"The Hill"

[swee'pea99]

Did the shorter Chilterns sportive today (and it was quite long enough for me, thanks all the same). Dragging up a fairly meaty hill, I heard a woman behind me ask her companion, "Is this the hill?" To which her friend replied, "I don't think so." About half an hour later, I found she was right. Blimey. This wasn't just 'the hill'; this was most definitely 'The Hill'. None of it was gentle, some of it was really steep (front wheel constantly lifting off the ground steep), and it just went on and on and on. Brutal. I said to my mate when I caught up with him at the top, "I think that was the toughest single hill I've ever tackled. Ever." He agreed it was a bit naughty.

That aside, an absolutely brilliant day! Tough, but fair. Well organised/signposted (I've been on many that weren't). Wonderful countryside (as my mate said, 'you can see why all the filthy-rich bastards like Cameron & Clarkson come and live here'). And the weather was about as good as you could hope for. Wonderful.

But I won't forget that hill in a hurry...

 

[ColinJ]

Sounds good!

Which hill was it? Looking at the map, I'd guess Whiteleaf.

An AVERAGE of 10% for 1.2 km, but with steeper ramps. That is certainly a stiff hill. We have lots like that round here which is why all of my bikes have very low bottom gears!

 

[ColinJ]

I've just realised that it is only about 25 miles from where my younger sister lives. I might take my bike down there one day and have a go at that route - it looks like a good ride!

 

[swee'pea99]

I'm afraid I don't know what hill it was - I didn't see any signs or anything, and I could barely see through the red mist of pain and the sweat dribbling down my sunglasses, but 1.2km sounds about right, and there were certainly some distinctly tougher sections in among the general quite-steep-enough-to-be-a-bit-of-struggle. Oh, and yes, it's a cracking ride.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Hills in the Chilterns? You don't know you are born..........

 

[mjr]

I was expecting something harsher, but I lived at the foot of a 25% in the west country. 10% is quite bad enough if you're not used to steep climbs.