Peth Bank – Simon Warren #60
- SW Rating: 4/10
- Wheelygood Rating: Easy
- Length: 1.03 miles
- Avg. gradient: 8%
- Category: 4
- Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/6681185
- Route: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1024660
This is a climb with many phases so it’ll keep you interested all the way up, which will help to make the ascent that bit more manageable. It feels a lot longer than its single mile in length, but that’s because of the twists and turns. Let’s start at the beginning…
You begin in Lanchester pointing pretty much straight towards the side of the hill, not that you can really get a sense of it from here. The road tips up in quite a gradual manner, although the presence of a 20% leaves you in little doubt that there’s some proper gradient somewhere along the way. And so it proves as the initial drag gets steeper. And steeper. And steeper. It does hit 20% around the tiny switchback before backing off somewhat (8%) and dragging on for a little while. You’ll get a bit of a rest here, relatively speaking, although there is still a noticeable uphill tinge to the experience, but, still it’s an opportunity to wash at least some of the pain away, if not all.
And, then, as if by magic, there’s a proper rest. With a downhill, and everything. Enjoy it, before it all kicks off again!
This section is another decent pull up; it’s not as steep as the bottom section, but you will definitely see gradients into the teens. If you’re racing up here then this is where the hurt really begins. For us mortals, though, the freewheel in the middle makes it so much more bearable! Once you make it round the couple of bends, the gradient slackens off again, so feel free to give it some beans – but not all as you’ll need them for the final drag up to the crossroads which marks the top.
There’s very much a tempo to the top section of this one – you can see the road stretching in front of you, but you’re not quite sure where it ends. Pro tip: the radio transmitter is on pretty much the highest point of land in the area and you’re just about going to reach it. Just find, and hold, that pace – you can make it from here. Yes, it goes up into double digits for the odd bit, but it’s very manageable. If you need a target for this section then the line of trees which you can see to the left of the road is probably the best option – it’s not quite at the top, but it’s very, very close.
Once you’ve reached the crossroads you can slump over the bars knowing that you’ve made it up a very decent climb – great effort!
If there are any other road climbs you’d like me to take on, the more ridiculous the better, then please send me a message on my FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/wheelygoodcycling/ or email me on wheelygoodmail@gmail.com and let me know…
