YORKSHIRE

Thanks to an exceptionally varied and diverse terrain, Yorkshire lays claim to more than its fair share of Britain’s greatest cycling climbs. As a result, it was very hard to choose just 75! I hope you find each of the following worthy of a place on the list.

To begin with, I should explain my division of the county into the book’s four chapters, and my slight disregard for the traditional boundaries. As you will see, I’ve amalgamated the eastern half of North Yorkshire with East Riding to create my own more convenient definition of East Yorkshire. If I’d allocated the climbs according to the strict geopolitical borders, the North Yorkshire chapter would have dwarfed the others, so I’ve evened things out a bit.

The book begins in the East, starting in the outskirts of Hull and travelling north into the peaceful rolling hills of the Yorkshire Wolds. This is the true East Yorkshire: it’s quiet, empty, and although the hills are tough at times, they’re never savage. It’s perfect for cycling. Leaving the Wolds, passing through the Howardian Hills where the gradients start to get a little more testing, you cross the A170 to reach the infamous North York Moors. This isolated world, sitting high on a gorse-covered plateau, is heaven for those who like viscously steep climbs, but hell for those who don’t. Plot any route through its twisting lanes and no matter which combination of roads you choose, it will have a profile not dissimilar to an upturned saw blade. The Moors hold more 25% slopes per square mile than just about anywhere else in Britain, and at the top of the pile sits the famous Rosedale Chimney. This is a climb all cyclists should attempt at least once; the length and severity of its hideous gradient means you’ll struggle to stay upright, let alone pick up any speed, but it’s a must, and well worth the effort.

Chapter two covers the rather more congested South Yorkshire, occupied by the vast majority of Yorkshire’s population. But it’s not all urban sprawl; there’s a huge array of climbs here to test your legs, and they often lead to one of numerous pockets of beauty that are sandwiched between the ever-expanding cities. One such pocket is The Strines. Sitting just above the Peak District to the west of Sheffield, it’s an area not dissimilar to the North York Moors, in that every single road either heads up or down on a very tough gradient. Although it covers a relatively small area, it’s criss-crossed with a multitude of roads so that even if you went every day for a month, you could feasibly ride a different route each time, tackling the climbs in a different order.

Travelling north into West Yorkshire, we come to the mighty Holme Moss and its windswept summit, before the equally exposed climb up to Wessenden Head. Then we have the Huddersfield-Halifax conurbation: it’s almost entirely urban, with one town leading directly into the next, but the unrelenting undulations they’re built on are home to a myriad of amazing roads, including the fantastic Calderdale cobbles. Belgium may claim to be the home of the cobbled climb, thanks to the famous roads used in the Tour of Flanders, but when it comes down to the bare statistics, the cobbles of Calderdale and those further north around Keighley are more than a match for their famous European cousins. I’ve long talked of Britain’s need for a one-day race that incorporates them. Just imagine it: Thwaites Brow, The Shibden Wall, maybe even the outrageously steep Trooper Lane, all playing host to the world’s best riders. One day, one day it might just happen.

Leaving the West and heading into North Yorkshire, it’s back into the wild, across the A59 into the beauty of Nidderdale and the Yorkshire Dales. This, in my eyes, is quintessential Yorkshire. It’s these roads, traversing the barren moors and lined with jagged stone walls, that typify the great county. Here you can truly escape the pace of modern life, bury yourself in nature, and lose yourself along quiet narrow roads. Hours can pass on any day of the week with no other vehicles in sight, and until sheep learn to drive, this may always be the case. The Dales are also home to some of England’s greatest climbs: Park Rash, Buttertubs Pass, Tan Hill, and Fleet Moss (my favourite) are all epic challenges.

Finally, I have to mention the role Yorkshire has played in popularizing cycling in Britain after hosting the Grand Départ of the 2014 Tour de France. The images of Buttertubs Pass covered in a multitude of fans may well be remembered as the greatest celebration of sport the nation has ever seen. So what are you waiting for? The climbs of Yorkshire are ready and waiting for you to get out there and ‘Ride Them All’.