100 Great Cycling Climbs

[frisbee]

flight147z said:

This is a part of the country I haven't had a chance to get to yet, most of my cycling is done in the North when I travel away from home

Bushcome lane looks like a really good one though. Sometimes I head down to the Cotswolds with work so perhaps when things are more normal I will get a chance to go there at the same time

Cleeve Hill (which Bushcombe climbs) has 6 different roads up it. Bushcombe, Stockwell and Gambles are the 3 peaks - a good workout before work.

The main route over it can be busy in normal times and seems to attract 10mph 5th gear drivers.

[flight147z]

Another 6 completed over a long weekend in the Lake District, now up to 39/100

Day 1 - Wrynose and Hardknott. I started in Ambleside and then headed over Wrynose out to Hardknott before heading back to Ambleside. This meant I did both of these passes in both directions. The alternate sides of both passes are also very hard. Four very nasty descents!

Day 2 - Drove to Keswick and did a northern loop that took in Whinlatter, Newlands and Honister. I had to double back on myself at the top of Newlands to get all three climbs into a short loop

Day 3 - Headed up over The Struggle and descended Kirkstone Pass before coming back up Kirkstone Pass and descending The Struggle. Annoyingly the official segment for The Struggle starts in a very particular place and I missed the first bit so technically I haven't done that one properly (yet)

[lufbramatt]

Looks amazing, chapeau!

I’m up there next week, hoping to get a couple of passes in, family permitting...

[ShortShift811]

flight147z said:

Have you done Trooper Lane? It's in that area but not in the main book, it's in the Yorkshire book. Definitely should have made it into the main book in my opinion, it's one of the toughest climbs I have ever done (and I made it easy for myself by doing it right at the start of my ride!)

Good video on it here

Haven't done Trooper Lane yet, but the cycling club I've just joined is on the edge of the Leeds / Bardford border, so Calderdale is a regular feature for them and it's on the list!

Any real masochists looking for a 'lumpy' sportive in the area should try this:

http://rondevancalderdale.org/

ETA - bloody well done on Hardknott, Wynrose et al. Great pics! I'm signed up for the Fred Whitton next year. Can't wait.

[keith2.2]

flight147z said:

Day 2 - Drove to Keswick and did a northern loop that took in Whinlatter, Newlands and Honister. I had to double back on myself at the top of Newlands to get all three climbs into a short loop

I used to do a nice loop in the opposite direction - Park in Keswick, along derwentwater to the bottom of Honnister, over and down to the bottom of Newlands, over Newlands then up over Whinlatter and back to Keswick

Highest speed ever coming down the back of Newlands.
Biggest crash ever coming down the back of Honnister (hit the deck at 47mph)

Separate occasions.

Absolutely spectacular loop.

[flight147z]

keith2.2 said:

Biggest crash ever coming down the back of Honnister (hit the deck at 47mph)

that doesn't sound good!

[ShortShift811]

I'm staying in Windermere for 2 nights on Sunday and Monday. Expect I'll have the opportunity of a 2 -3 hour ride on Monday morning - any recommendations?

Given the small window I was thinking of just heading over Kirsktone Pass to Patterdale and coming back the same way - everything else looks like a bigger, longer loop which the authorities (SWMBO) won't allow!

[flight147z]

ShortShift811 said:

I'm staying in Windermere for 2 nights on Sunday and Monday. Expect I'll have the opportunity of a 2 -3 hour ride on Monday morning - any recommendations?

Given the small window I was thinking of just heading over Kirsktone Pass to Patterdale and coming back the same way - everything else looks like a bigger, longer loop which the authorities (SWMBO) won't allow!

Depends on how tough you would like it to be but my suggestion would be the following

• Take the A591 out of Windermere and cycle to Ambleside (provided you are out early - the road will get very busy with traffic later on in the morning).
• Cycle up "The Struggle" out of Ambleside towards the "Kirkstone Pass" in (I think this is a much better climb than taking the A592 directly from Windermere to the top of Kirkstone pass and also I'd expect it to be a lot quieter)
• Cycle down Kirkstone Pass to Hartsop and turn around
• Cycle directly back from Hartsop over the top of Kirkstone pass continuing down the A592 to Windermere

I did the second and third bits as part of my final day ride out of Ambleside to do Kirkstone Pass. It does mean you loop back on the same roads a little which is unfortunate but that can be hard to avoid in the lakes as there aren't a lot of alternate routes in a lot of places

Another option could be to cycle to Ambleside then head West to do Wrynose Pass (I don't think you could get all the way out to Hardknott within your time limit)

[ShortShift811]

flight147z said:

Depends on how tough you would like it to be but my suggestion would be the following

• Take the A591 out of Windermere and cycle to Ambleside (provided you are out early - the road will get very busy with traffic later on in the morning).
• Cycle up "The Struggle" out of Ambleside towards the "Kirkstone Pass" in (I think this is a much better climb than taking the A592 directly from Windermere to the top of Kirkstone pass and also I'd expect it to be a lot quieter)
• Cycle down Kirkstone Pass to Hartsop and turn around
• Cycle directly back from Hartsop over the top of Kirkstone pass continuing down the A592 to Windermere

I did the second and third bits as part of my final day ride out of Ambleside to do Kirkstone Pass. It does mean you loop back on the same roads a little which is unfortunate but that can be hard to avoid in the lakes as there aren't a lot of alternate routes in a lot of places

Another option could be to cycle to Ambleside then head West to do Wrynose Pass (I don't think you could get all the way out to Hardknott within your time limit)

Good info, thanks. I had looked at going up to the A592 via The Struggle, but it looks, erm.. a struggle! I may well haul my arse up there for the heck of it though. Hadn't spotted Hartsop either, so thanks for pointing that out too.

[flight147z]

Lots of new regional climbs for me in Cheshire today

• Axe Edge
• Croker Hill
• Coalpit Lane
• Charity Lane
• The Corkscrew
• Pym Chair

I also did Long Hill which is a good climb but not in any of the books

The Corkscrew is a proper challenge and worth a visit. Averages 27% over extremely rough and slippy cobbles. Although it is only 100m long it is a real challenge to get to the top as maintaining traction and momentum is properly tough

Segment is here and some pictures are below

[ian in lancs]

A nice route clockwise from Keswick



Honister Pass E-W and Newland Hause S-N first one maxes out at 25%, the second 22% both average about 10-11%

[lufbramatt]

ian in lancs said:

A nice route clockwise from Keswick



Honister Pass E-W and Newland Hause S-N first one maxes out at 25%, the second 22% both average about 10-11%

I did that exact route last week, it's a good'un. Although I added a bit on from where we were staying to Keswick and back so ended up doing 100km/5700ft. The Passes weren't as bad as expected to get up, the worst bit for me was the steep bits of the descents. Got a cheer at the top of Honister from people in the cafe :-)

Edited by lufbramatt on Sunday 16th August 14:36

[ian in lancs]

I did it on the 6th of august. Next time I’m in the area I’ll reroute to get in whinlatter then I can focus on the southern passes.

[flight147z]

Another 4 from the original list completed yesterday, all in North Yorkshire

• Oxnop Scar
• Buttertubs
• Fleet Moss
• Park Rash

Brilliant area to ride, all great climbs (particularly Buttertubs) and perfect weather too. Shame it took almost 3 hours to get there, a long day out overall





At the start of 2020 I had done 24 climbs out of the original book, I'm now on 43. I'm definitely getting to the point where all of the climbs that aren't too big a problem to drive to have all been done so I'm unsure what I will do from here. Possibly start to look at more of the regional climbs again. I'm lucky in that I'm based centrally which means a lot of the climbs in the Midlands, Yorkshire and the lower part of the North West are within a reasonable drive from home. Current totals from the regional books are as below:

South-East - 1/60
South-West - 5/75
Midlands - 41/75
Yorkshire - 34/75
North-West - 21/75
North-East - 0/50
Wales - 0/75
Scotland - 3/60

Overall - 105/545

I bumped into someone last weekend that had done all 545 climbs - that must have taken some commitment!

[jinkster]

I am surprised no one has mentioned Winnats Pass in the Peak District or is that too easy?

[ukbabz]

Its on the 100 list! In fact I'm meant to be in Sheffield on Tuesday and tempted to see if I can get the time to do it

[flight147z]

Winnatts was actually voted as the best climb in the UK here

I've done it 3 times, it's a tough one, I think it's harder than the rating in the book suggests and obviously the scenery is excellent!

There is a second way to climb to the top of the same peak (from Edale) which is also great

[Maracus]

A few of us did Winnats Pass last week. I found Great Dun Fell far more testing.

[jinkster]

flight147z said:

Winnatts was actually voted as the best climb in the UK here

I've done it 3 times, it's a tough one, I think it's harder than the rating in the book suggests and obviously the scenery is excellent!

There is a second way to climb to the top of the same peak (from Edale) which is also great

Mam Nick - I'm new to road cycling and failed at Winnats. Will try Mam Nick soon.

[ukbabz]

Just back from trying Winnats pass, along with peaslows (#37). It was harder than I expected although I parked in hope so didn't really warm up which can't have helped.

A bail out gear would have helped (36/30 is smallest) but still managed ok.

The peaslows was much nicer but was front loaded with the steep bit which helped a fair bit!

Times wise (veloviewer.com leaderboard)

1. 33 Winnats pass: 9min 25s (98th)
2. 37 Peaslows: 8min37s (96th)