And the hills keep coming!

 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.

Rivelin Valley - first signs of real difficulty...

The day I went to the Rivelin Valley was hot, really hot. It was in the high twenties at the point I was going up the climbs, and what climbs these were. Most of these were firmly in the middle of the table I had come up with, but I suspect will feature closer to the top of the final list. They were all really steep, and all relatively long as well - and on a hot day that turned out to be a dangerous combination...

First, it was an easy ride out through the city centre and along the Penistone Road. A quick skip across my absolute least favourite road feature - tramlines - to get to the first of the five hills I had planned. Tramlines, for those lucky enough not to come across them while on two wheels, are a disaster waiting to happen. If your front wheel gets on one, or even worse in one, you are going down. It is like hitting a patch of ice, but ice that sits there waiting whatever the weather. Sheffield has a lot of trams, most of which are safely penned up in their own little separated routes, but quite often they come out and snake across or along the roads. They aren't too bad when you follow along them (assuming the planners left enough room between them and the edge of the road) or when you cross them at a right angle; but when you have to cross them at a shallow angle they are very dangerous indeed. I will always create a better angle to cross them at, and like the route on this day, that usually means having to move out into the main traffic lanes (to the annoyance of the car drivers) to get the right angle to cross safely.

Sheffield Hill #09

The first hill to climb was just before you get to the Rivelin Valley Road, and is called Dykes Road. At 280m long, it one of the longer climbs so far, and with an average gradient of 11.4% it shouldn't have been too difficult. However, the start is probably the steepest bit, which takes it out of your legs so I definitely found it a bit of a struggle.

My Heart Rate Monitor finally started working properly, so I included that chart - which clearly shows the impact that a longer climb has in terms of maintaining an effort. When your 'normal' heart rate is 70 to 80, then 174 bpm is pretty high!! I didn't know it at that point, but this was the easiest climb of the day.

Sheffield Hill #10

I had planned to go from here to Hagg Hill, which is one of those top contenders for the title of Sheffield's steepest hill, but when I double checked my route realised that this would take me down Walkley Road, so I decided to save Hagg Hill for later in the day and go back towards the main road to find the start of Walkley Road. I messed this one up, as I thought I had reached the top of the climb only to realise that I had stopped part way up! I was thinking "that wasn't so bad", which in hindsight was a sure sign that something had gone a bit wrong.

This is the summary screen of the second part, which was the longest and steepest bit.

The full length was 870m, with a total elevation of 78m. The average gradient was therefore just 9.0% - but this was the opposite of Twentywell Lane as it was a constant grind all the way up. Yes, there were some changes in the severity of the gradient, but certainly no point where you could recover. This was a tough climb for me, as once again my lack of stamina showed itself. Still, I plugged away and finally got to the top with an average speed of around 16km/h.

Sheffield Hill #11

Onwards to the Rivelin Valley proper. All of the final three rides were roads coming off the Rivelin Valley Road itself. The first two looked to be pretty much opposite each other, so that is where I headed. To get to #11, I had to find a road down from Walkley Road, which when I did was so steep I started to wonder why no-one had mentioned it in those discussion sites. It was called Cliff Road, so the signs were definitely there. I filed it away, thinking I might need to add another climb to the list.

Then I got to the bottom and found Hollins Lane rising up in front of me. It is an intimidating start - it must begin over 20% gradient before it disappears round a corner. Luckily, around that corner it eases off a little, before a last little kicker at the top.

As you can see, although 400m long, the elevation was 49m, meaning an average gradient of 12.3%. This was a very tough climb, especially as the sun was starting to reach the high twenties (by the afternoon the temperature reached 33 degrees, so I am really glad I went out early).

A quick shot back down to the bottom, then about 50 metres up the road I had come down before was a right turn into the next climb.

Sheffield Hill #12

That climb was Waller Road. It looked short but brutal, as you can see in this picture:

Looks can be deceiving, though. It was indeed brutal - but it was definitely not short. The "top" you can see in the picture isn't actually the top. It turns a corner, then loops back where I thought the top must be, but then there was another long steep stretch up to the top. I think the combination of the heat, the tiredness from three pretty tough climbs so far, and the way it played with my head made this really hard. When I looked up at that final stretch, it was the first time I seriously considered stopping and conceding victory to the hill. Somehow I didn't, and just tried to put the road out of my head and focus on keeping my feet moving round. Eventually, I made it to the top.

You can see from the speed chart below, I was really struggling over the last section.

By the time I got to the top I was wheezing and a little unsteady. The gradient was 14.2%, so the second steepest of the 12 hills I had ridden so far. My heart rate chart showed that I averaged 179bpm with a maximum of 188. That is probably a little too high. I found a patch of shade, drank lots of water and waited for my heart rate to calm down. 

During that time, I think my sensible side found its voice. Eventually I began to convince myself that continuing on to Hagg Hill (one of the Big Four!) was likely to be not just stupid but possibly dangerous. Waller Road had left me gasping and shaking, and with the heat steadily climbing higher, I thought it was time for a slow easy ride back home.

So, for the first time I didn't get up all the climbs I had planned. Still, I had said at the outset that the groupings were wishful thinking and that if necessary I would do them one at a time. Hagg Hill would have to be one of those. Hopefully, on a cooler day.

Still, at least I now knew why no-one had suggested Cliff Road as Sheffield's steepest hill - with Waller Road running alongside it, you would always remember this one rather than its close neighbour! I certainly won't forget it in a hurry...

Second group

Sheffield Hill #05

This hill was actually ridden on the same day as the first four, but it seemed neater to include with the next group, which was just three. The climb in question is Bishopscourt Road.

  

The total distance was 290m, so with the 40m elevation shown above the gradient was 13.8%. As you can probably see, the gradient was maybe a little higher for the first two thirds, then reduces a little at the top - but it felt pretty consistent to me, which actually made this a relatively easy climb as I was able to get into a rhythm and let it flow. The average speed was 11.1 km/h.

After almost a weeks break, it was then on to the second batch. I rode these on the way to my mother-in-law's house to walk her dog, so are the ones most local to where I live. 

Sheffield Hill #06

First up was the one I broke my chain on all those years ago when I first started to think about this challenge. Prospect Place is it's name, and for anyone who knows it - it is very steep but very short.

I included both elevation and speed charts, as this shows up an interesting variable in these figures. Despite the elevation being significantly higher than any other hill so far at 21.7%, the average speed was around 10km/h - so quicker than a couple of other climbs. I think this could be down to a couple of factors:

1. I start strong, but fade a little towards the end on most climbs. I think this is mainly because I am muscular, but overweight. All strength and no stamina! However, I do think that this lends weight to my belief that the length of a climb is as big a factor in its difficulty as the steepness.

2. It is very close to where I live, so I didn't need to cycle far to get to the start of it, so was a little fresher.

I may come back to this one at the end of a ride, just to see what impact that second factor really has.

Sheffield Hill #07

Next on the list was one of the big ones. At the outset of this, there were four hills that I thought were going to be the main contenders, and this was one of them: Twentywell Lane.

As it turns out, I was wrong. Twentywell is by far the longest climb I had attempted at this point (at 1,190m it is almost as long as the first six put together), but has much more noticable variation in its gradient. It goes up fairly gradually at the start, then eases before a steep section, but then there is a long middle section where the road actually goes down slightly, so you get a good run-up to the final section, which is the steepest part of all.

As you can see, this means that my speed varied significantly, and that fast downhill section meant I got up to 30 km/h at one point, which brought my average speed up to 17.7 km/h - the fastest of any climb so far. The average gradient was also therefore low at 6.5%, even though that final section would have been close to 20%.

That downhill section also had the benefit of letting me recover slightly, so adding another learning point which is that the hardest climbs are ones with no let-up. Overall, I found Twentywell Lane less tough than some of the other much shorter climbs. Interesting...

Sheffield Hill #08

The final climb of the day is a great one. You probably won't have ridden, walked or driven on it - as it goes nowhere and ends with a pathway into Graves Park. The road is Cobnar Road, which is at one end of Woodseats. It starts reasonably easily, but just keeps getting steeper and steeper. The final section has a gradient of around 30%, which is brutal!

So, a 390m climb with a 50m elevation means an average gradient of 12.8%, and as you can see my average speed was 10.5 km/h.

Heart Rate

When I set out my the key measurements I would use in this challenge, I wanted to use heart rate as a measure of how hard I had to work when going up a climb. Unfortunately, what I have realised is that my old eBay purchased HR monitor probably isn't that good - for two of the climbs I got no reading at all (and I am pretty sure I didn't actually die and yet continue on!) and for the others I got one single reading - so I think this may need to be set to one side as a useful measure of difficulty.

The next group of climbs will be out in the Rivelin Valley, somewhere I have never ridden before, and including another of those initial "big four" of climbs I expected to be the hardest that Sheffield can offer; Hagg Hill. 

The challenge continues!!

 

First four hills

So, the challenge has definitely begun. This is the first four hills, all ridden on the same day.

I log all my rides on Strava, and in an attempt to get accuracy for each climb, I started Strava at the bottom and then stopped it again at the top. This gives pretty accurate readings for distance and elevation - but the average speed can be slightly misleading as it takes me a few seconds to put the phone away and then get up from zero to a comfortable climbing speed for that particular hill. For shorter climbs, this can have a disproportionate effect on the average speed. Still, I plan to use all three measures plus average heart rate as my way of attempting to determine which of Sheffield's many steep climbs is the hardest. In addition, I will also add in how they felt to me.

Sheffield Hill #01

First up is one that was technically not even on the list. Smithy Wood Road was the hill I was aiming for, but when I got there I realised the actual road is split into two, which basically goes up one side of a climb then changes name to go down the other side - Smithy Wood Road is one side, and Aukley Road the other. Aukley Road is clearly the steeper of the two (although shorter), so that is the one I recorded first. This is the Strava summary screen:

As you can see, it was pretty short at 110m, but with 15m of elevation gain that gave it a gradient of 13.6%. So, tough but easy enough to cope with for 34 seconds. My average speed was 11.7km/h.

I should at this point mention that in the interest of consistency I had decided that every climb would be done at the highest assistance level (since I figure I would need it at some point, so needed to use it for all of them even if I felt it wasn't necessary), and all would be done sat firmly in the saddle - so no big bursts of speed from standing on the pedals.

Sheffield Hills #02

From Aukley Road, there was a slow climb up to Woodseats and on to Scarsdale Road. I had a quick rest here as I needed to time setting up Strava and getting going so I wouldn't sit at the traffic lights.

Scarsdale Road is one I have cycled up before on a regular bike, and barely made it to the top. However, the new e-Bike made mincemeat of it!

One of the benefits of Strava is that you get some really nice analysis charts. Did I mention I am accountant? Accountants like charts!! This is the elevation chart for Scarsdale Road:

The summary details are that Scarsdale Road was 350m long (I only went to the top of the steepest part), and with the elevation shown above of 32m that meant the gradient was 9.1%. So, quite a bit less steep than Aukley Road. However, being three times longer definitely made it feel harder overall. I think the length of the climb definitely has a disproportionate impact on how difficult it is. My average speed was only a little higher at 12.8km/h.

Sheffield Hill #03

Next up was another hill I have climbed on my regular bike - and was actually the first sense I got of just what a difference an e-Bike can make. My wife and I went up it on her test ride for her bike. That is the first time she rode a bike in about 10 years. Obviously, she got up it much quicker than me (though I did manage to keep within a hundred metres of her), but the key difference was that at the top I was breathing like I was in the middle of a serious asthma attack, and she was only slightly out of breath and chatting happily about how easy that felt!

The hill is Myrtle Road, just off Queens Road near the centre of Sheffield. It is both long and steep - definitely felt like more of a test. It seems to keep getting steeper as you go up, which I think is shown pretty clearly by the speed chart on Strava.

The speed was similar to the first two at 12.3 km/h, but I clearly slowed down as I went up until getting to the very top. The climb was 590m long, with a 61m elevation, or 10.3% gradient.

Sheffield Hill #04

Next up is Kent Road, which is somewhere near Heeley. It was difficult to find, as it is tucked away in a warren of back roads, but when I got to it I definitely knew that this was the one I was looking for! Very steep indeed, and again steeper at the top - if you look at the picture below you can see that they have put in hand-rails for pedestrians to help them near the top; a sure sign of really steep hills! 

Only 170m long (thankfully!) and a gradient of 14.1% after a 24m gain, so the steepest hill so far.

Re-Birth

Well, I did say it would be a bit of a wait; I just didn't expect it to be counted in years rather than days!

The short version is that I was a bit more unwell than I thought, mainly due to high levels of stress. In an attempt to bring my stress levels down, I decided to abandon this project as it was definitely contributing to it! It took a long time to come to accept that the health problems were sorted, by which point I had pretty much forgotten about this blog. I was still cycling to work a few times a week, just not thinking about setting slightly mad challenges and risking the additional stress!

What, you might ask, has caused me to add to the blog now? In short, I got a new bike.

The long version is that about a year ago, my wife got herself an e-bike. She had never shown much interest in cycling before, but having a new bike meant she wanted to get out and ride it - so I jumped at the chance to go out riding with the woman I love. I assured her that I would take it easy and sit behind her to be there in case she had any problems. Her bike is very heavy and pretty slow. It only has 7 gears, so heading down our hill and along the flat valley I was having to brake constantly and slow down considerably to stay behind her. Then we turned up a hill. Quite a tough hill (though not tough enough to make my list!), called Abbey Lane. It starts pretty steep, then eases off through the woods before cranking it up again near the top. I remember "dancing on the pedals" for the first bit and being surprised that she was staying ahead of me, then sat down to grind my way up. When I next looked up to see how she was doing, she was just ... gone. Seriously, she was nowhere in sight. I eventually found her waiting impatiently for me by the cricket ground on Ecclesall Road South.

We went out again, and this time went up Bocking Lane (tricky first couple of hundred metres, but after that fairly easy gradient) and it happened again. Off she glided, with me utterly unable to keep her wheel. This is the e-bike she has:

One day I decided to borrow her e-bike to go up the shops so I didn't have to change into cycle clothes and shoes, and oh my gosh! The hill up from my house to the local shops is around a 6% gradient. It felt like nothing. Literally, I felt like there was no effort needed to get up the hill. I decided to test it out, so borrowed it a few more times to try out some hills in the Peak District. Wow. I had always wanted to become a "weekend warrior" and head out to the Peak District for long rides in the hills, but being old and unfit had always made me think up reasons not to before. Now, I was happily doing just that, and looking forward to it - even actively looking up where the big long hills were to try the bike out on them. Hathersage to Surprise View? No problem. Calver to Owler Bar? Long, but on this bike almost boring!

I knew that people were cursing me as I rode past them up hills, because that is exactly what I do when overtaken by someone on an e-bike. But I didn't care!! The bike made it possible to get out on those rides I had been dreaming of, but made it enjoyable too, as I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery. It is still good exercise (you have to pedal to get the power assistance!), but made the hard bits much more manageable. That was it, I knew that an e-bike was going to be my next step. Sorry, Raleigh, but I didn't want one of their bikes. It is, without any hyperbole, a fantastic machine. It makes hills easy. It is solidly built and will last years. However, what I wanted was the smoothness and speed of my Cannondale road bike, but with the Raleigh's additional power assist when I needed it.

That would normally be just a pipe-dream, as I can't justify the kind of cost that would mean - but then the final block moved smoothly into place. They changed the Cyclescheme rules at my work and raised the limit of Cyclescheme purchases. Now, with 40% off and 12 monthly instalments, it became far more realistic. When I worked out that if I stopped smoking I would actually be better off, that was it.

A bit of research, and I found that not only are there proper road e-bikes but my dream of having the same road bike as I already ride but with a motor was actually possible, and available to buy. New bike ordered!

I have been out for a few rides already, and it is a dream. All the speed of my regular road bike, but the power assist means I no longer struggle to get up those hills like I used to. It is a bit more of a stealth e-bike too, which means I don't feel that other people are looking at me and thinking I am cheating (even though I really am!)

On one of those rides, I found myself riding up Scarsdale Road - which happens to be one of the hills on my list. It was by no means easy, but I managed it without feeling like I had to stop and recover at the top. This got me thinking about the challenge again; could this bike mean that I could start it again?!

Well, spoiler alert, rather than get back into a negative mindset by overthinking and overplanning the challenge, I just decided to head out an try a couple of the hills. So, a few are already in the bag. No stress, no worries. The challenge is definitely back on!!

A bit of a delay

Tonight was supposed to be the first report on the hills I have climbed. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite feeling up to it, so I have another week to build up those nerves.

And nerves they are. I had a bit of a "restless night" after foolishly looking up Blake Street on Google Maps. It looks unbelievably steep, and much longer than I had imagined. I suspect that lack of sleep may not have helped me feel right for this morning!!

Do you see what I mean?! Note those railings on the left to help people walking up!!

Anyway, since there will be a bit of a wait for any actual hill action - I thought you might like a map. My in-laws will certainly enjoy it; the whole family loves a good map. This one is of the hills that I plan to climb (they are listed on the right in the order of difficulty as suggested by my spreadsheet), and it is a great map in that it makes the whole planning process a bit easier.

What the map makes clear is that the hills appear to be arranged in groups:

   - Group 1 is around Rivelin Valley and includes Hagg Hill

   - Group 2 is Walkley (including Blake Street)

   - Group 3 is NE of the city and includes Jenkin Road

   - Group 4 is Broomhill area, including the second hardest hill on my calculations, Highcliffe Road

   - Group 5 is the Heeley area with Myrtle Road as the feature road

   - Group 6 is Woodseats/Bradway and is my local area - this also includes Cobnar Road which has the highest maximum gradient on the list at 30%.

Since I cannot imagine being able to do all of these in one trip, but hope that I can manage a few each time, this map has pretty much set my initial plan. Six groups, six weekends.

The plan is fluid, as I have no idea if I can get up more than one of these in any single trip. Six would be great, but if it takes 26 weekends, then so be it!

I have also decided on how I will measure and assess the climbs.

• Toughest: I have bought a Heart Rate Monitor, and will record the average heart rate for each climb. The hill with the highest average will be the hardest hill to climb.
• Steepest: I will also record the average speed, and the hill with the slowest average speed will be the steepest.

Birth of a challenge

The challenge came about because I was looking for a different route home. I was getting up my hill about 70% of the time, and getting bored of it.

There is an alternative. I’ve walked it quite a few times, as it is a shortcut to and from our nearest supermarket. It is much shorter, as it goes straight up the hill. In fact, the first part is a (steep) footpath then steps through a wood, so you can only actually cycle the top section. This starts with a short, sharp 90m climb on a road called Prospect Place, then eases off before going steep again this time on Prospect Road. OK, so it is quite a bit steeper, in fact so steep that there are handrails to help you when you are walking up, but short and steep felt more suited to my physique. I am big, so have more power than stamina. Altogether, just 260m of (admittedly hard) effort. This should work, right?

This is that first section, courtesy of Google Maps. It really is steep!

My plan was instead of dropping into a really low gear on that first section and spinning the pedals to crawl up at walking pace, I would put it into a middle gear and stand up on the pedals. Then I could use the easier middle section to get my breath back, then up on the pedals again for the final steep bit. I would be like Marco Pantani ("the Pirate") on Alpe d’Huez.

It is safe to say that the plan didn’t work.

I pushed the bike to the bottom of Prospect Place. I was in the middle gear on the lowest ring. After a few minutes to compose myself, I set off.  The first 30 metres were easy, I was feeling good. The next 20 were harder, the next 20 harder still and I began to struggle. The next 10 went by very slowly, and then it happened.

My chain snapped.

I couldn’t even pretend that I might have made it. I had to stop for five whole minutes holding my broken chain before my heart stopped thudding against my ribs. And I mean it was THUMPING. I genuinely thought I was going to be sick right there at the side of the road.

I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Still, it was nagging at me. Was it because I was in the wrong gear? Is it just that bikes aren’t designed to have 20 stone lumps exerting that much force into it? Like before when I realised that the bike was the problem, not me, I began to convince myself that this time it was the hill that was the problem. Clearly, it was too steep. I mean, it is probably the steepest hill in the whole of Sheffield, isn't it? Almost certainly.

As ever these days, when a question like this nags away at you, there is only one thing you can do. Google.

A bit of internet searching later, and what do I find? A forum discussion that has been going since 2003 about what the steepest hill in Sheffield is. Reading through, what you quickly realise is that (a) Sheffield has a lot of very steep hills, each with their own disciples claiming it to be the steepest, and (b) Sheffield’s citizens are a very funny bunch. There is apparently almost no hill in Sheffield that someone hasn’t gone up on a BMX while smoking a fag, or that they haven’t heard of being ridden by a one-legged Chinese man. Several hills had recurring mentions, including my very own Prospect Place. There were several people who had walked or cycled some of the hills, but no-one had tried them all. The really steep ones would be dismissed because they were too short, but equally the long ones would be disregarded because the steep bit was only a small part of it, so the rest was relatively easy.

Over the years that the forum has run, lots of roads have been suggested but there is almost no agreement as to which is the steepest. The big three contenders seemed to encapsulate this:

·      Blake Street. This is recognised as the steepest hill in Sheffield. Mainly because the actual Sheffield they mean here is really ‘old Sheffield’ which is what used to be Sheffield at some unspecified time in the past when parts of what is now Sheffield were villages on the outskirts. [As an incomer, I don’t really understand this at all!]

·      Jenkin Road. This is very popular because of three factors. Firstly, it is very long (over a kilometre). Secondly, it has a section reputed to hit over 25% gradient. Thirdly, it was a feature of the 2014 Tour de France where the eventual winner, Nibali, launched an attack up Jenkin Road and rode into the yellow jersey for the first time.

·      Hagg Hill. This is probably the one that most people think is the winner of the title. It is longer than Blake Street but not as long as Jenkin Road, and has a consistent steep gradient. The junction at the top has apparently been changed to give cars coming up right of way over those on the main cross road, as anyone stopping their car at that point is likely to be in trouble. Shame it isn’t in old Sheffield, really.

Before I knew it, I was using a website I had found (www.plotaroute.com) which you can use to plan cycling routes, but which crucially shows the highest and lowest points above sea level, and also calculates the gradients along that route.

I used that to calculate the length and average gradient of each of the three, and added in Prospect Place for good measure.

Can you guess what my challenge is yet?

The results, in alphabetical order:

	Distance	Average Gradient	Maximum Gradient
Blake Street	180m	14.4%	20%
Hagg Hill	270m	16.7%	20%
Jenkin Road	1020m	9.1%	23%
Prospect Place	90m	17.8%	20%

So, there you have it. Prospect Place is the steepest hill in Sheffield. Its average gradient is the highest, so it is clearly the steepest. Of course, it is also the shortest by some distance. But what about Blake Street? Its only twice as long, and 3.5% less steep – so would that be harder or easier than Prospect Place? Hagg Hill clearly must be harder than both, as it is almost the same gradient as Prospect Place but the same length as both Prospect Place and Blake Street together. Of the four,  Jenkin Road has the steepest section, and is longer than all the others put together – would that make it toughest of the lot? And what about the other hills mentioned on the forum? Each of them had people who thought they were the hardest, steepest, toughest.

I ran the ones that got repeated mentions through the same website, and in all had a list of 26 hills. But, how can you decide which is hardest?

I gave it some thought. Clearly what we need here is a spreadsheet with some kind of complicated calculation. Luckily, I am an accountant. Spreadsheets are what I do.

I worked out a suitably convoluted weighting system, and this allowed me to rank the 26 hills in an order that I felt showed how difficult they were. Jenkin Road came top, mostly because I felt that a long tough hill would be harder than short but really tough hill.

Does that make it sound like it is reasonably easy, just long? Ha! Check out this video of the Giant Shimano Tour de France team practicing on Jenkin Road - those are professional cyclists looking like they are almost at a standstill!!

The question is, what makes a hill hard? Length or steepness? How much should the maximum gradient affect the rating?

There really is only one way to find out which is the hardest hill.

That's right - THE CHALLENGE.

Someone is going to have to try and cycle up all 26 of those hills.

Me.