It’s made tougher by the fact that you will always have a crosswind when you’re out on the moors.”This opening stretch of ‘toughest road’ is made all the harder by the fact I’ve just completed a steep, mile-long climb just to get here, and as the road narrows and leaves Sowerby via Well Head Lane, it simply carries on climbing. A sharp ramp of around half a mile — Strava segment: ‘The climb out of Swyre’ — which averages five per cent and peaks mid-teens.Abbotsbury Hill is but a memory, but its legacy remains: it has, basically, destroyed my legs. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Strava stats from Wout van Aert, Chris Froome and Tadej Pogačar reveal how tough day one of Critérium du Dauphiné wasWout van Aert wins uphill bunch sprint in stage one of Critérium du Dauphiné 2020This is who the bookies are backing to win the Tour de France 2020 If you love climbing by bike and would like more detailed information on the world’s top bike climbs, join our PJAMM Cycling group and receive our Special Edition Climb Report. View route map, streetviews, images, slideshows, videos and more for this cycling route to the top of Ffordd Pen Llech, United Kingdom. My ultimate destination of Bridport is still some eight miles away. Slinging a leg over the crossbar flicks the ‘Athlete’ switch for many of us on two wheels; we try to make life harder for ourselves.Flat, easy roads are all well and good, but us cyclists love to seek out the tough stuff. People change when they get on a bike. Partly thanks to its beautiful setting on the coastal shores of Loch Torridon, yes, but also its unstinting repertoire of ups and downs. It’s windy, and most of all it’s incessantly lumpy along its entire length, finishing with a flourish as it climbs into Lyndhurst. The steepest 50 yards out of the way, I have a go at remounting — easier said than done on a near-20 per cent hill. But surely once Abbotsbury Hill was out of the way, how hard could it be?After all, it’s pretty much all downhill from here and the surface is pleasantly smooth.As the gentle descent dips into the hamlet of Swyre, the follow-up to Abbotsbury Hill’s haymaker is revealed. But don’t empty the tank — Melvich is a hamlet. Our experience with this road bike climb was pretty simple - it is brief and STEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!!!! If you’re travelling down to Dorset you should definitely go along it, because it’s great.”The profile tells a story of a long, undulating road bookmarked by significant climbs at each end, which change character depending on which way you ride it. Prepare for your journey by reviewing the gradient profile. And we all love the idea of challenging ourselves in the mountains.While the UK’s quota of Alpine-style climbing is limited, Old Blighty can do rolling terrain all day long: sharp pulls, tight little descents, shoddy surfaces… oh, and plenty of wind. This climb is located in the south eastern edge of “Snowdonia (Welsh: Eryri) is a mountainous region in north west Wales and a national park of 823 square miles (2,130 km2) in area.
In fact the real figure is just shy of 37% but was rounded up in normal Highway Authority … ), but it is said to be the steepest road bike climb in the UK () - We tackled this climb in August 2018 and will not dispute the claims! Another half-mile haul with a jagged profile, it only averages three per cent, but out comes the bottom gear again.My initial idea was to ride the road from west to east but Preston had convinced me otherwise: starting in Abbotsbury was harder. Recaptured by English forces in 1409. “I ride it about five times a month as Calderdale and the surrounding area has so much to offer with road cycling. Double black arrows abound — in-between admiring the scenery you’ll be breathing through orifices you never knew you had.It’s hard to describe this tiny, unclassified thoroughfare as anything but ‘the road to Lower Diabaig’, seeing as it stops abruptly when you get there and on a regular road bike you’ll have to retrace your tracks to get out.Happily for the cyclist in search of some good old-fashioned suffering, the A836 Bettyhill-Melvich road is anything but pancake flat. Britain has tough roads in spades.With that in mind we set out to explore a few choice cuts.al tarmac shard in front of me, James Tolkan’s immortal quote from the film Top Gun springs to mind.There’s a loud ‘crack’ from somewhere in the drivetrain. The views west along the coast, with the soaring Golden Cap cliff summit in the distance ease the deadness as I hunker down for two further miles of rolling descent into the village of Burton Bradstock and the foot of the last of the day’s climbing. Photo by Andy JonesThis particular treat is a five-mile moorland escapade, meandering up into the hills from Sowerby and following a mazy southerly traverse before ending more or less at Baitings Dam near Ripponden. Behind me a small phalanx of cars burn clutches furiously.What in God’s name had possessed me to go in search of Britain’s toughest roads and then ride them?
Not that it really matters when you’re walking at 2mph. But, at the bottom to the right there is an elementary school you can park at. Fford Penllech may be short – the Strava segment is just 0.3km – but what it lacks in distance it makes up for in gradient, being the steepest road in the UK. Not much to say about this one other than it is brief and STEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!!!! - vehicles bottom out on this one.This climb is not scenically pleasing (or pleasing in anyway, really, unless you are a masochist! While the worst of the weather is over it’s no conditions for a prolonged rest, so I get back in the saddle again.With the bulk of the hard yards out of the way, all that remains is a flat (but still exposed) stretch before the road falls gently off the side off the moor to its conclusion at Blue Ball Lane.Challenge and pleasure await in all corners of our beautiful country for those prepared to take on these testing routes