• Blake Street
• Length: 0.11 miles
• Avg gradient: 14%   Peak gradient: 17.4%
• Difficulty: 3/5
• Likelihood of encountering unpleasant motor-vehicles: 2/5
• Strava

Look on any list of Sheffield’s steepest hills and Blake Street will be in there, so it was with some trepidation that I finally got around to tackling this one. Any road that has had a handrail for pedestrians, you know is going to be steep and Blake Street has one running its entire length.

You’ll feel the hill’s impact from the the moment you put your pedal down to begin the unwavering climb.  However, you’ll want to make sure that you’re in the right gear from the off, not do what I did and end up losing any momentum I had as I attempted to drop into my lower gears too late while trying to start climbing.  From there it’s just head down, breathe deep and push up as fast as you can.  You’ll quickly understand why this road features in many hill climb races.

Blake Street is a sprint though, not a marathon and, despite its reputation, I found it easier than I was expecting.  Simply put, it’s not very long, so it’s over relatively quickly.  I guess it’s a far different story if you’re a hill climb racer but if, like me, you just want to get to the top without worrying too much about times, it is perfectly doable.  Definitely one to tick off a list but if you’re looking for more of a challenge, give Hagg Hill a go: similar in character but with a higher gradient and slightly longer.

• urban