Tag: sheffieldcyclingclimbs

West Hill

  • West Hill
  • Length: 0.38 miles
  • Avg gradient: 11.3%
  • Peak gradient: 24.2%
  • Difficulty: 2/5
  • Likelihood of encountering unpleasant motor-vehicles: 1/5
  • Elevation gain: 229ft
  • Strava

230 metres outside Sheffield.

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.

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The Thunderpit

  • The Thunderpit
  • Length: 0.39 miles
  • Avg gradient: 12.5%
  • Peak gradient: 19.5%
  • Difficulty: 3/5
  • Likelihood of encountering unpleasant motor-vehicles: 1/5
  • Elevation gain: 258ft
  • Strava

A quiet lane with a surprise at the top.

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.

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