Hills !

Hi,
Hope you can help, looking to improve my hill climbing, is there any specific route around St Neots that might help ?
bit on a newbie so be gentle with the replies please !

Andrew

Hello Andrew
What sort of miles are you looking at
Steve

Hi Andrew,

There aren't any.....just the way cycling is supposed to be . However, if you insist on trying then the following blog (and links within) was written by a club member and covers the area for "hills" nicely.

velorichard.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/the...geshire-hill-routes/

Have fun
olly

Hi,
Im doing the C2C later this year and there is a 8km climb that I need to get some practise on, Im able to cycle most sportives, but want to focus on hills happy to cover 40 miles to find some ?

Andrew

I think if you go with the stock answer that there aren't any you won't be far from the truth....

... however I would suggest looking at our routes and see which ones have the most ascent in them, some of the longer ones have up to 2500ft of climbing, but that's over 65 miles.

If you are prepared to jump in the car then I can put together routes around Saffron Walden that will give you a bit more bang for your buck.

Failing that I'd get onto ridewithgps and search for rides with a minimum ascent, again you will be reliant upon a car but Rutland, the Chilterns and the honeypot that is Surrey can all deliver hills within a reasonable drive.

Or you can repeatedly go up what we have here, but IMO that is terminally dull.

this is a 20k section from the Tempsford level-crossing to top of Croydon Hill via Sandy / RSPB / Potton - perhaps not alpine, but far from flat and on our doorstep

Wayne Tunnah, Gary and I did a Rutland ride a couple of years back that was good. Might be worth looking that out though it might need some Streetview checking/tweaking as Wayne did turn it into a little bit of an inadvertant CX session. Alternatively if you're up for a bit of a challenge the club 100 mile ride from 2013 went up to Rutland including "the mountain" (aka Stockerston road climb) you could divert it slightly after Great Easton to take in the whole of the Devil's Staircase climb up to Stockerston crossroads or up Neville Holt.

If you fancy someone doing the planning work for you then the ITP Events Rutland CiCle Tour and Rutland Border cycle sportive take in some nice roads as does their Louth sportive. The first one is usually the day before Rutland CiCle classic which a few of us have ridden up to watch before and the route Richard Ostler planned out is reasonably lumpy both ways including the climb to Seaton on the way out to Owston and Harringworth on the way back, think it is a roughly 110 mile round trip.

If you don't mind doing hill repeats I'd suggest Everton (if you are feeling sadistic or are based over that way), B660/Park Lane between Pertenhall and Kimbolton (which you can do as a double sided repeat) or the B661 climb to Perry going away from Gt Staughton (you can turn around at the Grafham car park at the top and the stagger crossroads at the bottom)

I can assure you that there are Hills around st neots, why not go out with the first group into Bedfordshire, those lumps (hills ) give you goose pimples.I live and ride in the Pyrenees and when i come over to St Neots do the 100km club ride i get home completely knackered,,,my tip is to start and get 150/200 miles a week in get fit and then start looking to improve where you are weakest .1st objective would be to complete the 1st run as stated. do that you will be on yer way,ah ah G....

Try venturing south beyond the A505. Head towards Ashwell then Baldock and round the south of Royston, a long day out but do-able.