Hainworth Lane – Simon Warren #141
- SW Rating: 7/10
- Wheelygood Rating: Medium
- Length: 0.91 miles
- Avg. gradient: 10%
- Category: 4
- Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/16336151
- Route: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1046988
- Parking: You’ll have to be creative with this one. Perhaps consider parking alongside the locals?
The beginning of Hainworth Lane just looks nondescript: it’s like any other side street anywhere, until you look up and see the 20% sign attached to the post.
From a flat couple of metres (that’s a warm-up round here), it goes straight into Steep. The change in gradient is so sudden that it took my Garmin a little while to catch up – the video shows a section at 2-5%, whereas it was closer to 12% in reality. Better(?) yet, it keeps on building until the gradient is North of 20% as the road continues to wind its way through the houses. This savagery doesn’t last too long and things calm down considerably.
And, then, the cobbles begin. This is synchronised with another kick in gradient back into the high teens and, on occasion, nudges over that 20% again. Apart from being cobbled, the surface isn’t awful – there are much worse out there (Halifax Lane and Trooper Lane for two) – but it does rob you of any momentum and you’ll find that you just have to keep the power on at all times. Standard drill for cobbles, really. Oh, and by the way, you’re about a quarter of the way up the climb at this point.
This initial stretch on the cobbles is about as bad as it gets and, as you get around the long left hander, the gradient relaxes just a bit. You’ll also see that you’ve escaped from the town into the country side as green fields appear on either side. I’d recommend making the most of this to take your mind off the fact that you’re still not quite half way up.
As the road bears right, the cobbles get a bit worse and the slope increases to over 20% again before, as suddenly as they began, the cobbles finish and you’re onto nice, smooth, tarmac. I’d wager that, back in the day, this was cobbled from bottom to top, but not now.
You’ve done the worst of it now. Yes, it keeps going uphill, but it’s not as savage and comes in sort-of rampy chunks. It’s one of those where the pull of gravity is ever present, but, somehow, it’s just that bit more manageable now. Any ability to put the hammer down is likely to have been shaken out by the cobbles, but it’s certainly possible to spin your way on from here – just make sure you keep a decent rhythm as there is still a decent chunk of climb left!
Once you’ve wound your way through the houses and past the farms, you’ll suddenly get a sense that you’re on top of the world. Whilst this may not be true in an absolute height gained sense, you are able to look down on significant chunks of Yorkshire from here and the last hundred metres of the climb will let you enjoy this as it drops to a mere gentle drag to the junction at the end.
Very well done!
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…
