.

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Shap Fell hill climb 2015

For the past few years, May Bank holiday Monday means the Kent Valley R.C. hill climb on Shap Fell. The attraction of riding Shap Fell has increased now I’ve found Great Dun Fell, a few miles away. So I can come up north and do two hill climbs for the price of one. This year, I ended up riding Hartside too, so I kind of got three for the price of one this year.

The first thing about Shap Fell hill climb is that you pay close attention to the weather forecast (or more accurately the wind direction) The first two times I rode Shap Fell were into roaring headwinds. After riding it with a tailwind in past two years, it doesn’t take a genius to work out which is more enjoyable.

Last year I rode a road bike on the basis that aerodynamics probably don’t matter with a tailwind. But, this year I thought a time trial bike would be quicker. So I brought two bikes – the Trek Speed Concept and my road bike for riding Great Dun Fell later.

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Kop Hill

Since February I’ve been riding all the time on my time trial bike. It makes sense to get used to the bike you race on. But, although it’s only late April, in the back of my  mind I start to think about the hill climb season. So when the weather turns a little better I get the road bike down from the loft and start to do some hills on it.

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It’s always a bit of a shock to the system. It’s hard switching between TT bike and road bike. When I got on road bike yesterday, it felt uncomfortable, slow and hard work. I find a time trial bike much faster and more comfortable. It feels a little strange,  usually the problem is cyclists going the other way. They ride all year on a road bike then really ache after doing a time trial in TT position. Still it’s important for me to get back into the swing of going uphill on the road bike, even if it is much harder work cycling the 20 miles from Oxford to the Chiltern ridge.

Today, I went to Kop Hill and Whiteleaf Hill. Kop Hill is just 20 miles from Oxford

Kop Hill

 vimeo-kop-hillFrom Vimeo video by Ian Warr (see below)

Kop Hill is a good hill for hill climb practise, Just over a mile long, averaging over 9% – it is a typical Chiltern hill of variable gradient. For the full climb, you goes south east out of Princes Risborough, leaving town on Brimmers road, and after 400m or so, you turn left on to Kop Hill proper. Kop hill starts off fairly gradually, but gets steep in the middle and towards the end there is a tough kick. It is perhaps 20-21% at the steepest and will definitely have you getting out of the saddle.

The hill reminds me a little of a ski slope. It’s a great view coming back down.

Kop Hill + Brimmers Road

  • Distance: 1.1 mile
  • Average gradient: 8%
  • Height gain: 449ft / 136m

Just Kop Hill

  • Distance: 0.7 miles
  • average gradient: 9%
  • Height gain: 333ft / 101m

From the top of Kop Hill you can turn left straight down Whiteleaf Hill. If you are so inclined you can do a u-turn at the bottom and come straight back up Whiteleaf. Whiteleaf Hill is slightly harder than Kop Hill, but essentially quite similar. But, if you’re looking for  hill intervals, you are spoilt for choice in this part of the world. I did a few reps of both Kop Hill and Whiteleaf hill. By the time I got back to Oxford, I’d managed 74 miles with 2,100m of climbing. But, I was starting to ache much more than usual.

Kop Hill Tour of Britain 2014

Tour of Britain – Kop Hill, slow motion from Ian Warr on Vimeo.

In 2014, the Tour of Britain went up Kop Hill towards the end of a long stage taking around five minutes.

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The break on Chinnor HIll

The 2014 stage started in Bath and also went up Chinnor Hill it finished in Hemel Hempstead and was a really epic stage. It put Alex Dowsett into the leaders jersey after a day long break with Matthias Brandle and Tom Stewart (Madison Genesis). I watched the race on Chinnor Hill.

This weekend

This weekend is ironically the first hill climb of the season (Shap Fell). But, at around 3% I will probably be using time trial bike. It is also the Tour de Yorkshire, so hopefully I will get to ride some hills and perhaps watch a stage as it goes up the Cow and Calf.

Related

Oxnop Scar

Oxnop Scar is a climb from Swaledale south towards Wensleydale. Typical of Yorkshire Dales climbs in this part of the world, there is a really steep section of 25%. The steep section is at the bottom, so you will be tired after that for the long remorseless climb towards the top.

The only thing that can be said about the first section is that , traffic permitting, you can take the hairpins wide to reduce the gradient a little. But, it is still quite brutal.

Looking back through some old photos, I found I did this climb a few years ago. In those days, I called it ‘a steep climb in Swaledale’. It was probably done after cycling up Fleet Moss and Buttertubs. The metres ascent can really add up in that part of the world.

  • Location: Swaledale, North Yorkshire
  • Distance: 2.5 miles
  • Avg grade 6%
  • Max Grade: 25.0%
  • Elev Gain: 236m
  • 100 hills #46
  • Everesting? 36.7 laps – Total distance 183 miles (BTW: useful site http://everesting.io

Photos of the Oxnop climb

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Swaledale is a great valley. This was taken at the foot of the climb.

 

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25% sign is well merited.

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