After the difficulties I had in the Rivelin Valley, I had left one of the "big four" - Hagg Hill - so needed to return to that. I also went out for the next group of three, which included another of those "big four" - this one Jenkin Road. So, two biggies in this one report to look forward to, you lucky things!
Sheffield Hill #13
So, I went back out to the Rivelin Valley on the Sunday, after a day of rest. I was only attempting one climb (at least, that was the plan) so hoped for a nice long and relatively easy ride. The ride out was really nice - very flat and the Rivelin Valley Road is a joy to ride on as it has lovely smooth tarmac and an easy undulation so you can get some speed up and maintain it. But, soon enough that lovely ride was interrupted by Hagg Hill. This is the one that most people on the web suggest as Sheffield's steepest, and it certainly did not disappoint. It starts "easy", then cranks it up in the middle third before the final section brings the real pain. By the top I was in my lowest gear and the front wheel was lifting off the ground with every pedal stroke!
As it is such a contender, I thought you would want to see the full stats:
As you can see, it is just 260m long, but with 44m of elevation that translates into an average gradient of 16.9% (though more on this later). Average speed was 8.9 km/h which was surprisingly high considering I ended in such a low gear. The climb is a brute, and there is no way to escape as there are no footpaths to the side so you don't have an easy option to stop (which you will want to do!) This really is a genuine contender for the crown. Not as steep as Prospect Place, perhaps, but over four times longer - so a real killer of a climb. Very interesting to see the relationship between speed and heart-rate - they could almost dovetail.
Back down to the Rivelin Valley Road for more serene gliding along that fabulous piece of road. However, my lovely day on the bike was then rudely interrupted by Google Maps. I had set it to guide me back, as I didn't want to go back the way I came. After a little while, it directed me to turn left. There was no left turn except for a pathway. I carried on, thinking that it was recalculate and find me a road. About two miles further on, and ignoring pleas from Google Maps to turn round, I found a left turn which was a lovely little road along the side of a pretty reservoir. However, at the end of that road was a dead end. Checking the map, it looked like the next road across was going to be somewhere around Baslow - so I reluctantly turned back to find that pathway. Big mistake!!
The pathway was pretty short, but ended at the side of the Rivelin River. There was a crossing, but it was stepping stones across the river. Let me tell you, stepping across wet rocks wearing cycling shoes and carrying a heavy eBike is a nerve-wracking thing to do!! Somehow I made it without falling in and found myself on the other side, looking up at the pathway climbing up a steep slope through the woods. Picking up the bike, I slowly made my way up the steps made in the path carrying the bike. Little did I know it carried on for around 400m. That, trust me, was the hardest climb I have had to do since starting this challenge - and this one with no assistance from the eBike because I was having to carry the darned thing!
I thought that was it for the day, but on my way home decided to go back to Prospect Place and see if climbing that at the end of a ride rather than at the start would make much difference. The answer is, surprisingly, not really. My average speed was maybe 1km/h lower, so not significant I think. The main reason why I was able to take this quicker than other hills despite it being steeper seems to be the length. Because it is so short, it is all about power so stamina fatigue doesn't have a chance to set in.
Sheffield Hill #14
The following weekend saw me head out for the next group. Jenkin Road was the furthest away, so that was saved to last. In the meantime, I went to Rutland Road, which is a turning off the main Penistone Road which you take if you are heading to the hospital.
As you can see, I found this pretty straightforward. I just did the steep bit from the railway bridge, but even then managed a comfortable 15 km/h. Elevation was an average of 8.8% (anything under 10% feels like an easy climb after the monsters I have been up!) It was almost 600m long, which would normally add to the difficulty - but the gradient was pretty steady all the way so once you get into a stable rhythm the eBike just flows up the hill fairly easily. Almost disappointing!
Sheffield Hill #15
Fox Hill caused me a bit of a headache in a couple of ways. Firstly, it was a one-way street - meaning you are only supposed to go down it. Sorry to say, for probably the only time in my life I deliberately broke the Highway Code and cycled up it. Secondly, it was so short that Strava seemed to really struggle with the measurements. This is what I got:
The stats are a bit of a nonsense, so I included a photo of the climb. A 4m elevation in 40m suggests a 10% gradient. I think you can see from the photo, this is definitely not a 10% climb!!
It was only after I got home that I realised something had gone wrong with the recording for this climb, so at the time I carried on in blissful ignorance to the main event for the day.
Sheffield Hill #16
Jenkin Road is one that I have been worrying about for a while. Having seen the footage I posted earlier in this blog of professional cyclists struggling to move beyond walking pace, and knowing that it is also one of the longest climbs on the list, I knew that this was going to be tough going. I got to it about halfway up, which didn't help as it mean that I could see the sharp bend in the road to my left where the gradient hits 25% - but had to turn right and coast down half the hill knowing that I not only had to go back up but had that scary looking ramp to deal with towards the end. I had to take a few minutes to compose myself, as nerves definitely started to kick in...
Again, I have included a full set of charts for Jenkin Road, as it is a worthy contender for being Sheffield's toughest climb - though you can quickly see it certainly isn't the steepest. With 90m of climbing over 800m, the average gradient is 11.3%. Over that distance, and particularly with not one but two severe ramps near the top, this is a truly tough climb. What was unexpected to me was that I seemed to level out in terms of my heart rate; previous climbs had seen this going up and up the longer the climb was, but for this one I seemed to have reached my maximum level and managed to stay there - I even pushed the speed up towards the end when there was a "false flat". Of all the climbs so far, this was right up there with Waller Road as being the toughest. I needed a long rest at the top, half a bottle of water and a cigarette! Even the arrival of a fire engine to deal with a fire on the hill didn't manage to get me moving.
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