Pale Rider
Legendary Member
What is the longest - not steepest - climb you've done?
My ride today was Consett in County Durham to Parkhead Station along the C2C path - about 10 miles and nearly all uphill.
None of it is steep, apart from the ramp in this first pic which wouldn't be there had someone not decided to bury the old railway tunnel/bridge and send us cyclists over the top.
The next pic is one of the flattish sections, I've always liked this woodland not least because it forms a break from the headwind, which is an all but permanent feature of doing the ride in this direction.
It's a steady pull up to where this next pic was taken, no trees here, or much else for that matter.
Another couple of miles of standard British Rail gradient to go to reach Parkhead Station.
A welcome sight after the long drag into the wind.
As close to 10 miles of constant climbing as you will get.
May as well get a couple of pics on the way back down.
This is another flat bit, Hownsgill Viaduct.
Some poor souls still choose to end it all by jumping off it, despite the extra metalwork.
Finally, a pic of the junction of four paths just outside Consett.
Choice here of Newcastle, Durham, or the C2C to Whitehaven or Sunderland.
It's 'Consett 2' for me, where happily my car is parked, because I'm a bit cream crackered by now.
Cragg Vale - the subject of another thread - is 5.5 miles and what we might call a 'proper climb'.
But I reckon there can't be many longer uphill stretches than Consett to Parkhead.
Over to you.
My ride today was Consett in County Durham to Parkhead Station along the C2C path - about 10 miles and nearly all uphill.
None of it is steep, apart from the ramp in this first pic which wouldn't be there had someone not decided to bury the old railway tunnel/bridge and send us cyclists over the top.
The next pic is one of the flattish sections, I've always liked this woodland not least because it forms a break from the headwind, which is an all but permanent feature of doing the ride in this direction.
It's a steady pull up to where this next pic was taken, no trees here, or much else for that matter.
Another couple of miles of standard British Rail gradient to go to reach Parkhead Station.
A welcome sight after the long drag into the wind.
As close to 10 miles of constant climbing as you will get.
May as well get a couple of pics on the way back down.
This is another flat bit, Hownsgill Viaduct.
Some poor souls still choose to end it all by jumping off it, despite the extra metalwork.
Finally, a pic of the junction of four paths just outside Consett.
Choice here of Newcastle, Durham, or the C2C to Whitehaven or Sunderland.
It's 'Consett 2' for me, where happily my car is parked, because I'm a bit cream crackered by now.
Cragg Vale - the subject of another thread - is 5.5 miles and what we might call a 'proper climb'.
But I reckon there can't be many longer uphill stretches than Consett to Parkhead.
Over to you.
