Hill Climbs

Hill Climbs are a uniquely painful and challenging cycle race. The ideal is simple – ride up a hill as fast as you can. It’s just you, your bike and your fight against gravity. At the end of the climb, your legs will be screaming with pain, your lungs at bursting point and your head can feel light headed due to Oxygen debt. Yet, whatever your time, there’s a great feeling of achievement for completing the hill. You may not enjoy it, but something brings you back for more.

There are hill climbs in other countries, but the short steep hill climb season seems a speciality of the UK. The first national hill climb championship was held in 1944 and is the climax of the time trial / road scene. They are often short, between 1km and 2 miles, but they can be as steep as 25%. There’s something about challenging gravity which makes the hill climb special. The burning in your chest, the stinging in the legs, the feeling of helplessness as your back wheel slips on wet leaves at the steepest part of the climb, the sheer exhaustion and relief on reaching the summit.