it is quite a lot isn't it?
went to the lakes with the sweary boys at the weekend, they did the 4 passes route.
hell of a lot of climbing and descending for a 18 mile route.... 8)
It's a lot for 18 miles, not so for 100 😉
i bet that was a lot of pushing.
The 4 passes is a cracking route - I need to do it again myself. And yes, that is a hell of a lot of climbing for just 18 miles, but it's also a hell of a lot of epic descending 🙂
I did over 10000 in 23 miles round Surrey Hills a couple of years ago.
Course you did.
What is this 4 passes route then?
Styhead Pass, Black Sail Pass, Scarth Gap Pass and Honister Pass?
I did over 10000 in 23 miles round Surrey Hills a couple of years ago.
Grum +1
what jekkyl said, but left at the top of honister and up through the quarries and down warnscale.
nice Ton, any pics? get 'em up.
Did you see if they've managed to get that Zip wire installed at Honister yet?
Grum +1
Indeed 430ft a mile of climbing is on par with the toughest fell-races in the UK - which aren't in Surrey.
If you like your descents natural and don't mind carrying for hours, 4 passes is the best 1-day route in England I can think of. Scarth's a bit crap, but the other three are fantastic.
nice Ton, any pics? get 'em up.
I will have a word and see if I can get some posted.
5172ft of climbing? Or 5172ft of ascent with carrying your bike lots?
There's a big difference. 8)
Was DG on big wheels? Guessing the rest were on Alpines?
he was, and Dougie......nice stable looking things, with the 29'' pikes up front.
I wish I was well....... 😆
I'd better restrict my bragging about yesterdays road ride to the office couch potatoes, I'm clearly small fry in this Willy waving contest 😳
Course you did.
only going by the GPS...
maybe the GPS lied - I have just looked at some other routes that come in at about 3500 for 18 miles, but I did loop repeatedly around the same area in Pitch hill.
Maybe I will do it again this summer to check...
Sadly it did! I think 150-200ft/mile is more 'normal' for the Surrey Hills, unless you just rode up and down that fireroad onto Pitch from just below Walking Bottom car park!
It’s only 20km long but there are four passes to take your mountain bike up and over: Scarth Gap, Black Sail, Sty Head & Honister. The only one you can ride up all the way is Honister Pass which is a steep long road climb followed by an even steeper drag through a quarry; the rest require mostly pushing/carrying of the bike to get to the top. It’s a bit like taking your bike for a walk around some of the most impressive mountains in the UK with the added bonus of being able to ride between and down them too! - See more at: http://www.hitthehills.com/blog/index.php/2012/02/tour-of-great-gable/#sthash.7QC5mD0i.dpuf
That sounds right up my street. Did you enjoy it?
Was the uphill effort worth it for the downhill?
Hope the sweary northerners got some good cam footage, it's a good'un.
sounds ace! I can only run to 4,000ft of climbing and that's over 50 miles.. (off-road only). mixed trails it's neared 5,000ft (and 100+ miles..)
unless you just rode up and down that fireroad onto Pitch from just below Walking Bottom car park!
went up it quite a few times.
only going by the GPS...
If your GPS is using map corrected elevations then it's almost certainly an over-estimate.
went up it quite a few times.
How stunningly dull! I mean the virtually (in fact I've never seen anyone do it) unrideable one, I suspect laps of that would be about the closest you'd get, but as said - this 'ride' is basically hiking with a bike, so the notion you can get nearly double the amount of climbing in in Surrey is slightly laughable. Sorry, I'd far sooner do the Surrey Hills ride FWIW and not walk loads!
went up it quite a few times.
Why not just keep riding up Gassons Farm from the bottom of BKB to the top of pitch!
On another note, trails in great condition considering the winter we have had. Shame about some of the trails clearing in Winterfold.
Also, a great job on the new trail at the top of Leith.
How stunningly dull!
I was out there for hours and ended up back in the car park quite a few times, so happened to ride back up several routes several times in the course of the day.
Puts Mont Ventoux into perspective.
5,039 feet in 12.1 miles from Bedoin (4,999ft of elevation gain).
But you can ride up Mont Ventoux, sounds like this was a lot of carrying. Also, probably some GPS inaccuracies. In hilly terrain I find the spots jump around and create large variances - GPS is less reliable in mountainous terrain for sure. While riding in the Alps, my brother climbed 500m on a flat road because the GPS 'jumped' to the cliff/mountain next to us.
Having ridden up Mont Ventoux in 30+'C with the sun reflecting off the white stone, it wasn't an easy 12.1 miles from my perspective! The two aren't so easily comparible from mere numbers.
Did 4 passes last Summer. A cracking route.
A few dabs on Warnscale though, so need to go back for another go ('cos it's possibly the best bit)
[edit] Bit surprised that some folk think there's something wrong with hike-a-bike. How the hell do they expect to be able to ride up anything that's good to ride down? [/edit]
How the hell do they expect to be able to ride up anything that's good to ride down?
1) I try and avoid riding up something purely to turn around and come down it (not suggesting that's what the 4 passes is though).
2) Because you don't need a completely unrideable climb for it to make a 'good' descent, plenty of decent descents can be ridden up if you're so inclined.
3) We're just not as epic as you. 🙄
Personally, for me, life's too short to spend time walking with my bike. I'd far sooner go for a ride and actually ride. I can see the appeal, but it's not for me. If that means I miss 5 minutes of great descending, but can do another hour of good stuff, I'll take that!
Alright, reading that back it did sound a bit 🙄
Let me rephrase it:
There aren't many Lakeland mountains that you can ride up, but if you don't mind lugging a bike up them then the reward is invariably worth it.
I reckon it's better route if you bin off the descent in to Wasdale, which isn't all that great, and head over to the top of Great Gable out of Ennerdale. Descend to Styhead, then head up to Sprinkling Tarn and as far up Scafell as you can get, then turn round and descend all the way back to Borrowdale to pick up the rest of the route. Warnscale is an absolutely brilliant way to end a ride.
Don't be daft - Blacksail Pass descending into Wasdale Head is one of the best bits!
There speaks someone that hasn't ridden his bike off Great Gable!
I did this route with a mate a couple of years ago, and remember thinking that a dropper post and XC helmet were possibly the wrong choices.
The climbs are mostly all hike-a-bike (apart from Honister up to above the YHA), and the descents are brilliant, but pretty fast and techy. Wearing shoes that give good grip whilst climbing with a bike on your back for a few hours is worth thinking about too, as a pair of carbon-soled disco slippers would be really painful!
Probably one of the best routes I've ever done in the UK. And yup, I thought the descent down to Wasdale was pretty good.
@paulrockliffe - ha, you got me. It's on the list for this year, don't worry 🙂
It is an awesome ride that rewards every step of carrying 😀
I also love this ride. The descents off Blacksail, Styhead and Warnscale are excellent. Miss out the road climb on Honister by pushing up the footpath at the bottom and I think there might be a permissive Bridleway. I can't get all the way up the quarry zigzags though, Warnscale has some real techy bits on it he most annoying bit though are the unrideable chicken heads after Styhead just when you think it is all downhill.
Get yet self to the mountains of Yorkshire, I bet you can easily do 5000ft plus of climbing on quality rideable fun trails in less than 40 miles.
I'd bloody well hope so, that much you can do in Surrey without difficulty!
i don't think you can really compare riding in the surrey hills with riding in mountains.
i'm from essex. used to appreciate what i had, but it doesn't come near living with mountains on the door step. as njee, i didn't see the point when i saw people pushing their bikes back up when you could take another route and ride up. but here, getting to the good bits can involve some carrying, but that makes it part of the fun. by doing so you reach the really good bits!
as someone said, think of it as being in the hills/hillwalking but with your bike. 🙂
there are so many fantastic trails locally to where i am now that cannot be reached without a bit of shouldering. i never had that problem in essex.
5260 feet of climb Saturday in the peak in 29.7 miles
Non of which was hike-a-bike! Only spent 14 minutes off the bike according to garmin and that was only to take photos / fettle with new suspension
I don't get this obsession with staying arse on saddle in a do or die fashion. To access many of the best steep big downhill descents you need to push sections. You are still out a big bike ride getting as fit as you like. Why avoid some mega tech lines just because you can't cycle up to them? It's all good fun!
2 weeks ago we did 5000ft over 21 miles at innerleithen and that included some pushing but also some amazing downhills 🙂
We're all different I guess, I don't want to go for a walk with a bike, I don't like walking, I want to go for a bike ride. I also don't enjoy really technical descents. As I said though, I can see the appeal, particularly in the Lakes etc where the views must be rather good.
I can only manage to cycle to the half way house on snowdon. I then carry/push my bike to the top. I do it every year and its the best 20 mins downhill run of the year (for me)
Sometimes a bit of hiker bike with your mates is a good laugh and different to your normal slog.
The best thrills are the ones you hike for - on skis or a bike.
5000ft in 40 miles, wowsers. I suggest you give mid-Wales a go, 6200ft in 24 miles is pretty run of the mill
I forgot to mention, I did a few miles uphill myself too.
started with honister pass, mid ride was lonscale/latrigg terrace (on my tourer) and finished the day off with whinlatter back over to buttermere.
top day, and more miles than the sweary boys too........... 😆
Any keilder 100 people ? (Elevation Gain5347 m Kielder 100 09/03/2011) it was certainly the biggest day out hight gain for me.
One thing I've noticed since getting my first computer is that elevation gain and 'climbing' are two very different things, well down here anyway. i.e more gain on a 50 mile flat route than a 60+ mile hilly route?
elevation gain and 'climbing' are two very different things
Yes, the Grand Raid Cristalp is 80 miles in the Swiss Alps, and it only just manages to top 5000m of ascent, so that Kielder figure is impressive for the Borders...
I'm sure most of the best descents in the lakes are at the end of a good carry, personally I don't see the point in riding round dull stuff for weeks on end but everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Would rather ride The Lakes than ever bother with Keilder again.Mind numbing Sitka and fire road would have used the cross bike if it had been allowed.
That sort of climb per mile average in the Surrey hills sounds like a good Sunday challenge. Could you use the north downs too and just go down blind terror, back up onto ranmore and repeat?
ton - Member
I forgot to mention, I did a few miles uphill myself too.
started with honister pass, ...
This you? 🙂
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I resemble that remark epicycle....... 😆