Abdon Burf / Brown Clee Hill
Discussion
Anyone else done it?
For those that haven't heard of it, this is a particularly brutal climb included in one of Simon Warren's books Cycling Climbs of the Midlands . It didn't make it into either of the two main national books, but I can only presume that that is because he hadn't heard of it when he wrote those as it was given an 11/10 rating for difficulty and in the introduction to the book Simon highlights the first part of it as "the single toughest stretch of straight climbing I have yet to find"
It's been on my list for a while and I decided this morning that today was the day!
I live in Nottingham so it is quite a trip for me to get there, therefore I decided I might aswell pick out some other climbs to do in the same ride – The Burway and Jiggers Bank, both of which are included in the original Top 100 Cycling Climbs
I started just north of Ironbridge, so this meant by the time I reached the proper base of the climb I had already put over 2,000ft of climbing into the legs. When I got there there were another four cyclists also waiting at the bottom to have a go.
I went first and quickly realised that the surface was damp and incredibly greasy – my back wheel was spinning on the ground with each pedal stroke, sapping all of my energy. I got about ¼ of the way up the “hard part” before I slipped and came off, putting a load of gravel into my hands but fortunately without doing myself or my bike any further damage.
This knocked my confidence a lot but I decided given I had come all of this way I should have another shot and I made it up without stopping on this attempt. As noted in the book, the first ~800m or so up to the cattle grid are absolutely brutal – once you get past that it eases off, but there is still quite a bit of climbing to do!
The views at the top are amazing – given I have carbon wheels and rim brakes and it was wet I decided against riding down and walked instead. Before I did the climb I was concerned about the descent – there is hardly any information about this climb online from people that have done it and I couldn’t find a single video of anyone doing it by bike on YouTube.
Would be great to hear from anyone else that has done it, or if you have any questions let me know!
The Strave segment for the main part of the climb is here though you can start climbing a few miles back in Ditton Priors, which is what I did
My ride today came in at 60 miles and 6,900ft of climbing so I think tomorrow can be a day off!
imageupload
For those that haven't heard of it, this is a particularly brutal climb included in one of Simon Warren's books Cycling Climbs of the Midlands . It didn't make it into either of the two main national books, but I can only presume that that is because he hadn't heard of it when he wrote those as it was given an 11/10 rating for difficulty and in the introduction to the book Simon highlights the first part of it as "the single toughest stretch of straight climbing I have yet to find"
It's been on my list for a while and I decided this morning that today was the day!
I live in Nottingham so it is quite a trip for me to get there, therefore I decided I might aswell pick out some other climbs to do in the same ride – The Burway and Jiggers Bank, both of which are included in the original Top 100 Cycling Climbs
I started just north of Ironbridge, so this meant by the time I reached the proper base of the climb I had already put over 2,000ft of climbing into the legs. When I got there there were another four cyclists also waiting at the bottom to have a go.
I went first and quickly realised that the surface was damp and incredibly greasy – my back wheel was spinning on the ground with each pedal stroke, sapping all of my energy. I got about ¼ of the way up the “hard part” before I slipped and came off, putting a load of gravel into my hands but fortunately without doing myself or my bike any further damage.
This knocked my confidence a lot but I decided given I had come all of this way I should have another shot and I made it up without stopping on this attempt. As noted in the book, the first ~800m or so up to the cattle grid are absolutely brutal – once you get past that it eases off, but there is still quite a bit of climbing to do!
The views at the top are amazing – given I have carbon wheels and rim brakes and it was wet I decided against riding down and walked instead. Before I did the climb I was concerned about the descent – there is hardly any information about this climb online from people that have done it and I couldn’t find a single video of anyone doing it by bike on YouTube.
Would be great to hear from anyone else that has done it, or if you have any questions let me know!
The Strave segment for the main part of the climb is here though you can start climbing a few miles back in Ditton Priors, which is what I did
My ride today came in at 60 miles and 6,900ft of climbing so I think tomorrow can be a day off!
imageupload
Thanks for the write up. I've seen Brown Clee in the 100 climbs series but not got round to heading that way. Something to sort later this summer as a good day out from home.
What did you make of The Burway? I took Mrs Harpoon's brother-in-law up there at Easter as it was great in the sunshine. Not a fan of the descent though as there's way too much loose gravel waiting to take you out. If you descend to The Bridges, there's another good climb over Stiperstones (which is much quieter than the Long Mynd) with a handy cake stop at The Bog Visitor Centre to refuel.
What did you make of The Burway? I took Mrs Harpoon's brother-in-law up there at Easter as it was great in the sunshine. Not a fan of the descent though as there's way too much loose gravel waiting to take you out. If you descend to The Bridges, there's another good climb over Stiperstones (which is much quieter than the Long Mynd) with a handy cake stop at The Bog Visitor Centre to refuel.
Will have to check it out next time I am in Church Stretton.
Jiggers Bank is pretty easy and the scenery isn't up to much. I do like the Burway and do a few loops around the area when staying at the in laws.
I personally think Asterton bank is overlooked in the area, ok its only 1km but its pretty steep (an average of about 18% or so) and its narrow with grass in the middle of the road, sheep and their crap. Meet a car coming down from the gliding club and you will almost have to stop.
Jiggers Bank is pretty easy and the scenery isn't up to much. I do like the Burway and do a few loops around the area when staying at the in laws.
I personally think Asterton bank is overlooked in the area, ok its only 1km but its pretty steep (an average of about 18% or so) and its narrow with grass in the middle of the road, sheep and their crap. Meet a car coming down from the gliding club and you will almost have to stop.
HughG said:
Excellent thanks for this, MrsG’s aunt is in Craven Arms and I’ve fancied taking the bike up there for a while.
Bugger! I stayed in Craven Arms with the family last October, wish I'd known about these climbs then! Mind you, it was about all I could do to walk into the village the next day after the booze we drank...Harpoon said:
Thanks for the write up. I've seen Brown Clee in the 100 climbs series but not got round to heading that way. Something to sort later this summer as a good day out from home.
What did you make of The Burway? I took Mrs Harpoon's brother-in-law up there at Easter as it was great in the sunshine. Not a fan of the descent though as there's way too much loose gravel waiting to take you out. If you descend to The Bridges, there's another good climb over Stiperstones (which is much quieter than the Long Mynd) with a handy cake stop at The Bog Visitor Centre to refuel.
I was not in good shape by the time I hit the Burway given my two attempts at getting up Abdon Burf so I'm ashamed to say that I had to stop once or twice on the way up (though I didn't walk any of it). That's the first time I've had to put a foot down on a climb since the first time I did Riber (near Matlock) so I'll definitely have to go back and do The Burway properly!What did you make of The Burway? I took Mrs Harpoon's brother-in-law up there at Easter as it was great in the sunshine. Not a fan of the descent though as there's way too much loose gravel waiting to take you out. If you descend to The Bridges, there's another good climb over Stiperstones (which is much quieter than the Long Mynd) with a handy cake stop at The Bog Visitor Centre to refuel.
Next time I think I'll do that and Asterton Bank
Descending The Burway wasn't nice given how many cars come up and down it - I put a lot of heat into the brakes!! The onlynother option is to go down Asterton Bank though I think and I doubt that's any better!
ALawson said:
Jiggers Bank is pretty easy and the scenery isn't up to much. I do like the Burway and do a few loops around the area when staying at the in laws.
Jiggers Bank is one of those climbs where I wonder how it made it into the books! It's fun but there are plenty of other similar climbs all over the place. The Burway is definitely a special climb, great view down to the left 
DE1975 said:
Lucky that the Shropshire hills are local for me and I do like the Burway and Stiperstones. I've only gone down Asterton Bank and I would think its a harder climb than the Burway. It's not as long but it just goes up in a straight line at about 20% with no bends for about 1km
Sounds similar to Abdon Burf then - I'll be back to do Asterton but it might not be for a while. It would have been gone to do it on this ride but on the way up the Burway I knew I didn't have it in me this timeI took a minute out of my PB up it earlier this year (Asterton Bank), that may have been due to it being quiet in April when I was up in Church Stretton.
I think a car drove of the Burway last year and down the bank!
This was a particularly cold Christmas ride and takes in some good climbs as a loop out of CS.
https://www.strava.com/activities/457298482#109961...
Next target is sub 9 mins (which would be another minute), I remember being completely knackered this year as it was my first ride outside.
https://www.strava.com/segments/739488
I think a car drove of the Burway last year and down the bank!
This was a particularly cold Christmas ride and takes in some good climbs as a loop out of CS.
https://www.strava.com/activities/457298482#109961...
Next target is sub 9 mins (which would be another minute), I remember being completely knackered this year as it was my first ride outside.
https://www.strava.com/segments/739488
ALawson said:
I took a minute out of my PB up it earlier this year (Asterton Bank), that may have been due to it being quiet in April when I was up in Church Stretton.
I think a car drove of the Burway last year and down the bank!
This was a particularly cold Christmas ride and takes in some good climbs as a loop out of CS.
https://www.strava.com/activities/457298482#109961...
Next target is sub 9 mins (which would be another minute), I remember being completely knackered this year as it was my first ride outside.
https://www.strava.com/segments/739488
I might have to borrow that first ride next time I am in the area as it covers both Asterton and the Burway without having to descend down Asterton (which I don't fancy!)I think a car drove of the Burway last year and down the bank!
This was a particularly cold Christmas ride and takes in some good climbs as a loop out of CS.
https://www.strava.com/activities/457298482#109961...
Next target is sub 9 mins (which would be another minute), I remember being completely knackered this year as it was my first ride outside.
https://www.strava.com/segments/739488
Also nice to do the Burway on fresh legs!
100 Climbs have an app which lists, erm, 100 climbs...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....
There's also the boxed set which has a lot more in them and is nice to look through with a brew whilst planning a ride:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britains-Greatest-Cycling...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....
There's also the boxed set which has a lot more in them and is nice to look through with a brew whilst planning a ride:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britains-Greatest-Cycling...
Harpoon said:
It's on my list still. I've got a route sketched out on RideWithGPS entitled "The Lumpy Bits of Shropshire" and it includes Abdon Burf. I also want to take the B-i-L up it, mainly as revenge for him taking me up Park Rash 
I went out there with the intention of doing more than I did. After Abdon Burf I did the Burway and I was a broken man (I was mostly broken just after doing AB!)I reckon AB is the hardest climb I've ever done. I did Great Dun Fell again last week and Abdon Burf, though much shorter, is harder
gangzoom said:
Great thread, I've got a week A/L coming up, rather than head to the beach to catch COVID, I thought getting up some hills on a pedal bike would be fab.
Anyone got a list of good climbs within in 50-100 miles of Leicester?
Veloviewer also has all of the Simon Warren climbs if you don't fancy buying the apps or books. The books are good value though, I've got a few of themAnyone got a list of good climbs within in 50-100 miles of Leicester?
Not sure how the Top 100 are worked out.
I live by some top hills/climbs. There are 2 however on the Top 100. 1 is the steepest in the area I reckon. The other is a mild Cat4.
The Cat4 is tame, I’d say there are 3 much harder climbs which all lead to the top of the same hill.
https://veloviewer.com/segment/19502850
I’d say by far this is the hardest climb in this area.
This is a nice little cobblestone climb
https://www.strava.com/segments/7065491
I live by some top hills/climbs. There are 2 however on the Top 100. 1 is the steepest in the area I reckon. The other is a mild Cat4.
The Cat4 is tame, I’d say there are 3 much harder climbs which all lead to the top of the same hill.
https://veloviewer.com/segment/19502850
I’d say by far this is the hardest climb in this area.
This is a nice little cobblestone climb
https://www.strava.com/segments/7065491
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