Apart from the few cars that travel this route, you're more likely to have wary, onlooking deer for company, as they track your slow progress up the mountain. The lodge helpfully is a decent cafe stop too as it happens. As I force round this wicked right-hander, bend three, the pale, rugged and debris-strewn surface rises up like a wall through the trees. The first time I went up was on a mountain bike and even that proved almost impossible, however, once I got to the top I knew I had to return on a road bike to see how fast I could ride it, he recalls. A straight line of unflinching steepness of such monotony that it regularly feels like you're going nowhere. Now straightening up, the next stretch is ridiculously hard, the main problem here being just staying upright while either side of the road, sheep wait to see if yet another rider falls victim to the Chimney. The hardest, most difficult and challenging cycling climbs in Wales are, in order of difficulty, 1. The bike climbs we have documented are in the slideshow above. Now on Station Road, take the third left after crossing the rail line on to Bushcombe Lane between the two 25% signs. Since that first book, he's added 11 more, as well Ride Britain which showcases 40 inspirational road cycling routes. Babusar Pass, 4. Most local riders know its here, we gave it the nickname the Baby Zoncolan but we all avoid it like the plague. It's short, steep and fairly hostile all the way to the final left corner that brings you out Caerphilly Mountain's famous snack bar. Three Cycling UK members have successfully completed an epic challenge to tackle 100 of the UK's most iconic climbs in one mammoth month-long road trip. ALL CLIMBS PJAMM TRIPS MEMBER COMMENTS Climb List: (sort by distance, difficulty, elevation and more) PJAMM TRIPS ADVENTURE STARTER BUNDLES Check out PJAMM Adventure's prepackaged (self-guided) cycling trips. Browse all of our prepackaged trips and find your next adventure! I slump over the bars. See where the steepest portions of the climb are located by gradient group. Luckily for us the rain was holding on our expedition. - they are the Gold Standard for cycling climbing in the UK. I have purchased and relied heavily on several of these books in deciding what climbs to include on the PJAMM Website for the UK. 1. Select a portion of the route to retrieve climb & profile data for that segment. Cyclist and spectators make their way up The Tumble and line the road as the Tour of Britain cyclist near the finish, Abergavenny. Leaving Rosedale Abbey, a sign warns you of the one-in-three yes, one-in-three gradient to come. Here are some of the UK's other toughest ascents. After an age on the opening steep gradient the road banks right to plateau before a brief downhill. Therefore, after Bealach na Ba (UK #1 Most Epic and #4 hardest), Bwlch y Groes might be the second best bike climb in all the land. Where Leave the A470 at Dinas Mawddwy and head north east towards Aber-Cywarch. It does not include the hills to the south of Maentwrog. In fact, there is a sign at the start warning that the road is Unsuitable for motor vehicles. Although I assume this is mostly to keep tourists away as we intersected multiple residents traveling the road in their cars. Let us know what you thought of this climb. This climb isn't for the faint-hearted. I was to discover that there is absolutely no objection to cyclists riding it, although few would be mad enough. The scenery gets more barren as you climb, dispensing with the trees and dry stone walls of the lower stretches and opening out into a classic Brecon Beacons landscape at the summit. They will help you plan, document and conquer your next adventure. Don't let the urban nature of this climb fool you - it's not easy. It's a very tough mile though, averaging somewhere around 9% as it cuts its way up the side of Maerdy Mountain. The superlative Bwlch y Groes is coincidentally ranked #2 most epic hill climb in Wales and 3 in all the UK. Check out PJAMM Adventure's prepackaged (self-guided) cycling trips. It's a brave soul who doesn't find the site of the Bwlch summit towering above them as they set out from Treorchy slightly daunting. What follows is a brief levelling out but you can't put off what lies ahead for long. Eventually you'll bend around to the left and the battered, rugged road levels for good. And don't even think about putting a foot down - you'll never get started again. The steepest paved street in Pittsburghand one of the toughest climbs in the USmakes the top spot on our list. Approaching 20%, you crawl through harsh, boulder-littered scenery, a massive slog to the briefest of levels where the classification of the road changes public cars are allowed no further. As Dan waltzes off ahead I am beginning to falter. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Simon Warren for his books generally and for his contribution of Top 10 lists for PJAMM Cycling. My knees are ready to snap. Simon Warren has published many books on cycling climbing in the UK (e.g. It is an incredible climb both ways but the road from Tornapress, heading north-west, is just awesome. It's that steep much of the way. Thank you for signing up! There is also now a Welsh Climbs book 100 greatest cycling climbs is a list of some of the hardest climbs in the UK from Constitution Hill to Kirkstone Pass and Ditchling Beacon. Our preloaded PJAMM Adventure App trip pages Wales and the UK are accessed by clicking the purple PJAMM Trips button above. The maximum gradient is 13%. Visit our corporate site. The Tumble (SW #97), 8. A headwind, on the other hand, and it can be a real grind. It is really tough to crown just one climb in Wales as a favorite after riding so many over our few weeks of riding in June 2022. We believe we have located and thoroughly documented the Top 10 Hardest (by Fiets and by Simon Warren) and 10 Most Epic (Simon Warren) and these are accessed via the Map or List above on the Wales Home page just above this Climb Area Summary. If youve ever been to Manhattan and walked the streets straining your neck upwards to admire the skyscrapers, well, for a moment looking up this road it feels like that. This climb was renowned throughout the 1970s and 80s as the most challenging climb used in the Milk Race round-Britain cycle race (, The History of Motor Sport and the Bwlch-y-Groes is nearly as old as motorsport. Without being too hysterical, this climb is nothing more than a joyless straight line of pain. Have you tackled the toughest climb in your region? Riding alongside Dan with Jess tucked in behind we set off, all three of us understandably apprehensive of what lies ahead. The gradient kicks up to 14% as you head through the Cimla area of Neath, before a descent the other side takes you down into the Afan Valley. Start opposite the old red telephone box, past the numerous warning signs, across the cattle grid then bend slightly left. Stay up to date with the latest developments. On the west coast of Scotland, Bealach na B has the most elevation gain of any road climb in the UK, rising from sea level to 626m over a stretch of 9.2km. A short flat section ramps up hard, then almost levels before ramping hard again. . Another climb with a fair bit of ascent to even get to the start. The surface is rough at first and steep from the outset, but improves as you pass over a cattlegrid and approach the double hairpin. I can now hear Jess approaching from behind, her 34 x 32 slightly more suited to the venue than my 34 x 28, judging by her colourful language I assume I am in her way. But I have to keep fighting. Holding a straight line is becoming all but impossible and the effort needed is simply unsustainable. Gwent The toughest climb in south Wales Where Heading west on the A465 from . Begin the climb across the bridge at Cock Bridge just past Corgarff Castle. . Here there is another leveling, a plateau of sorts before things turn from nasty to insane. Through the gate, straight over a cattle grid and into more hard work, the road bending left past a stone shelter, a sure-fire signal although you are nowhere near the top yet that you're heading into truly hostile country. The Most Challenging Climbs in South Wales, West Sicily: A Journey Through Ancient Culture & History, Wales: Cycling From The Border To The Brecon Beacons, Sweden: The Kattegattleden & Halland Coast. is the highest tarmacked pass in Wales (, Also known as Hellfire Pass, Bwich-Y-Groes is the highest paved road in Wales. The English name for the area derives from Snowdon, which is the highest mountain in Wales at 3560 ft (1,085 m). But, I like to think its a Sheep in Dragons clothing. Height gain 286m The majority of Scotland's roads stick to valleys as there's no need to cross the mountains but here they link the village of Applecross with the rest of the world by taking the route over the top of Bealach-na-Ba. (sort by distance, difficulty, elevation and more). Banking right, the surface breaks up and 20% soon turns into 25%. Through Gayle, the road flat, hugging the river, soon rises sharply for a short 17% lung-opener. The steep, consistent gradient hovers around 15% all the way, making it one of the most challenging climbs in South Wales. This climb is along the southeastern edge of Snowdonia National Park (established 1951 - third national park in Britain after Peak District and Lake District). Is it the suffering? The hardest ascent is from the west, beginning at Fell Foot Farm, where straight away you have a 20% right-hander and that's just a taste of what lies ahead. It starts steep from the village of Clydach and beats you up for a whole mile before easing just a touch. Im now trapped on a two foot wide strip of rippled 30 per cent concrete fighting for survival. If you have any information regarding this climb, we'd like to hear from you. Then you hit the switchbacks, where a better surface is cold comfort as you grapple with gravity's pull and attempt to hold your momentum through these vicious bends. If any more proof was needed, this road takes no prisoners., it is utterly savage but thats what we love, right? Check out PJAMM Adventure's prepackaged (self-guided) cycling trips. But amongst the legendary Welsh valleys, beaches and mountains found in the south of the country, where can you find the most challenging climbs on two wheels? Its quite a strange effort needed to try and get the KOM, he explains. Deep in the dark heart of Wales, climbing nut Simon Warren thinks he has discovered Britains steepest hill. The Harlech Hell Climb event was held on the excruciating climb on Sunday (August 11), with riders tackling the 330 metre climb, which averages 17 per cent and reaches a maximum gradient of 37.45 . Ranking list Climbing up through Bedlinog is such a challenge because its so deceptive. This gorgeous country road is testing for even the best cyclists, but it provides great views north towards the western Brecon Beacons. In a way. We rank this monster as the #3 most difficult in Britain via the Fiets index - #2 in Wales! Staring with 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs in 2010, Simon has set out to chronicle and, of course, ride the toughest cycling climbs across the UK and Europe. Summarized above under Fiets Top 10 Hardest], 100 Greatest Climbs - A Road Cyclists Guide To Britains Hills, Rate climbs, post comments and share your experiences on any of our climb pages, Create bucket lists of climbs & mark the dates you complete them, Weather data for all climbs - Start & Finish, Upload photos to your member page to customize your PJAMM Cycling experience, Utilize all of our interactive tools - Profile & Routes in Area. The 5 hardest cycling climbs in the UK (Please link to Pedalsure.com if using elsewhere) Bealach na B The closest to an Alpine mountain climb that the UK has to offer is Bealach na B ("Pass of the Cattle" in Scottish Gaelic) on the west coast of Scotland. Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access, Enjoy your first month for just 1 / $1 / 1, *Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription. (If you're cyclist in North, Mid or West Wales, we'll be. The steepest parts of the climb are before you've even left the edge of the town, but it's long enough to be a real struggle if you've burnt too many matches too soon. It's neither steep or particularly tough, but the constant sequence of false summits can make it a heartbreaking experience for an already fatigued rider. Thanks to Strava for the route maps and climb profiles. The climb up here out of Ferndale is pretty tasty too. Snowdonia National Park (Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) was established in 1951 as the third national park in Britain, following the Peak District and the Lake District. From this page you may navigate to the top 10 most difficult bicycling climbs in Wales. They will help you plan, document and conquer your next adventure. This is the story of how he found it and just how painful it is to ride. The average gradient might "only" be 8.3%, but that's reduced by the steady stretch of false flat that precedes the summit. Simon ranked Bwlch y Groes as the fourth hardest climb in Wales (7 UK) and second most epic in Wales (after Stwlan Dam). Taking your bike up a steep climb next to Welsh dry stone walls and mountain streams on Heol Lan is an experience that will stay with you. Our first relentless climb is Abercynafon, found between Talybont-on-Usk and Pontsticill. Get info and context about new features. But the end of the steep ramp is within touching distance. But we dare you to stand at Broad Pool, look up at the ribbon of road snaking up to Gower's highest point and not want to ride it. My puny cycling arms are shaking like a frightened kitten. "Cycling in south Wales is a completely different story. Bealach na B is the one most talked about, as one of few category 1 road climbs in the United Kingdom. In Wales cyclists can find 74 interesting climbs between 5 and 550 meters above sea level. Wales treated us quite well on our visit in August 2018. The top few miles of the Swansea Valley take you up the steady slopes of a wide and straight main road up to the beautiful Crai Reservoir. I can see why. Leave the A470 at Dinas Mawddwy and head into the Afon Dyfi Valley. Bwlch y Groes means Pass of the Cross.. Top 100 #86. Climbs have an average length of 4.2km and 248 meters of total ascent. >>> Subscriptions deals forCycling Weeklymagazine. It might be less than a mile, but make no mistake - this is the one of the toughest climbs in South Wales, with the gradient hovering around 15% virtually all the way until it finally shows some mercy in the last couple of hundred metres. Ride only 600 meters but at a stunning 21.3% average grade. The 1.9 mile route is memorable for its scary hairpin climb. From bend two the road swings left, kicks up then eases back to rumble across a cattle grid and so far, so pretty ordinary but then, up ahead the road arcs away to the right and here it begins to look serious. Moel Arthur - 220m - 10 to 20% - 2.2km #88. When I first tackled Hardknott Pass in the Lake District I assumed nothing could ever beat that, but then a few years after I discovered the road up to Abdon Burf in the Shropshire Hills and my perception of torture was changed. Or should we be asking, how accurate? This is the highest paved road and hardest bike climb in Wales. Horshoe Pass (Bwlch yr Oernant) - 317m - 7 to 20% - 6.1km #91.
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