Hills

Omloop het Nieuwsblad has been the start of the Spring Classics season for a while now. Even when known as Omloop het Volk it usually took pride of place...

The cycling climbs of the Midlands tend to be underrated. In Simon Warren's 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs book there are only really a couple of options. Jiggers Bank near...

The Devil's Staircase hill climb lies between the village of Abergwesyn and Tregaron in mid-Wales. Crossing the Cambrian Mountains, the Devils Staircase forms part of the much longer Abergwesyn Pass. The full pass is 14 miles long and is a spectacular mix of wilderness, mountains and steep climbs. It's not a surprise that the Devil's Staircase Wales finds itself in the 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs book along with the Tough of Bowland.

We've missed out on the Tour of Flanders this year (other than on Bkool) but the climbs are still there. The race has legendary status amongst the locals as...

The Trough of Bowland entered into cycling lore when Bradley Wiggins used it for his training ahead of his successful 2012 Tour de France attempt. The Trough also found...

Marchlyn Mawr is another one of those semi-closed road hill climbs in North Wales. Similar to Stwlan Dam, the road is closed to cars but bikes can ride it....

I've always enjoyed riding in North Wales, places like Stwlan Dam and most of Snowdonia. Unfortunately this weekend I didn't get to cover many miles but did get to...

The Stwlan Dam climb is on a road closed to cars. We lifted our bikes over the gate and then went through the kissing-gate. The road is used by the odd car from the electricity company but that is the only traffic you will meet. This road leads up to the dam way up in the hills above the village of Tanygrisiau.

Larkstoke Hill is found just about in Warwickshire near to the village of Ilmington. There are quite a few different routes up this hill but the climb of interest...

I think it's becoming obvious that I like to set myself a challenge and see what I can do with a bike. It started with various sportives, then a...

The Great Shakespeare Ride was the first sportive I ever did in my fledgling pre-lycra, pre-clippy shoes days. I remember it being very hard work with plenty of stops...

So three years ago now (time flies) I did the Paris-Roubaix Challenge which went well (sort of) and frankly it was time for another challenge. 2016 would be Liege...