THE ROAD TO HELL

DENBIGH

This is a long climb by anyone’s standards, winding upwards for just over 11 kilometres. The road meanders slowly out of Denbigh and then, out of nowhere, you hit a 20% left-hand hairpin and the pain begins. The smooth, wide road does ease eventually, but the tranquility doesn’t last. The road soon starts to narrow and steepen, its surface deteriorating along the way. Ramping up, the climb kinks left past lunar-like craters, and then sharp right and left again on to a laboriously long 17% stretch. After this you are rewarded with a short, speedy descent. But you’re still a long way from hell. Keep right at a junction and enjoy the rolling contours for a while before tackling another stretch of serious climbing. Once over a cattle grid, the road enters epic open land, following the edge of the eerie Lake Brenig. Bending gently right, one more strength-sapping push finally delivers you into the hands of the Devil.