Not just for mountain goats and light weight puncheurs, hill climbs embody all that is cycling culture – crowds, grit & determination, pain, suffering and cow bells.
What is a hill climb
A hill climb is an uphill time trial. Each rider battling up the climb against the clock at one minute intervals. Hill climbs in the South East tend to be short, punchy affairs, or painful grinds – depending upon your outlook. They can last between two and ten minutes with gradients as high as 25%.
Hill climbs further afield, such as those in Yorkshire and Lancashire can be just as short and sharp, but also up to 10 or even 20 minutes of long, lung busting effort. If you'd like to compete in anything even longer, try La Grimpée de l'Alpe – a TT up l'Alpe d’Huez the morning after La Marmotte sportive.
Club and Open hill climbs, and how to enter
Southborough recently reintroduced a hill climb into the Club TT calendar, climbing Kidds Hill, commonly know as 'The Wall'. Held in late September as a season closer, the club hill climb doubles as a warm up for those taking part in the more prestigious local open hill climbs of Wigmore, Catford and Bec which are all held in late September or early to mid October each year. The club hill climb can be entered on the day if you are a member.
Open hill climbs are organised by individual clubs, with entry increasingly online via the CTT (Cycling Time Trials) website or, if technology hasn't quite caught up, in the form of a cheque and a filled in CTT entry form.
Hill climb maps and events
Click on the map thumbnails below for enlarged maps, links to event pages and for gps data.
1350 yds - Av 8.4%
Annual Wigmore CC Open hill climb in October Strava segment
707 yds - Av 12%, Max 25%
Annual Catford CC Open hill climb in October Strava segment
700 yds - Av 12.6%
Annual Bec CC Open hill climb in October Strava segment
Sunday October 26th 2014 - 11am start.
Online Entry Here
An annual hill climb has been running on Pea Royd Lane since 2004, when club founder Stewart Smith began hosting it...
