Bilsdale Transmitter – Simon Warren Cycling Climbs of Yorkshire
- SW Rating: 6/10
- Wheelygood Rating: Medium
- Length: 1.39 miles
- Avg. gradient: 10%
- Category: 3
- Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/19507819
- Parking: There’s enough space to park a car just off the main road next to the junction onto the road which takes you to the transmitter.
Towering, rather literally, over the Western side of the North York Moors is Bilsdale transmitter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilsdale_transmitting_station ) which, since 1969 has served a huge area with their television pictures. The nature of radio broadcasting is such that the higher the transmitter, relative to the receivers, the better; this is also true for WiFi, which is why many commercial installations put the access points in the ceiling. But I’m rambling…
The ascent to the transmitter is via a private road and you’ll have to negotiate a gate part way up, but it seems open enough – the locals use it to for walks and the gate isn’t locked, so I went up anyway. There is CCTV around the actual transmitter at the top, to it’s probably not the best idea to do anything silly, or embarrassing, whilst you’re up there: I pretty much turned around, reset the GoPro to capture the descent and headed straight back down.
As you turn onto the road, you can see the transmitter that the top – that’s where you’re about to go. And, yes, it really is that high up and far away.
When you first begin the climb, you’re doing it from the level of the small beck and the road winds up, quite gently, through some woodland and out past a farm. I’d recommend you take care as the road surface is broken, gravelly and punctuated by speed bumps, some of which you’ll struggle to spot in the dappled sunlight…oh, yes, and several cattle grids which does its best to unseat the unobservant rider! In terms of climbing, this lower section isn’t so bad – it’s pretty gradual, although it is pretty variable.
Not to worry, though, you’ll eventually make your way past a disused gate where you can see the remnants of a filled-in cattle grid through some of the holes in the tarmac and this is where the real pull begins. You don’t notice it initially, but, as you reach the farm, and the gated section of the road, the gradient will have increased noticeably and, in a lot of ways, it’s a bit of a relief if, like me, you have to get off the bike to open the gate. That said, you do then have the entertainment of trying to remount on the other side; horses for courses, I guess. If the little side gate is open, then it is possible to ride this section without dismounting, but, as with Great Dun Fell, it’s safer to walk…
Once past the gate, the gloves are off and the the road immediately kicks up just that little bit more – we’re well into the teens for gradient now. And it will stay like this for a while. I’d recommend keeping your composure, and bum in the saddle, for the next, and final, cattle grid. It’s on a 17% slope and the last thing you need is to have to put a foot down in a hurry…in the wet, the relatively new, shiny, bars look like they would be absolutely lethal. The slope does not abate – in fact it continues to get steeper still, much to the annoyance of your legs. It feels like there’s some kind of war of attrition going on between you and the terrain. And don’t get the impression that things will improve any time soon – the big right-hand curve simply serves to make the road point directly up the hill, at which point you’ll be pulling some interesting faces.
This 20% assault continues beyond the bend and onto the next ramp, although things do improve just a little bit from here. It’s still properly steep and the road surface will do everything it can to make life difficult. The ‘crest’ you see in front of you isn’t the end of this section, but the next ‘crest’ is although by ‘end’ all I really mean is it’s closer to 10% than 20%.
On and on it goes. The radio mast which denotes the top just doesn’t feel like it’s getting any closer and if you’re unlucky enough to have a headwind at this stage then it is properly miserable from here. Even on the nice day I was lucky enough to receive, this section just feels endless.
And, then, without any warning, you’ll feel like you’re speeding up just that little bit and it’s just a touch easier to make progress. The very last couple of hundred metres are shallower, not that you can make much of it due to (again) the road surface and the fact that you’re probably cursing the idea of having come up here in the first place. Still, can’t stop now – what would the CCTV operators have to say if you gave up so close to the top?
Eventually, after what feels like several weeks, you will reach the fences, cameras and locked gates which denote the end of your quest to the transmitter and you can breathe, turn around and ride straight back down again (I would – it gets rather windy and damned cold up there!) before finally relaxing down at the bottom of the descent, say by the river or, in my case, at the junction back onto the main road.
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…
