The Man Who Went Up A Hill

One of the problems with living in the South Wales valleys is that all
the quiet roads are on the tops, rather than down on the valley
floor. This is why I like the Taff Trail so much.

This morning, I decided to see if I could make it to the top of the
valley behind the house. Memory Map tells me that the highest point of
the route is 1150 feet, the lowest 170 feet, total climb something like
1350 feet. Total route (circular) was 8 miles.

OK, so it wasn't the best of ideas. I knew I wasn't really up to it, but
I thought that, given the cycling I've been doing over the last couple
of months, I might be able to cycle up the shallow inclines and push up
the rest. Nope. I got about 100 metres up the hill, to about the point
of the first "stupid incline" chevron on the OS map, and that was almost
it for the next 1.5 hours. Lots of pushing. The occasional 100 feet
freewheel, the even more occasional 100 feet pedal. It turned into a
walk encumbered by a bike.

On the other hand, I haven't walked up there (Eglwysilan) in about 15
years, so it was nice to do it again. The views were lovely, lots of
wildlife to see (rabbits, squirrels, hundreds of lambs, sheep, cows, and
horses). The air was nice (cold, though). And, keeping me going, was the
thought of a the descent. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten quite how steep
and winding the road was (more OS chevrons, including a double chevron
at one point [1]) which meant that I spend 90% of the time pumping the
brakes to stay at less than 10 MPH. I stopped at one point to feel the
rims - ouch, they were hot. It did eventually straighten out onto a
better road, and I did 27mph, which was all sorts of fun.

Anyway. I won't be doing that again until I think I could pedal at least
50% of the time, but I'm glad I did it. Back to the flat(ish) for me

[1] How steep are the slopes with the double chevrons, anyway?

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

"Keith Willoughby" wrote in message
...

[1] How steep are the slopes with the double chevrons, anyway?

Steeper than 20% (1 in 5 in old money).
--
Regards,
Pete

Peter B wrote:

"Keith Willoughby" wrote in message
...

[1] How steep are the slopes with the double chevrons, anyway?

Steeper than 20% (1 in 5 in old money).

Bloody hell.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
Leave it, he's not worth it

Keith, for the first time in thirty years I visited Eglwysilan
mountain on Good Friday and had a couple of jars in the Rose and Crown - she
was driving - memories of that place abound. I did a lot of 'entertaining
young ladies' in that pub and on that mountain! Needless to say I did not
mention this to her!

Gonna try and get fit soon and in the summer ride up that hill from
the Upper Boat end - bottom gear of 22" should do it!

nobody760 wrote:

Keith, for the first time in thirty years I visited Eglwysilan
mountain on Good Friday

It's a small world.

and had a couple of jars in the Rose and Crown

Next time I do this ride, I'm doing it when the pub is open, not at 8 in
the morning. They do quite a nice Sunday dinner, too.

- she was driving - memories of that place abound. I did a lot of
'entertaining young ladies' in that pub and on that mountain! Needless
to say I did not mention this to her!



Gonna try and get fit soon and in the summer ride up that hill from
the Upper Boat end - bottom gear of 22" should do it!

Yeah, I started from the Upper Boat end. I'd forgotten how steep it
really is. No way I could drag all this weight up - my thighs were on
fire after 100 yards.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
Simplify

Keith Willoughby wrote in
:

[1] How steep are the slopes with the double chevrons, anyway?

One chevron = 1 in 7 to 1 in 5. Two chevrons = anything steeper. Speaking
of which, up near the top of the Horseshoe Pass a roadsign alerts you of a
sharp left followed by 1 in 5 downhill (even though it's a sharp right and
uphill, d'oh), and my legs and lungs tell me it's that steep too. But none
of my maps (even OS maps) show it with a chevron, so I can't point at it
and tell people I climbed it no sweat (blatant lie)!


--
Happy Easter!
I don't normally do sigs but it's a special occasion.

On 11/4/04 9:33 am, in article , "Keith
Willoughby" wrote:


One of the problems with living in the South Wales valleys is that all
the quiet roads are on the tops, rather than down on the valley
floor. This is why I like the Taff Trail so much.

This morning, I decided to see if I could make it to the top of the
valley behind the house. Memory Map tells me that the highest point of
the route is 1150 feet, the lowest 170 feet, total climb something like
1350 feet. Total route (circular) was 8 miles.

This was seriously impressive.. Learning to ride up steep hills is about low
gears, good balance and patience. Seriously though, it's worth trying every
so often to see how far you can ride up without stopping (distance, not
speed is the key here) and you can measure progress very easily. As long as
you don't overdo it you'll find it really helps on the easier hills.

I used to ride a lot over the North Downs which have a lot of chevrons. I
was crazy doing it on a road bike with very high gears (typically 63" low
gear or 54" on a wimp out day). I walked a lot and seem to have knackered my
knees.. Low gears are now the rule. I figure I can ride up anything as long
as I can keep teh front wheel on the ground and not get too bored.

...d