Middlewood Road, which you need to turn off to join Langsett Avenue, is horrible. Cars go far too fast and a the road is caked in tram tracks a bit further on. While the traffic might be slower and the trams non-existent, Langsett Avenue is still an arse of a hill.
Whichever direction you approach from, you’ll probably not be carrying much speed into the start of the climb, which is harsh because the opening is the steepest section. There is a big ‘20’ painted on the surface, which could be for the speed limit or just telling you what the gradient feels like at this point.
To be fair, the road doesn’t actually get as steep as 20%, instead the gradient floats around the 14% mark until you pass Don Avenue, at which point it eases off slightly, down to around 9-10%. You will notice the difference but it’s still a bit of a slog.
As you pass each side road, the hill feels progressively less challenging and by the time you’ve reached Airdale Road it’s down to 4%. With only 0.1 miles to go, you’re greeted with a brief 12% ramp before the segment finally ends at the junction.
However, for the fullest Langsett Avenue experience, cross over Worrall Road and add the 12.5% Well Lane to the end of the climb. Icing on the cake.
To reach West Hill you’re going to have to cross under the M1 and travel a couple of hundred metres into Rotherham. It’s close enough to Sheffield that we’ll let it pass though.
Cycling from the M1 underpass, there’s a short climb before you arrive at West Hill and its imposing opening. Despite what the Strava segment shows, the hill begins immediately and, within 20 metres, you’re already hitting around 20%. Once you’re past Whitley View Road, the initial bump mellows but still leaves you climbing at around the 10% mark for about 150m.
As West Hill begins to bend left, the gradient creeps up to the teens again, hitting 17% at the sharpest bit of the corner. The hardest bit is over now but you still have a short distance more to go but the gradient slowly peters out until you reach the top, just past the Hill Top Hotel.
The climb is worth a quick blast if you’re in the area and once you do reach the top, roll round Richmond Park Road until you can descend Meadowhall Road, which is a nice, speedy reward for your efforts. Just be careful as the hill ends, slightly abruptly, at the massive roundabout for the Tinsley Viaduct junction and all the busy traffic that entails.
Full disclosure: the road is actually called Farnsley Lane but at the top you reach the far more dramatic sounding Thunderpit Lane. Also, credit to The Digital Cyclist, whose website led me to this hill.
Keep you eyes peeled for the entrance to Farnsley Lane as it’s a blink and you’ll miss it turning but it will feel like a blessing after cycling along the horrible A623. No rest for the wicked though as you’re immediately into double figures, that steadily grow, as the road bends to right and you’re faced with a steady, slightly-wiggly, straight (is that an oxymoron?) up the hill.
The bend is the steepest section of the road, adding to the challenge of the slightly poor surface that is probably also covered in debris. The consolation you can take from the amount of detritus on the road is that it does suggest that motor vehicles are a rare sight up here.
There is not much to see as you’re enclosed by trees on either side but you should feel the gradient drop off slightly as you progress upwards, dropping to single figures as the road gently bends left.
The final 150m of the hill holds a steady 7.5% and, once you crest the hill, you’ll find yourself in the unexpected surroundings of the British Flurospar industrial mine. Don’t worry, it’s a public road so, despite feeling like a trespasser, you’re not breaking any rules cycling through here.
Please note, I’ve only ever been here on a Sunday when it was dead quiet. I suppose there is a real possibility that it might be quite busy with industrial machinery and lorries on a weekday.
Turning off the main road though Baslow, you join Bubnell Lane after crossing the river, and before you reach the beginning of this picturesque climb, you’re gifted a pleasant totter alongside the Derwent. Not long after the river meanders away from the road, you’ll reach the start of the climb, marked by a gate on your left and, up the hill, a farmhouse and stables.
Within the first 0.1 mile, you’re hitting around 8% but you will feel the extra 2% as you ride around the bend in the road. You’ll shortly reach the stables and the switchback: at 17.7%, the steepest section of the climb. It’s a quiet road, so fairly safe to go wide and take a shallower line.
From here, it’s a steady, straight plod to the top, graced by trees on your right and a lovely Derbyshire vista on your left. The gradient fluctuates around 10%, so it’s never too challenging, it just seems long because the top is hidden just around that corner you can see in the distance.
Once you make it round the corner, the top is marked by a footpath post, followed by a speedy descent to Hassop Road and down to Calver.
Pea Royd Lane is a fairly well known road, having been used for many hill climb races including the National Championships, so I’m sure there are far more authoritative and informative descriptions of this notorious cycle elsewhere on the internet but, since you’re here, make yourself comfortable.
This climb begins before you even get to the start of Pea Royd Lane, requiring you to cycle for 0.2 miles up Hunshelf Road, at a not insignificant 7.7% average. Once you’re past the factories and the view begins to open out over Stocksbridge, you’ll see Croft House on your left and a switchback on your right: the beginning of Pea Royd Lane proper.
In Simon Warren’s 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs he says ‘the surface is terrible and gets worse’ but I think the road must have been resurfaced since then as it’s not too bad now, not that that makes the road any less steep. This section, up to the bridge, involves some of the steepest climbing, with the incline hovering around the upper teens, briefly breaking 20%.
You’re given a short relent crossing the bridge but the hill is soon back to 15-16% on the approach to the next switchback. Take the bend as wide as you can (it is a quiet road but it’s not devoid of all traffic) and grab a look over your shoulder to appreciate how high you have come out of Stocksbridge. You’re now climbing at around 13-14% for 100 metres or so but this is the part I always find hardest as the end is still hiding from view.
The road shallows slightly as you pass a farm before picking right back up as you finally approach the apex, signified by black rocks jutting out of the hillside and which is hiding just around the corner.
As you travel around the Hope Valley you can’t escape the extraordinarily ugly cement works that sit, like a festering scar, bang in the middle of the valley. How they ever got beyond planning permission, is a mystery. However, there is a lively, little known climb that snakes around the works’ back that makes it worth venturing over there.
Most of the segments around here commence in Castleton but it seems more appropriate somehow to start at the entrance to the cement works themselves. It’s a very gentle start as you leave the industrial monstrosity behind, along a singletrack road with a beautiful view of the Hope Valley and past a campsite. The gradient is creeping up from 5% to about 10% as you take the first sweeping bend to the right and the road surface starts to worsen.
Around the corner and you’re into low-medium double figures as the climb begins and the valley opens up below you. After about 300 metres of climb, however, the road drops away into a speedy descent but take care as the surface is awful and also probably covered in detritus.
When you reach the junction, take the sharp left up the hill, through the tree-tunnel, where the climb really begins. It’s pretty much straight into a 20% incline for about 300 metres before a short level-off as the road bends left. Recharge and prepare for the jewel in this climb: the sweeping bend as the trees drop away and the expansive vista of the Hope Valley opens below you, right in the middle of which is the pig-ugly, brutalist cement works. I’ve got different readings but I think the incline around the corner is about 15% but totally worth it. As you switchback, take a moment to enjoy the sight of Mam Tor and Loose Hill in the distance, but don’t forget that you’re far from done with the climb.
As the gradient drops to a more manageable 5% it may look like you’re approaching the top, but it’s just the first of a couple of false summits before the end. There’s a slight increase in steepness as you wiggle up the road, but nothing that feels insurmountable and it is now more of a psychological battle, as, having tackled the hardest section, the pesky hill just keeps going at 8%, with no end in sight.
It continues in this vain for about 3/4 of a mile, across exposed exposed moorland, skirting the top of the cement works quarry, before, finally, finally, you reach the top, marked by a drystone wall line and what was presumably, once a gate.
In an area rich with challenging climbs (Jawbone Hill, Wheel Lane and Burnt Hill Lane, for example) this is slightly lower profile. Nestled on a quiet suburban street, it packs enough of a punch to warrant its inclusion in previous Magnificent 7 hill climb competitions.
Turning off the unpleasant Langsett Road onto Birch House Avenue, you’re immediately into a double-figure gradient for a dead straight 0.1 miles. This first quarter of the ride is fairly representative of the hill’s feel as a whole, so just plod on.
There’s a little relent as the road bends right and the gradient briefly drops to around 6% before picking right up again as you turn left on to Birks Wood Drive itself. You’re now on the steepest section of the climb, on the sweeping right hand bend, hitting a peak of almost 17%.
A short distance on, the houses drop away, revealing a pleasant view of Oughtibridge and the valley below. Appreciate it quickly before a line of trees hides it once more and you approach the final bend. The Strava segment says it’s only 10% but it looks steeper, not least as you’ll be taking the inside lane. Once you’re around the bend, though, it’s only a few more metres until the apex, and the option of dropping back into Oughtibridge to tackle a few of the other great climbs in the area.
In any discussion about Sheffield’s steepest hills, there will be a few usual suspects; Hagg Hill, Jenkin Road and Blake Street, but it would be surprising if Kent Street didn’t also get a look in. Blake Street is often credited as Sheffield’s steepest but, despite being the same length, Kent Street has a slightly higher average gradient.
The start of the incline begins between Rushdale Avenue and Albert Road, facing north (there is an interesting footpath you can cycle up in the other direction but we’ll save that for another day). Unfortunately, Albert Road is a blind crossroads so, unless you can get a mate to stand there and give you the all clear, it’s safer to start at that junction (and also where the Strava segment begins).
You can see the handrail in the distance, that’s your target, where the road bends slightly to the right and kicks up steeply. Before that, you immediately begin on a 13.5% climb, and for every 15 metres or so, the gradient increases by about 1% (the maths here is very approximate but you get the idea) until you reach the railing.
It’s here that the hill breaks 20% for the final spike, which you’ll really feel as the apex slips into view. Well done, you can now arguably claim to have cycled up one of the city’s steepest hills.
It’s sweet but too short to be genuinely formidable.
If you want to get from Low Bradfield to High Bradfield, unsurprisingly, it’s going to involve some climbing. The second half of this climb was one of the final climbs in Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France but, you’ll be glad to hear, the first section is much harder.
You begin in earnest in the quintessentially English village of Low Bradfield, with the cricket pitch behind you and the Post Office to your right (is that Mrs Goggins serving in there?). The start of the climb isn’t too foreboding at a steady 7% as it begins the ascent past houses and farm buildings towards the trees.
As you pass Smallfield Lane, you’ll notice a gradient increase into double figures, hitting the low 20s as the road wiggles under tree cover, soon hitting one of the most challenging bits of the climb. Photos of this section never capture how steep it really is. As you make it up a mild S-bend there is a bench to aim for (I had a sit down here the first time I attempted this hill) that I use as a mental marker for the climb easing off slightly (but only by about 5%). It’s relatively safe to zig-zag across the road here, if it helps, as most descending traffic is taking it cautiously and most ascending traffic is having as much difficultly getting up as you.
Once you’re around the right hand bend, you’ve got the (relative) ease of a section of 10-14%, so ease the pressure off the legs a bit before tackling the steep approach to the Old Horns Inn. There is a Strava segment saying that this bit is 31%, which I think is wrong but worth baring in mind for showing off to people who aren’t familiar with the road.
I think it is perfectly acceptable to take a couple of turns around the pub car park to get your breath back and legitimately claim that you didn’t stop on the climb before you tackle the ‘Côte de Bradfield’. Make sure Loxley Road is clear before crossing over on to Kirk Edge Road, where there’s a sign with some key stats, signifying the start of the Tour de France section. Although you have conquered the worst of this climb, the first blind bend in this section is a killer, just touching 20%, but feels harder as you need to stay on the inside to avoid any traffic coming the other way.
The landscape opens up here, with farmland stretching in all directions and you appreciate the 400 feet that you’ve already climbed. The remainder of the road is a steady, fairly straight climb, fluctuating around 10% (you might notice the occasional bit of faded Tour graffiti a la ‘Va Va Froome’ along the way) but feels harder because of what you’ve already achieved. Strava says the very end is only 13% but I’m sure it spikes closer to 20%. The first couple of times I did this hill, a sneaky little tailwind appeared just in time to push me to the summit. I hope you’re as fortunate as I was.
The reward for your efforts is one of the most fun, fast descents in the area. At almost 2 miles before you meet a junction, although slightly bumpy in places, riding down Kirk Edge Road makes the climb up Woodfall Lane and and the Côte de Bradfield worth the suffering.
If you’ve been out in the Hope Valley, but don’t fancy tackling Fiddler’s Elbow, Surprise View or The Dale on your return to Sheffield, the best option to get up over that big hill between you and the city is probably New Road, near Bamford.
Just south of Ladybower Reservoir you’ll find this rather picturesque climb that is never too hard but also never easy. As you turn off Ashopton Road, you’re straight into a 9% climb, so it’s heads down from the off. The gradient fluctuates between 5 – 10% for the next mile or so as you ascend the tree lined road. On your left, you’re presented with the imposing sight of Bamford Moor and, on your right, the view across the valley towards Thornhill and Shatton, the vista improving steadily as you make your way up New Road.
It’s a fairly straight line, with the biggest hazard being gangs of walkers or motorists descending a bit too quickly but it’s usually a relatively quiet ascent. One of the highlights happens around the 0.7 mile mark when, suddenly, the trees on your right drop away to reveal a most spectacular panorama across the valley. In the distance you might spy Shatton Mast, sitting atop Shatton Moor, the climb up to which I’d rate as a 5/5 (but we’ll save that for a later date).
The gradient sits around 5% here, so keep enjoying the view until you meet another line of trees and the road bends round to the left at what feels like its steepest section. You’ll shortly reach a summit, where there will likely be a few cars parked by local hikers, but you’re not at the end of the climb yet. The hill drops away into a fun and welcome descent but do take care, especially on the sharp right-hand bend which descends at -9%.
Try to keep your momentum here, as the gradient returns to almost 10% (but can feel greater), and you’ll soon reach the apex, where you’re greeted with a bench to sit on and one of the most beautiful views in the area.
Sheffield Cycling Climbs 