And while a \u2018good time\u2019 might not be the words you\u2019d choose shortly after coughing up a lung at the top of one of these climbs, for those riders who like to pit themselves against them and laugh in the face of gravity, conquering any one of these climbs is a feather in the cap.<\/p>\n This feature was originally published in issue 387 of Cycling Plus magazine<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Vale Street may be incredibly short, but its first 10 metres are hard to get your head around, let alone your legs. Famous for an Easter Day egg rolling contest held on its slopes and for the fact that drivers have to park their cars at an angle to the street, rather than parallel to it, this is just the sort of challenge that draws in hill climbers.<\/p>\n On approach, the road looks nigh on impossible, a wall of tarmac with a flight of steep steps running along each side for pedestrians. It\u2019s not the sort of climb you just roll up and over, you need a plan of attack, you need to be primed, in the right gear and committed to it 100 per cent.<\/p>\n Starting on Park Street (itself a sprightly 20 per cent) that juts out from the A4 as you head east out of the city, you can either roll down then turn sharp right or climb up and turn sharp left.<\/p>\n It\u2019s arguably best to climb up and avoid mishaps on the abrupt change of gradient \u2013 spin a small gear from the bottom of Park Street then, once at the base of Vale Street, turn on the afterburners.<\/p>\n The key to success is to ride on the right or \u2018wrong\u2019 side of the road, then divert back to the correct side at an angle to minimise the impact of the slope \u2013 get over the first 10 metres without the climb steering you into the gutter and you\u2019ve cracked it.<\/p>\n If you are feeling brave, you could lock horns with it on the left side, but it\u2019s a tactic that many have tried and failed.<\/p>\n Unlike many of the other climbs here, Trooper Lane falls shy of the magic 30 per cent mark, but it has something none of the others do, something that makes it significantly harder to ride: cobbles.<\/p>\n There are myriad such climbs around Halifax, from the better known Shibden Wall to the fearsome Old Lane, but Trooper Lane takes the cobbled climb to the next level.<\/p>\n Starting on the giant smooth stones of Swan Bank Lane, it then returns to the comfort of tarmac for its first half. It\u2019s still no stroll in the park, rarely dropping below 20 per cent as it thrashes back and forth up the valley side. 300 metres in and you hit the perilous cobbles, with added steepness for good measure.<\/p>\n Round the bend and it gets silly. You\u2019ll have no more sprockets to play with here and the only thing that you\u2019ve got to lean on is brute force, a savviness to pick a good line across the increasingly rugged stones and your shrewd decision to ride here on a dry day.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a short period of respite as you pass a series of front doors and driveways on either side, before a return to madness for the finale, a stretch of climb that would make even the toughest of Flandrians weep.<\/p>\n Taking its name from the Victorian smoke stack that once stood above the mines near the summit, Rosedale Chimney, or Chimney Bank, is arguably the most famous cycling climb in Britain, its legend cemented in the fabric of the sport thanks to its inclusion in the Milk Race and previous incarnations of the Tour of Britain.<\/p>\n In a region famed for its steep roads, and where there seems to be a 1-in-3 sign around every corner, Chimney Bank stands apart. While many of the climbs here flirt with 30 per cent gradients, Chimney Bank wallows in it.<\/p>\n When you arrive at the base, the warnings are writ large on a giant sign leaving you under no illusions that what you are about to face is terrifying.<\/p>\n Creeping gradually upwards between tall hedgerows, the opening moderate part of the climb comes to an end as you cross a cattle grid. After that, it\u2019s on. There\u2019s a brace of steep bends, the first hard, the second all but impossible.<\/p>\n On other climbs, this is where the impossible would end and a semblance of normality would return, but no, not on Rosedale Chimney. Instead of easing back, the slope takes on characteristics that one might associate with a wall.<\/p>\n Asked to name a steep climb, most British cyclists would choose Hardknott Pass. There is no more daunting sight for a rider across the whole of Britain than what greets you on the approach to this monster through Eskdale.<\/p>\n You know it\u2019s coming, there is no other way out of the valley and throughout the run-in, your eyes are scanning the horizon for that unmistakable sliver of tarmac. When you do finally catch a glimpse, you immediately want to unsee it.<\/p>\n You rub your eyes, you gulp, your heart pounds and from the moment you pass the 30 per cent sign at the bottom you run out of synonyms for \u2018hard\u2019 to describe its depravity.<\/p>\n Crossing the cattle grid, the 25 per cent lower slopes are awkward but merely a prelude to the main course higher up.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a mid-climb interval, a perfect spot for some introspection \u2013 or in some cases a total mental collapse \u2013 before the slope truly kicks in.<\/p>\n It begins at a 90-degree left turn, the point at which you have to commit 100 per cent, fix your eyes on the bend ahead and hold on like grim death.<\/p>\nVale Street, Bristol<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Trooper Lane, Halifax<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Rosedale Chimney, North York Moors<\/h2>\n
![\""Male\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/21\/2021\/12\/Monsterous-Climbs-04-a67792b.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"Monsterous\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Hardknott Pass, Lake District<\/h2>\n
![\""Cyclist\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/21\/2021\/12\/Monsterous-Climbs-05-1209fcc.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"Monsterous\\"")
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![\""HARLECH,\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/21\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1161031291-c5c509b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412"\" "\\"\"Harlech\\"\/")
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Cyclist\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/21\/2021\/12\/Monsterous-Climbs-11-0f4fee7.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"Monsterous\\"")
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