Cote du Buttertubs

For reasons that will become clearer in a later post my 100 climbs riding is going to be put on hold for a couple of months. However, I wanted to take a break from it all knowing that I had been able to tick off a few more climbs. With that in mind I took a short break over the weekend of the 21st June, which was also handily the longest day, to finally lay the last five climbs in Yorkshire to rest.

I drove up on Friday the 20th with the intention of riding four climbs on the Saturday. The fact it was the weekend of the longest day would give me the chance to start off early when the weather conditions were cool and hopefully get the first four climbs done by mid afternoon. After that I would have a chance to recover, have an early night and then take on the fourth climb, the fearsome Shibden Wall on the way home on Sunday morning.

My accommodation for the weekend would be the Travel Hovel TM at Scotch Corner. It is a very handily located place to stay if you are trying to take on the North Yorkshire climbs on a budget although not the best accommodation in some ways. The journey up on the Friday should have taken  no more than six hours. Because of road works and various accidents it ended up taking eight hours. After spending too much time stuck in a car in hot weather I was still able to get up at 5.30am the next day and get myself sorted in enough time to be at the top of Buttertubs Pass for about 7.30 on the Saturday morning. It was a bit breezy and cool up at the top which suited me just fine. I've never gone too well in really hot weather so it was nice to find my trip up North had taken me away from the stifling heat of the South of England.

When the Tour de France comes through this road will probably be ten deep with cycling fans

Driving to the top of Buttertubs from the Travel Shack was really interesting as I was able to cover a bit of the 1st stage of this years Tour de France route. For 100 Climbs fans it is important to note that while le Tour does take in Buttertubs the route in the little black book of pain will actually be the descent that the riders take on; they will be riding up Buttertubs from the village of Hawes. It will be a nice fast and tight descent and the roads that it will spit them out onto once they reach the bottom are tight, undulating and potentially quite dangerous for a peloton of over 180 riders. My prediction for the 1st stage of the 2014 Tour de France? Crashes, and sadly probably quite a few. The off camber 90 degree bend at the bottom of Buttertubs will be an interesting test for the peloton.

Hopefully when Chris Froome and his rivals start the descent of Buttertubs they won’t be half asleep as I was. Halfway down there is a steep (25% gradient) hairpin bend. The Tour organisers had already put up warning signs to alert the Tour riders of its presence. Needless to say in my half asleep state I came close to overcooking it and ploughing through a dry stone wall. Its actually quite a fun descent and I’m looking forward to seeing how the pro’s take it on.

The climb up Buttertubs starts with a gradient of around 14%. After a bit of a slog to get going it eases off a bit and the bulk of Buttertubs can be seen ahead of you, as can the road stretching onwards and upwards. The 25% gradient hairpin bends seem a long way away from you when you start this climb and whilst they aren’t as fearsome as you might think they will be, you will have expended a lot of energy by the time you reach them. This does make the kick up in gradient a bit nastier to deal with so its important to leave something in the tank on the early slops. Make sure you look left as you crest the left hand hairpin bend as the view of where you’ve just come from is great.

I had picked a beautiful day for my trip to Yorkshire

Buttertubs has a fun fast element to it. Well, OK, it actually has a nice fast downhill section a little further along from the hairpin bends. I found it a welcome break from slogging uphill and it let me recover a bit before the final slog up the last significant ramp up in gradient before the final cruise along the top to the final cattle grid. It also allows you to take in a great view of the surrounding countryside.

Overall I quite liked Buttertubs Pass. I was a bit tired when I started it but by taking it nice and easy it was a fairly enjoyable ride and a good start to my day of hill climbing. After packing the bike away it was time to head off into nearby Hawes to grab some breakfast and then take on Fleet Moss.

Tan Hill: Better Late than Never

Wow, it has been a while since my last update. Sorry about that; been rather busy with all sorts of other things recently. Ironically this video has been edited for a while.

On the second of March I woke to find my car frosted over on another cold Northern morning. It was my plan to ride the Tan Hill climb then head home. Getting to the climb was an adventure in itself as my route took me over the tops of the moors and I encountered a lot of icy roads. At one point I had to inch my way up a series of tight hairpins that were covered in ice. Thankfully my little Fiat doesn’t have much power but plenty of grip and taking it easy on the throttle ensured I got up and down most of the icy bits with no drama.

Tan Hill was mile after mile of roads like this. I got bored, guess I missed having some hairpin bends to grind up slowly

As I got closer to the start of the climb I realised I was driving down the climb known as The Stang. I was briefly tempted to ride this climb instead of the one up Tan Hill as it would mean spending less time being frozen to my bike. The layer of ice on the steeper lower slopes soon put me off and I decided that the relatively gentle gradients of Tan Hill would be an easier bet in the conditions.

This would probably be a lovely view on a nice day. On an overcast cold day it was just big, bleak and slightly depressing

The day before had started cold but turned into a beautiful day with clear blue skies. The weather on the second was cold gray and overcast with a strong chance of rain. The conditions couldn’t have been more different. Nor could the climb; all of the rides the day before had taken place on clearly identifiable hills. The ride up to Tan Hill is essentially a ride up over the moors until you reach the top and it was hard to believe I was on the right bit of road right up until I crested a slight rise and saw the Tan Hill Inn. The road just gently climbed for mile after mile with no discernible end in sight.

Getting out of the car I was struck by just how much colder it was at the top and I spent most of the descent trying not to get too cold. It was a long descent and I quickly realised that I was probably going to get bored on the way back up. Apart from a few 10% ramps the climb is very gentle with moor land views all around. On a spring or summer day it would be a pleasant uphill meander. On a grey bitterly cold day in early March it was all rather uninspiring. I think that’s why it has taken me so long to post this blog update; I was just bored by the whole experience of riding up Tan Hill. My mood wasn’t helped by the fact that the icy cold wind turned one half of my face numb, or by the sudden deterioration in the weather as I reached the top. I was pleased to just get back into my car, turn the heating to the max and start heading home.

Messed up Plans

It had been my intention to have ridden a few more climbs by this point in the year. Since my last trip up North to tick of some climbs I’ve been very busy with work and driving some massive mileages during the week. Its left me feeling unwilling to get into a car and spend hours driving up and down the motorway network at the weekends. I cancelled one trip at the last minute when I realised I was just too knackered to make the journey, let alone ride the climbs.

 Don’t worry, I fully intend to complete the 100 climbs, its just that I haven’t had the energy or motivation to throw myself into completing the challenge in the last month or so. There are a few things on the horizon that should hopefully help me regain the energy and time to start crossing some more climbs of the list. I’m actually in decent condition for the steep challenges that await, I just need to free up the time. My venerable old Surly Cross Check is about 50% rebuilt in its new bling guise and it may even make a comeback for some of the remaining rides. I love my Uncle John but there is something about the way the Surly handles that makes me want to put it through its paces in the mountains again.

Watch this space…

Carlton Bank

Wow, I really am falling behind with these updates. Sorry about that. Normal service will be resumed very soon. In fact I’m planning another couple of climbs in the near future so it had better be. Carlton Bank was my fourth climb of the day on the 1st of March and I was starting to feel a little ragged by the time I got there. The area around the climb was very busy. The nice winter weather had brought out a load of hill walkers and people interested in visiting the restaurant at the top of the hill. Parking was tight and I imagine that during the height of summer getting parked at all is a bit of a challenge. The descent was awful, truly awful. The top of the hill is surfaced with very badly pock marked tarmac and it was one of those rides where I was glad I kitted out the Uncle John with heavy wheels and fat tyres. I’ll pick reliability over speed any day of the week. After a bone shaking and filling loosening descent it was time to turn around, fire up the cameras and start to spin my way slowly to the top.

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I struggled badly on this climb. I’d unbelievably covered almost 100 miles of driving up until that point in the day and I was just frankly knackered. My petrol station sports refuelling strategy wasn’t entirely working out (turns out Chicken on a Stick is the ideal example of empty calories) and my right knee also started grumbling as the road ramped up in steepness after the initial easy gradient. Everything slowed to a crawl as I progressed up the climb. This slow speed did have its advantages as my tired weaving about helped me to avoid the potholes that scar the top of the climb.

The view from the top of Carlton Bank

As I winched my way past the top of the climb I was congratulated for my efforts by a couple who had driven by me as I neared the top. They seemed very impressed by my riding as they put on their walking boots. All I could manage in return was some oxygen starved gibberish but their kind words were appreciated. After what felt like an epic day both in the car and on the bike it was back to my Travelhovel and some proper refuelling. I don’t usually touch alcohol on my trips away but the lure of a cold beer was too strong to resist.

When it comes to recovery drinks I just don't do isotonic

My back and shoulders were aching by the end of the evening which was a sure sign I’d had to really wrestle the bike uphill. The next day I had intended to tick off two climbs but realising that my legs weren’t performing as I had hoped, and that I had a long drive home to deal with, I decided that I should only tackle one climb on the Sunday. It would be a longish one mind you; Tan Hill. More to follow.

Boltby Bank

Firstly I must apologise for the delay between my last blog post and this one. Since my last posting I have had a very positive change on the job front and my retraining and career change ambitions have paid off. I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and not only has it kept me off my bike as I settle into it but I’ve also been a bit too preoccupied to focus on editing videos. I’m more on top of the situation now and starting to restructure my training so hopefully I’ll be a bit more punctual in future.

My third climb of the day on the 1^st March was up Boltby Bank. It wasn’t too far to drive from White Horse Bank so I was able to arrive at the top with my legs still feeling warm from my last ride. I think it is fair to call Boltby Bank a true pig of a climb. The mid section is pretty straight and just tracks right up the hill with a nasty little sting in its tail as it goes through a couple of tight bends before levelling off at the top.

I knew I was going to have a hard time as I drove to the top when I passed a pretty capable looking cyclist who was having a hard time. By the time I’d parked up, got my bike and cameras set up he still hadn’t appeared. In fact I was just about to set off down the hill when he arrived and asked if I had a map so he could check out a suitable route to White Horse Bank. I got the distinct impression he was keen to avoid too many significant hills after what he had just been through. When somebody who looks fitter than you is clearly having a hard time you just know it is not going to be a good day. Suffice to say it didn’t fill me with confidence.

The descent to the bottom was over quickly and without drama and the first section of the climb is actually pretty easy going. The gradient isn’t too severe to start with but after a couple of corners you are pitched onto an almost dead straight section of road that promises nothing but pain and low speed gear spinning. I really suffered on this nasty mid section of the climb; I just didn’t seem to be able to respond to the gradient and crawled up it. The final two bends are by far the steepest part of the climb but knowing that they were so close to the summit gave me the motivation to keep grinding out my low speed cadence and reach the end of the climb. 




The top of Boltby Bank is marked by a cross roads which is also a national cycleway junction and there were plenty of cyclists in evidence. Some were riding mud splattered moutain bikes, others were on the latest light weight carbon road bikes and there was a nice convivial atmosphere. However, by the time I got back to my car none of that really concerned me as I was starving hungry. I had started off pretty early in the morning and had eaten only a minimal breakfast. It was time to break out the emergency rations which came in the shape of a truly hideous, but none the less compelling, snack food I had discovered at a motorway services. 

Mmmm, see the chicken flesh lollipop glisten in the sun

It is a well known fact that all of the most unusual and exciting food products are found at road side shops these days (does it show I drive a lot for a living?) and so when I saw something advertising itself as ‘Chicken on a Stick’ I felt a grim fascination to try it out. I figured it would at least be low in fat (that’s what the wrapper said) and high in some form of animal protein and so in my feeble mind would be the ideal fuel for my bike riding adventures.

All I can say is that you know there is no hope for mankind when you can buy what is effectively a chicken flesh lollipop masquerading as a low fat snack at a motorway services. It looked awful, didn’t taste great and was so shiny it confused my cameras auto focus. I naturally ate two before heading off towards the fourth and final climb of the day at Carlton Bank.

White Horse Bank

White Horse Bank was the second climb I tackled on the 1st March. After painfully winching myself up Rosedale Chimney I had a 40 odd minute drive to the climb at White Horse Bank. Just long enough for me to cool down and for the sun to burn off any lingering traces of frost.

The climb at White Horse Bank makes for a fairly intense descent. It is tight and narrow with lots of sharp bends and, in places,  a pretty rough road surface. I parked about a third of the way down the climb at a big car park where a lot of dog walkers and family groups were parking up before going for a stroll through what seems to be a very popular forest park. Be warned, on a nice sunny day the road up White Horse Bank can get very busy which only highlights how tight it is in places.

 The car park is directly underneath the so-called white horse which was created by a local man keen for Yorkshire to have a White Horse of its own to rival those of the South West. The white horse in question is crap. Thankfully it is below the end of a gliding clubs runway and on a sunny day you are treated every few minutes to a plane taking off at full throttle as it tows a glider into the air. This is far more impressive than the chalk decapitated pig/ dishevelled dog/ white horse but I wasn’t able to get my camera out quickly enough to photograph a plane. Sadly the white horse was going nowhere and I felt duty bound to take a photo.

Breathtaking in it's crapness

The descent down to the start of the climb was quite bumpy and on starting my climb back up I seemed to be lacking any form of rhythm.  The lower part of White Horse Bank isn’t too steep but I just couldn’t get the pedals turning with any form of conviction. It was probably a combination of struggling on Rosedale Chimney and then having to drive for 40 minutes. Whatever it was it took me until about halfway up before I finally settled into a riding pace that I was happy with. It was sadly a very slow one but it would have to do.

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The hill itself is actually quite pleasant; in between the increasingly steep corners the gradient backs off a bit and, for an on form cyclist, these straighter sections represent a chance to build momentum for the next steep uphill bend. I didn’t really feel comfortable until near the top and by then I was on the steepest part and by default going slowly. Once finally at the top I had a bit of a cruise along on the flat road that runs alongside the gliding club before turning back to the car and heading off to Boltby Bank which wasn’t far away.

Fear and Loathing on Rosedale Chimney

After driving up the day before and spending the night in a Travelhovel I got up early, scraped the ice from the windscreen of my car and set out across Yorkshire to get to Rosedale Abbey. It had always been my plan to get to the ‘Chimney’ first and get the toughest climb out of the way while I was still fresh and before the road got too busy. I managed to get to Rosedale for just after 8am. Driving up and down  the climb to check it out I felt quite chuffed with myself when I saw that the road was indeed nice and empty. I felt slightly less chuffed when it became clear that there was ice and frost on certain parts of the climb.

It was a beautiful morning in North Yorkshire ruined only by my wheezing and cursing as I struggled uphill

The temperate the night before had been into the minus’s and I had gotten to the climb so early that it hadn’t had a chance to properly thaw. The slippery stuff was only present in randomly distributed patches but after one or two slippery moments my bottle went on the way down; Rosedale Chimney is too steep a climb to be practicing my bike handling skills. Mind you it also proved to be a bit steep to walk on when covered in bits of ice and wearing stiff soled cycling shoes. I stopped at one point to see just how much traction my tyres would have on the frosty sections and it proved to be worryingly little. The descent to the start was tense to say the least. Its strange really as the sun was out and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day but in the patches of shade where the heat of the sun hadn’t had a chance to burn off the frost it was damn scary.

Cyclists dismount? Yeah right...oh hang on, is that ice?!?

Rosedale Chimney is a climb that starts steep and doesn’t ease off. As you reach the White Horse Farm Inn about a third of the way up it dawns on you that this is a climb that doesn’t give you any chance to ease yourself into the effort of getting up it. There is a bit of a slackening off in the gradient as you approach the cattle grid about a third of a way up but this is basically one nasty bit of road from start to finish.

That ain't water but it's more slippery cousin

The two hairpins halfway up Rosedale Chimney aren’t actually the worst part of the climb. It may be just me in fact I quite like hairpin bends; they give you a clear visual point of reference to aim at and an opportunity to alter your pace. Yes, the Rosedale Chimney bends are steep but the short straightish section of road that follows them is what really does the damage. After tackling the lower section of slope that passes the White Horse Farm Inn and then pushing on past the two hairpins you are then faced with a simply nasty section of road that just seems to continue the worst gradients of the hairpins but with none of their charm. By the time you reach it you are guaranteed to be on the limit and quite frankly I struggled badly on this little bit of the climb. Having to dodge the patches of shade which where helping the frost to persist only added to the joy of the whole painful experience.



It will come to no surprise to anyone who reads this blog on a semi regular basis that I was probably the slowest moving person in North Yorkshire by the time I reached the upper section of Rosedale Chimney. The gradient does vary a little as you get closer to the top but not enough for you to ease up and have a chance to recover. It was a blessed relief to finally reach the top and be able to stick the bike back in the car. Unfortunately my work for the day was far from over and I had three other climbs to tick off the list before the day was out. Next stop was White Horse Bank.

On the road again...

The winter storms seem to have started to lose their grip on the UK so its about time I got back on the bike and started getting to grips with the remaining climbs. Last year ended badly for several reasons and this had the knock on effect of me not completing all 100 climbs by the end of 2013.  Missing a significant goal like that was really devastating but my personal situation meant that I had to focus on both job hunting and studying for an important exam. I've since taken and passed the exam and a new career beckons so time to sort out the bike riding bits of my life before I get too busy.

So, 2014 is here and it is finally time to get this challenge out of the way once and for all. Because I’m trying to start a business time, and money, are going to be tight as the year progresses and I, hopefully, get busy. Because of time constraints the remaining English climbs are going to be tackled in a series of fairly brutal long weekends.  First up is a return to Yorkshire including a first time trip to the infamous Rosedale Chimney, apparently the steepest road in the UK. Can't say I'm looking forward to that one, although the adventure of getting back in the car and visiting stupidly steep bits of road with my bike is something I'm looking forward to steeping back into.

Answering that age old question of just how many cameras can you charge from one laptop?

The plan for my trip to Yorkshire is fairly simple; drive up on a Friday, take on four climbs on the Saturday and then try and get as many in on the Sunday before I have to head home. Its an ambitious approach, especially as the remaining climbs are all pretty tough ones but it seems to be the most time efficient way of dealing with them. Hopefully I’ll be up to it. The training was going really well in January and then February happened with its strong winds and sideways rain. I lost a fair bit of momentum simply because riding in gale force winds really isn’t actually that safe. Plus I got fed up with cleaning my bikes every couple of days.

Recent training rides have seen me winch my heavy Karate Monkey up and over every steep hill I can find (and through every road surface imaginable including slurry that had washed out of a field over the road; thats a ride I'd rather forget). These rides have been mixed with shorter rides on my single speed in an attempt to build a bit of kick back into my uphill riding.  I’m not entirely sure its worked but as my first hill climb of 2014 is going to be Rosedale Chimney any weaknesses in my preparation will very shortly be exposed. The faithful Uncle John has been cleaned and lubed. The cameras have been charged and my mighty Fiat Qubo has a full tank of fuel...best get on with it I suppose.