With the increased popularity of cyclo-sportives there have been numerous articles in the national magazines covering some of the country’s toughest climbs. Also we now have a book describing the UK’s ’100 Greatest Climbs’. Not surprisingly none of our local climbs feature in any of these publications. Our local roads do not have the severe gradients or the length to match those on the Moors or Dales and tend to be overlooked, but there are times when returning home from a ride Trundlegate feels like my personal ‘Killer Climb’.
Burdale: a short, sharp climb but is it long enough to be amongst the toughest climbs on the Wolds?
In addition to the various articles there are a number of web sites devoted to cataloguing climbs, and one site, climbbybike.com does list one of our local climbs, Staxton Brow. This site is different in that it gives each climb a ‘Difficulty Score’ in an attempt to provide a comparison between different climbs. Staxton scores 44 compared with Blakey Bank on the Moors at 70, and the Lake District’s Hardknott Pass (West) which tops the English climbs with a score of 106. These scores show why climbs on the Wolds do not figure in national surveys. Nevertheless some of the climbs can offer tough challenges to a tired rider.