Hills of hell

[briantrumpet]

Blagdon Hill is a firm second, though.

Hmm, not necessarily one that has me quaking in my boots, though it does go on for a bit. The one further along towards the Wellington Monument (just to the east of it) has a nasty kick at the end. But the one that I really must beat is this one (which I posted about some time ago) at Awliscombe in Devon:

It shouldn't have beat me (I can do Sidmouth's Peak Hill in under 7 minutes, and that is a beast), but there's just something about the one at Awliscombe. Grrr.

 

[ColinJ]

Park Rash near Kettlewell in North Yorkshire was a bit of a brute!

 

[Matthew_T]

What a lovely view Matthew I love the welsh coast

If you look at this picture: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...06174397.12784.100002171454762&type=3&theater. Then rule a line straight up from my bag, I live right on the coastal edge. (Well a bit further in).

 

[Col5632]

I don't think I've come across a Hill of Hell but there are a few out there I like, Glen Quaich (although I'll have to try it from the Kenmore side one day), Gloom Hill, Dollar (the Castle Campbell Road), Law Hill Dollar, the Logie Kirk Road, Purin Hill, Cleish Hill, Benarty Hill, Wicks of Baiglie, Dunning Glen, Dunning to Path of Condie, the Tak-ma-doon Road and the Crow Road; you've guessed it, I like hills and I'm probably leaving a few out here

Castle campbell is a good one never done it though lol

Cleish hill was a total nightmare and dont know if i will ever climb it, least i think that was cleish hill

 

[Christopher]

Talla Dam in the Scottish Borders....rather spend 20 miles going round it than go over it!

Did that about 3 weeks ago, on a lightly loaded tourer with 28x26 bottom gear. Not easy but not too hard. Super scenery up there. It was much more fun than the endless grind down the Tweedsmuir valley into a strong headwind that followed... I did a weekend tour from Edinburgh to Carlisle.

My local hill from hell is Moor Lane, just outside Whalley (Lancashire). It goes from flat into a 1 in 7, so if you're not already in bottom gear you just stop. I have never had the nerve to do something really hard, like Honistor or Wrynose...

 

[Fiona N]

There's a couple of hills near Tiverton that were tough on our LeJoG which knocked spots off the infamous Shap (which I found relatively easy...ish!)

Well no one ever said Shap was steep - I used to use it for hill training on a recumbent bike. The training part was the downhill - seeing how much over 70 mph I could get and no one is their right mind heads to steep hills on a recumbent bike as the price of failure is likely a fall over sideways

Recumbent trikes are something else again as if all else fails you can easily stop for a breather and getting going's no hassle. I've only once come across a hill I couldn't get the trike up - which means >> 25% - and that was Astoria in northern Oregon on the south bank of the Columbia River just by the bridge. The B&B I was booked into was up a hill of such steepness I couldn't get the trike up it and it was too narrow to zigzag. But it was even worse on foot - I couldn't get enough purchase to push the trike. I had to reverse back down the part of the hill I'd crawled up and go around the long way

Locally, the hill I most hate isn't long or that steep ~10% max up from Natland towards the Helm but it's the one which has to be climbed on the return from most rides so it's the one climbed most often with tired legs - especially on the single speed. Hills are always worse when you don't get a good return for your effort so the Brigstrer hill back over to Kendal is always thankless - long, steep winding and the supposed downhill has long uphills in it until you're on the edge of Kendal and then it's too dangerous to really open up.

 

[onlineamiga]

Most probably don't know it. Because its in Spain. On the south coast in Andalucia. From San Pablo to Gaucín.

From bottom to top, is 10km of windy up hillness. Taking you from Sea Level up 650 meters to Gaucin. It takes over an hour to climb it.
Why is it the hill of hell? Because it goes up the side of a mountain, and it is repetetive. You come round a bend and it looks exactly like the one you did 10 minutes ago, and again and again.

Why do I hate this hill? Well I've done it a lot of times. It never beat me. Until I got too confident. After a bit of a break in cycling. I headed out and tackled it. I couldnt manage it at al. Despite knowing that I've done it previously even fully loaded with touring gear on the bike. What had started off as a slight unwellness in the morning escalated to mucho vomiting after doing this hill. So I now hate it because of that! I have since conquered it, but it zaps every bit of energy you have!

On the plus side. The scenary going up this climb is amazing. The town at the end of Gaucin is lovely with some great tapas places, and of course the ride down is fun

 

[HLaB]

Castle campbell is a good one never done it though lol

Cleish hill was a total nightmare and dont know if i will ever climb it, least i think that was cleish hill

Cleish Hill looks worse than it is, you get a good break half way and there's usually a tailwind there to the end but because of the trees there not usually much of a headwind at the start.

 

[Nebulous]

I had this view that Scotland was the only place in the UK with decent hills. Which is true to some extent - only we don't have roads up them!

Anyway last month I went to Yorkshire on holiday and couldn't believe Sutton Bank. I saw all these warnings about caravans and HGVs and drove up it in first gear in a converted LDV minibus - towing a trailer full of camping gear with 4 bikes on top of it.

I only had a mtb with me, but intended to try cycling it before I went home, however unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) I never made it back.

 

[zigzag]

trying to think of hills which i'd want to avoid. any hill can be very tough if you try to set your personal best, or don't have low enough gears, or carry heavy load, or feel knackered, or ....

 

[Xiorell]

On the way into my GFs village there's a hill I really hate. I don't know why, I frequently go up much longer, steeper hills... but this one just seems a real killer. It's probabley all in my head, when I first started cycling that hill seemed epic, even though it's pretty mild now my brain must be hanging on to the early days

 

[Sittingduck]

Going North, over Blackfriars bridge... what a leg burner!
Have to tackle this b*tch every morning too

 

[broomwagon]

I've never ridden up it but I should imagine "The Struggle" from Ambleside to the Kirkstone Pass pub is quite a challenge.

 

[lukesdad]

Going North, over Blackfriars bridge... what a leg burner!
Have to tackle this b*tch every morning too

lol SD

 

[Christopher]

I've never ridden up it but I should imagine "The Struggle" from Ambleside to the Kirkstone Pass pub is quite a challenge.

Walked up there one icy February day - the tarmac was so iced up I had to put crampons on for the steep bits!