Good hills for an hour climbing effort?
Discussion
So, read this earlier - http://www.velonews.com/2016/12/news/joe-dombrowsk... and it got me thinking. Where (in the south east) could you attempt this?
For a start, I'm a long way from Mr D's climbing ability, so the Stelvio would be long enough for me (probably twice over!) and living down south, if I was to attempt this, I would have to spend a chunk of my 60 minutes descending to go back up again. What hill would enable to spend the most time racking up metres gained, rather than metres travelled?
Boxhill possibly; certainly the gradient means you can climb at a good pace, but the speed bumps, hairpins and traffic mean descending can be fraught with risk. I could probably do 4 repeats in an hour (from Rykas to the top) which would give me 556 m.
According to Strava pbs I (can) get up and down Ditchling in under 8 mins, so that would be almost 1000m. The thought of 6 consecutive flat out descents scares me though!
For a start, I'm a long way from Mr D's climbing ability, so the Stelvio would be long enough for me (probably twice over!) and living down south, if I was to attempt this, I would have to spend a chunk of my 60 minutes descending to go back up again. What hill would enable to spend the most time racking up metres gained, rather than metres travelled?
Boxhill possibly; certainly the gradient means you can climb at a good pace, but the speed bumps, hairpins and traffic mean descending can be fraught with risk. I could probably do 4 repeats in an hour (from Rykas to the top) which would give me 556 m.
According to Strava pbs I (can) get up and down Ditchling in under 8 mins, so that would be almost 1000m. The thought of 6 consecutive flat out descents scares me though!
For repeated attempts I wouldn't go for either of the two you mention.
Steyning Bostal or Toys Hill from Brasted would make better alternatives giving similar height gains without the traffic. I like descending but Ditchling is not pleasant IMO and on a nice day you'll be held up climbing by choppers walking up with the bike, creating a queue of cars that'll have you crawling.
Toys Hill possibly isn't steep enough for maximum elevation gain in an hour but the really steep hills like Chalkpit aren't nice to descend. Yorks Hill is short and sharp but very narrow and a bit greasy coming back down.
Steyning Bostal or Toys Hill from Brasted would make better alternatives giving similar height gains without the traffic. I like descending but Ditchling is not pleasant IMO and on a nice day you'll be held up climbing by choppers walking up with the bike, creating a queue of cars that'll have you crawling.
Toys Hill possibly isn't steep enough for maximum elevation gain in an hour but the really steep hills like Chalkpit aren't nice to descend. Yorks Hill is short and sharp but very narrow and a bit greasy coming back down.
sounds like an idea! My advice: get a cheap flight to Gran canaria...there's fantastic climbing to be done there which often starts at sea level. it's also quieter than tenerife, even if it doesn't quite reach the same altitude... the problem in the UK is the wasted time you have descending back to the start of each climb.
I love his idea - but I'd like to introduce an element of jeopardy by saying that you need to ride to the bottom again within the hour. So the start and finish line would be at the bottom of the hill. This means that you would continue climbing to a certain point and then need to absolutely nail it back down the hill to get to the finish line in time, otherwise your climbing time would be null and void
He's aiming for 1900VAM, that's nuts! A good club level rider 'should' be able to ride Alpe D'Huez, with it's kind gradient and smooth tarmac, in an hour, that's 1100m.
ETA Just checked I've done 800m in an hour doing reps on my local SE UK hill (including time spenT descending).
ETA Just checked I've done 800m in an hour doing reps on my local SE UK hill (including time spenT descending).
Edited by richardxjr on Wednesday 21st December 17:07
duff said:
For repeated attempts I wouldn't go for either of the two you mention.
Steyning Bostal or Toys Hill from Brasted would make better alternatives giving similar height gains without the traffic. I like descending but Ditchling is not pleasant IMO and on a nice day you'll be held up climbing by choppers walking up with the bike, creating a queue of cars that'll have you crawling.
Toys Hill possibly isn't steep enough for maximum elevation gain in an hour but the really steep hills like Chalkpit aren't nice to descend. Yorks Hill is short and sharp but very narrow and a bit greasy coming back down.
Steyning Bostal is my local hill, I would have to ride away from it to warm up, but I would still have all my matches left for the climbing. But, the right hander is a properly scary corner and it bottoms on a junction which could cause problems. Steyning Bostal or Toys Hill from Brasted would make better alternatives giving similar height gains without the traffic. I like descending but Ditchling is not pleasant IMO and on a nice day you'll be held up climbing by choppers walking up with the bike, creating a queue of cars that'll have you crawling.
Toys Hill possibly isn't steep enough for maximum elevation gain in an hour but the really steep hills like Chalkpit aren't nice to descend. Yorks Hill is short and sharp but very narrow and a bit greasy coming back down.
Toys and Yorks are a long ride away for me; the ascent from the south for Toys I find hard and I agree Yorks could be a nightmare to descend.
Bury Hill near Amberley could be the one, less than an hour from home, very steady gradient, and although there is a bend you can take it flat out. Also, the descent is one of those where the difference in time between flat out and getting some recovery from all the climbing wouldn't be too significant. It can be busy but I could be there by 6 am...
Usget said:
I love his idea - but I'd like to introduce an element of jeopardy by saying that you need to ride to the bottom again within the hour. So the start and finish line would be at the bottom of the hill. This means that you would continue climbing to a certain point and then need to absolutely nail it back down the hill to get to the finish line in time, otherwise your climbing time would be null and void
To really follow this through, you have to make your turn and be back heading uphill when the clock hits 60 minutes... richardxjr said:
He's aiming for 1900VAM, that's nuts! A good club level rider 'should' be able to ride Alpe D'Huez, with it's kind gradient and smooth tarmac, in an hour, that's 1100m.
ETA Just checked I've done 800m in an hour doing reps on my local SE UK hill (including time spenT descending).
That isn't Butts is it?!ETA Just checked I've done 800m in an hour doing reps on my local SE UK hill (including time spenT descending).
Edited by richardxjr on Wednesday 21st December 17:07
How many reps?Daveyraveygravey said:
Steyning Bostal is my local hill, I would have to ride away from it to warm up, but I would still have all my matches left for the climbing. But, the right hander is a properly scary corner and it bottoms on a junction which could cause problems.
Toys and Yorks are a long ride away for me; the ascent from the south for Toys I find hard and I agree Yorks could be a nightmare to descend.
Bury Hill near Amberley could be the one, less than an hour from home, very steady gradient, and although there is a bend you can take it flat out. Also, the descent is one of those where the difference in time between flat out and getting some recovery from all the climbing wouldn't be too significant. It can be busy but I could be there by 6 am...
Fair point re Steyning and thinking about it the road flattens out quite a bit before the last drop iirc which isn't ideal.Toys and Yorks are a long ride away for me; the ascent from the south for Toys I find hard and I agree Yorks could be a nightmare to descend.
Bury Hill near Amberley could be the one, less than an hour from home, very steady gradient, and although there is a bend you can take it flat out. Also, the descent is one of those where the difference in time between flat out and getting some recovery from all the climbing wouldn't be too significant. It can be busy but I could be there by 6 am...
Kidds Hill (The Wall) might be an option but again quite a way from you. I've not been down it for a long time but it's a fairly quiet road and straight, although pretty steep with a couple of un-nerving crests.
I don't want to play that game, but, a downhill hour on the other hand… https://www.strava.com/segments/661686?hl=en-GB
Gruffy said:
I don't want to play that game, but, a downhill hour on the other hand… https://www.strava.com/segments/661686?hl=en-GB
Come on Gruffy, that's a long way away! And long downhills are actually painful - your wrists hurt, your neck hurts...and that assumes you stay ON the bike ON the road! 
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