LARKSTOKE HILL

ILMINGTON, WARWICKSHIRE

RATING 5/10

This climb was recommended by a Twitter follower, so I just had to see it in the flesh. First of all I double-checked the Landranger map to see if it had the essential gradient arrow – it did. This was going to be fun. On the approach from Ilmington you catch sight of the road stepping up the ridge, and sure enough it looks pretty demanding as it disappears over the top. Hard straight away, it bends slightly right; there’s some respite here but before long it’s steep again. As you veer right a brow appears, along with the hope that the pain will be short-lived; but to my surprise, this was not the top. Having never ridden it before, I truly expected this to be the summit, but once over I realised I wasn’t even half way. Thankfully there’s a slight dip before the final ascent, which, although not quite as steep as before, leads you up and up and up towards a small cluster of radio masts and phone transmitters – these mark the final summit.

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