Swineshaw Reservoir – Simon Warren Cycling Climbs of the North West
- S/W Rating: 5/10
- Wheelygood Rating: Easy
- Length: 0.77 miles
- Avg. gradient: 7%
- Category: 4
- Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/19641676
This tale begins with a gate. It’s important, because it means that you shouldn’t encounter any motor traffic on this particular climb, which is great. Walkers and other cyclists, yes. Possibly horse riders, but no cars or motorbikes. In theory.
It’s pretty benign, this one: in terms of its structure, it’s one, pretty linear, ramp. Yes, there are some changes along the way, but it’s all pretty steady. It’s even pretty sheltered up here with the wall and tree cover, so you shouldn’t be too inconvenienced by the weather!
Right from the get-go, it pops up into the 7 or 8% range and stays there for the first third of the climb. The only hazards that I could see are the odd bits of gravel and foliage which had washed onto the road as a result of the previous week’s weather, of which there’d been quite a lot.
Now that you’re settled into things, the climb bites you just a little bit more by upping the gradient towards the teens. It still doesn’t feel that tough, likely assisted by the generally smooth road surface, and I found that I could roll up here without huge amounts of effort. You do start to lose some of the tree cover at this point, so it it’s windy then you’re likely to have a little bit of buffeting now and this will gently increase as you continue to gain altitude towards the top of the moorland.
Your reward for the completion of this, steeper, section is that the rest is much shallower – down as low as 3% in places. You do get a sense of the height gained, though, because the moorland feels so much closer than it was before and you’re definitely into that exposed landscape. On a good day, it’s a really nice bleak, if that makes any kind of sense.
I’d advise keeping your eyes on the road, though, as there are two drainage channels towards the top which are angled across the road and will catch a front wheel and land you on the ground in a heap if you’re not paying attention. You’ll also need to be aware of them on the way back down as this is very much an out-and-back road. Once you’re here, though, it is really just a case of turning the pedals until the road runs out, at which point you can take a scenic photo, or two, of the reservoir before turning around and heading back to civilisation…
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…
