THE GRIM

GLYNDYFRDWY, CORWEN

On a certain cycling website, a segment running the length of this climb has been given the label ‘The Grim’, and boy does it deserve it. The first time I rode this climb I had rain coming at me in sheets, 20-metre visibility, and a wind so strong it almost blew me off the road. So the name stuck, and from now on that’s what I’m going to call it. Regardless of weather conditions, this climb is a substantial test, and your exam begins the moment you leave the valley road and begin to toil on its lower slopes. Set on a demanding 15% gradient, it snakes right, then left, then right again between tall silver birch trees and up to your next obstacle: a sloping cattle grid. After this, the climb is relentless. Now on exposed ground, the steep slope hugs the hillside, bending gradually left up to the first of three false summits – yes, three. It simply won’t give in, and will have you cursing out loud by the time it’s over.