Approaching from either direction you see the radar station's "golf ball" glowing like a beacon on the top of the ridge. Now round to the right, the ever steepening, increasingly lumpy surface heads into arguably the hardest section of relentlessly steep tarmac in Britain. How many have you suffered on your way up? To climb from the east, begin at the warning sign at Jubilee Bridge. If a man with legs as strong as Dans struggles up a climb then what chance do us mortals have? You're now face to face with the vicious 25% corner which delivers you on to the cruel slopes that cling to the side of the sheer bank. And yet it's easy to forget that it's also one of the toughest. The first 10km climbs 800m to a small Visitor Centre, via ever steepening slopes and long 12 - 15% ramps. With the wind on your back, it's one that can be tackled in the big ring on a good day. . When we reached this last hairpin though his jaw hit the floor, he recalls. Photos clockwise from top left: Bwlch y Groes (Wales #1, UK #2 hardest); Stwlan Dam (Wales #1, UK #2 most epic); Entering Wales in Llanymynech; Cardiff Castle; Welsh flag flying over Cardiff Castle (center). In a way. Get the arrow-straight, slightly soul-destroying drag past Tower Colliery out the way and enjoy the way this climb gently curves its way across the front of the mountain. It's mentally taxing rather than a top-level physical challenge - the four miles of climbing are largely gentle in gradient terms, but difficult because of the scale of the landscape. Factoring in a pretty torrid road surface too means reaching the top of this wall is an achievement few will ever accomplish. All rights reserved. Where Leaving the A593 just south of Skelwith Bridge head west to Little Langdale. Theres always a bigger fish. Thats what the ancient proverb says, and just when I thought Id ridden the steepest road in Britain, and put the matter of determining the country's toughest cycling climb to bed once and for all, up popped another hideous incline to further move the goalposts and redefine suffering. Populated by wandering sheep, the road steepens relentlessly, offering nowhere to hide as you click through the gears hoping to find a large enough sprocket just to keep moving. You have to pace yourself because as the road progresses you hit a series of bends, coupled with a 30% gradient. The climb begins as we pass a set of old farm buildings on the left. Height gain 286m Horshoe Pass (Bwlch yr Oernant) - 317m - 7 to 20% - 6.1km #91. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. How many have you ridden? Afon Ddu from Trefriw is the toughest ascent with a difficulty score of 621. The road levels between the sharp bends giving you a chance to attack each wicked corner then gather yourself in time for the next. The 5 hardest cycling climbs in the UK (Please link to Pedalsure.com if using elsewhere) Bealach na B Bealach-na-Ba 9.2km at 6.8% (Grid: 1 km) -25% -10% 0% 10% 25% View full details on 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. A few weeks later I arrive with our photographer Andy, Dan and his wife Jess - a hill climb champion in her own right - to share the experience with them and get the local low down on this insane 700 metres of vertical concrete. Check out PJAMM Adventure's prepackaged (self-guided) cycling trips. This climb is breathtaking and we will return and do this one again - its just that unique, inspiring and exceptional. Its so incredibly steep that even 10 seconds of going too hard early on and youll blow it, you really have to measure it just right., Dan Jones's climbing prowess and local knowledge showing on the steeper sections of Abdon Ddu. As of 2022, Simon Warren has published 12 cycling climbing books - 10 focusing on the UK, one on TdF and the other on the Giro. Zig-zag past cascading waterfalls, amidst the brief protection of rocky outcrops to exit this tangle of tarmac and round one final left hand to finish. Pozza San Glisente (Dos dell'Asino), 8. Only two miles, but one of those climbs that feels like it goes on forever. El Torneado, and 10. From there it's a steep and tough push to reach the saddle of the pass. >>> Subscriptions deals forCycling Weeklymagazine. Do not attempt to ride here in unfavourable conditions. A little bit about Simon Warren - We contacted Simon Warren with our request for his Top 10 lists because we consider him the Gold Standard and cyclist with the most thorough and comprehensive knowledge of hill climbing by bike in the UK. We participate in the Amazon Associates Program. I have purchased and relied heavily on several of these books in deciding what climbs to include on the PJAMM Website for the UK. I say a big thank you to Dan and Jess for joining me for the morning its then that they point out to me, if you thought it was hard on the way up, just wait until you go back down. - Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. 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. Thanks to Strava for the route maps and climb profiles. This mini monster was brought to my attention by hill climb master and double National Champion Dan Evans after I noticed a string of expletives in his Strava feed. 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. While our Fiets list overlaps Simons for some climbs, the 2 lists do give you a nice sense of the objective and subjective Top 10 hardest Welsh climbs. A short flat section ramps up hard, then almost levels before ramping hard again. Climbs have an average length of 4.2km and 248 meters of total ascent. I was to discover that there is absolutely no objection to cyclists riding it, although few would be mad enough. Stwlan Dam. As of 2022, Simon Warren has published 12 cycling climbing books - 10 focusing on the UK, one on TdF and the other on the Giro. There's something evil lurking in the woods at the top of this climb in rural Monmouthshire. In an attempt to move right, my front wheel lifts, there is a bang, my right foot instinctively unclips and that was it, I am gone. Browse all of our prepackaged trips and find your next adventure! Bending right the slope immediately kicks up to around 25 per cent but this is mere childs play compared to what lies ahead. The surface, just wide enough for a single car, is smooth at the edges but little more than gravel and moss in the centre. Eventually you'll bend around to the left and the battered, rugged road levels for good. The dial might touch 10% at times here, but in reality this is a fairly gentle climb that winds gracefully up for Mitchel Troy, just outside Monmouth, to its summit close to the village of Trelleck through a pleasant mix of open fields and deciduous woodland. ANDY! I scream, we are coming. The steepest paved street in Pittsburghand one of the toughest climbs in the USmakes the top spot on our list. Riding from Llangadog, you'll be climbing before you realise, but the real business starts after the woodland stops and the open mountainside starts. 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. 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. Simon has been riding for over 30 years and has a long connection with Cycling Weekly, he was once a designer on the magazine and has been a regular contributor for many years. Weve been crawling skyward for about two minutes, covering just 250m of tarmac as we round bend three. Pass through the large orange gates used to close the road in winter proof, if you hadn't twigged already, that you're heading into serious country. How steep? We decided to opt for an even steeper summit - Cairn O'Mount. The Tyla rounds The Blorenge Mountain from Gilwern, and its an incredibly challenging climb, mainly because of its steep lower slopes. One for the power climbers. The lodge helpfully is a decent cafe stop too as it happens. Still, that's the least of your worries as you pass a 25% sign. . Stick with it, as eventually the one-in-three does turn into a relatively gentle one-in-six, allowing you to build a little momentum to drag your bike up on to the moor. Here there is another leveling, a plateau of sorts before things turn from nasty to insane. Maximum gradient: 16%. 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. Its quite a strange effort needed to try and get the KOM, he explains. 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The gradient on the inside of the bend is estimated to be somewhere in excess of 30%, and while you'd be daft to try riding over that bit, the outside isn't exactly a piece of cake either. Electric Mountain, 5. Heading up the Blorenge from the other side, the climb gains slightly less altitude in slightly greater distance. This is one of the toughest bits of road anywhere in the UK and, through the next left-hand bend, it touches 30% at the apex. Windswept and remote this climb begins in Brynamman, Carmarthenshire, and goes for 3.7 miles with a 12% gradient. I can see why. A pretty stone bridge over a stream takes you across the side of the hill, before a further hairpin spins you back towards the exposed top section. . VIDEO: Snowboarder Climbs Tree To Evade Angry Moose. "Cycling in south Wales is a completely different story. This is the story of how he found it and just how painful it is to ride. Wales is a wonderful country with great people, extraordinary scenery and EPIC bike climbs!! No part of it is easy, but it's the first of two hairpins that makes it notorious. The three vicious ascents leaving Woodmancote all offer a fantastic challenge, and of the three it's Bushcombe Lane that stands apart. Newly formed Denver Disruptors and Miami Nights NCL teams will make their debut at Tucson Bicycle Classic and tackle a full season of NCL and domestic racing, By Anne-Marije Rook Browse all of our prepackaged trips and find your next adventure! Where: Heading north out of Cymmer in the Afan Valley. Climbing up through Bedlinog is such a challenge because its so deceptive. This challenging route is found between between Ystrad Mynach and Merthyr Tydfil and is a distance of 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres). In Wales cyclists can find 74 interesting climbs between 5 and 550 meters above sea level. Bwlch Penbarras from Llanbedr-Dyffryn-Clwyd, The Road to Hell from Denbigh via Nantglyn, Llanberis Pass / Pen-y-Pass from Nant Peris. If you can ride this, you can ride anything. Grid ref: NJ 252 118 (OS37) Length 3.01km Height gain 245m Approx climb time 21 mins, This is it: the Holy Grail, the toughest and wildest climb in Britain. We've collected 37 of the hardest, most beautiful, steepest, highest and longest climbs in South Wales. There's a choice towards the top between turning right down towards Llangynidr or carrying on along the road to Rassau to complete the full climb. This is apparent in books published prior to 1951, such as the classic travelogue Wild Wales by George Borrow (1862) and The Mountains of Snowdonia by H. Carr & G. Lister (1925). Thankfully it eases off as it reaches the higher levels, giving you the chance to recover before the summit while taking in stunning views of Hay Bluff and the English borders. The beautiful landscape of the Brecon Beacons. Scroll down the page to access the full Top 10 Welsh Bike Climbs on the Map below (or switch to "Table" for a detailed list). Cyclist and spectators make their way up The Tumble and line the road as the Tour of Britain cyclist near the finish, Abergavenny. Arguably, though, he is best known as the author of Cycling Climbs series of books. The British is named after the massive old ironworks that once dominated this area above Pontypool. The climb lasts for almost a mile and has an elevation gain of 180 metres. Gradients of around 30% are generally only found on the inside of tight bends. See where the steepest portions of the climb are located by gradient group. Begin the climb across the bridge at Cock Bridge just past Corgarff Castle. Our preloaded PJAMM Adventure App trip pages Wales and the UK are accessed by clicking the purple PJAMM Trips button above. Not here. But its trajectory means that the damage is done on the brutally steep lower slopes. World Cycle Tours, Nutterswood Cottage, Nutters Wood, Cleeve Hill, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 3PZ, United Kingdom. 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. 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. The route hugs the side of the steeply sided valley, following the contours of the hillside as it heads towards the summit. You'll probably wish you were enjoying a sedate stroll along the fairways of the adjacent golf club by the time you reach the lung-crushing gradients at the top of this punchy climb out of Pontypridd. Scotland Bealach Na Ba Bealach na B is arguably the toughest climb in Britain. We have twice personally documented the Welsh Top 10 Hardest Climbs. Read next: This spectacular virtual fly-through shows the stunning route of the 2016 Velothon Wales. But as the road heads into the trees, it rears up sharply, and doesn't drop below 12% until the very top. 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. The Tumble (SW #97), 8. Soon into the ride we are climbing through a canyon area with dramatic plateaus and hillside formations, particularly on the right side as we climb. Bryn Du is a very steep climb in Aberdare, up Maerdy Mountain. TOP 3 HARDEST BIKE CLIMBS IN WALES (FIETS INDEX), This extraordinary climb is in the northwestern section of Wales in the Snowdonia mountain region. Grid ref: SO 983 279 (OS 163)Length 1.54kmHeight gain 167mApprox climb time 9 mins, Named Hellfire Pass by the English but better known by its Welsh name, Bwlch-y-Groes is the highest tarmacked pass in Wales. 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. 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. It's also available via Apple Newsstand and Readly. The makeup of land ownership at Snowdonia is as follows (Wikipedia - Snowdonia National Park). Having featured as a summit finish for the Welsh Nationals and the Tour of Britain, as well as being the signature climb for Velothon Wales, the Tumble is easily one of the most famous climbs in Wales. Get info and context about new features. Want the best food, film, music, arts and culture news sent straight to your inbox? | 26 regions. I have purchased and relied heavily on several of these books in deciding what climbs to include on the PJAMM Website for the UK. But the gentle appearance of the hedge-lined opening can be misleading - it's here that the damage can be done if not enough is left in the tank for the slightly more forgiving upper reaches. If someone built it we will damn well try and ride it, even if it means falling on our ass because. Since that first book, he's added 11 more, as well Ride Britain which showcases 40 inspirational road cycling routes. You will, however, be able to reacquaint your backside with the saddle for the final push to summit on the approach to the gliding club.Where To reach the base turn north away from the A489 at Plowden. It starts from the village of Porlock and climbs an average of 10% gradient towards the top of Exmoor. We relied heavily on Simon Warrens Top UK Climbs Series in ranking and documenting UK bike climbs (https://www.100climbs.co.uk/books) - they are the Gold Standard for cycling climbing in the UK. Is it the suffering? Moel Arthur - 220m - 10 to 20% - 2.2km #88. Its gradient maxes out at 37 percent, with an . Bwlch Penbarra to Jubilee Tower, 4. This leaves us with a wealth of material describing the setting and condition of the road nearly a 100 years ago (SpeedTrackTails). If you were measuring the steepest, hardest, highest or longest climbs in South Wales, this wouldn't be anywhere near it. The Floor is Lava is nothing compared to this road. Where: South of Llangadog, Carmarthenshire. Climbing for fun requires a particular type of sadism. 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 Gospel Pass is 548 high. Luckily for us the rain was holding on our expedition. I did warn him how bad it was but he was like, yeah, its just another hill. Ffordd Penllech in Harlech is the UK's steepest road (Pic: Stephen Elwyn Roddick, via Wiki Commons) Jenkin Road was the final climb of stage two of this year's Tour de France (Pic: Marc, via. Grid Ref: NG 775 423 (OS24) Length 8980m Height gain 623m Approx climb time 37 mins, Extracts taken from 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs and Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs by Simon Warren, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Cyclist climbing Hardknott Pass, The Lake District National Park, Cumbria Photograph: Peter Oliver/Alamy, Cyclists on Wrynose Pass in the Lake District. After leaving the village, you're into open moorland but don't expect a gradient in single figures. 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. They are good people out here that enjoy a way of life much slower and unfamiliar to most others I think. At this point, the climb would get significantly worse! 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. Where From the bottom left corner of Rosedale Abbey leave the main road and turn south east on to Gill Lane, pass the giant warning sign, and head up. A flat lakeside hairpin two thirds of the way up should give you the slingshot needed for the last push, with the road cutting through rock on its final approach to the summit. Cairn O'Mount from the south side is 3.35km with an elevation gain of 319 meters. Between the narrow road, the rutted surface and the severity of the slope, this is one seriously tough climb. This gorgeous country road is testing for even the best cyclists, but it provides great views north towards the western Brecon Beacons. (If you're cyclist in North, Mid or West Wales, we'll be. In front of you is the Alpine-style Ski Centre, a simply awesome ride. Bwlch y Groes (SW #91), 3. Within a few hundred feet of the start point, a switchback of over 20% warns you of the battle to come. Just keep going, then head down the terrifying descent. South Wales needs no introduction. 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. If you have any information regarding this climb, we'd like to hear from you. Rounding the corner I spot our photographer Andy ahead and see he isnt in position. Llangynidr Mountain is very much a climb of two halves. The best advice for anyone heading uphill out of Aberdare - don't put yourself in the red too early. We asked Simon Warren to provide us with lists of both the Top 10 Hardest, and Top 10 Most Epic bike climbs in England, Wales, Scotland, and the UK.