hard knott and wrynose

hey boys,
this week I flown from Italy for Lake Discrict for to climb some Cumbria passes...I hav done Whinlatter, Wrynose and Hardknott. For every pass I have climbed both sides...
what can I say ?? Whinlatter is easy.....Wrynose is hard.....Hard knott is terrible but I did it without stopping and without put foot down in both sides !!!! very hard but possible !! I have not my bike with inclinometer, but I think that , maybe for 30-50 meters, slope is around 40 % (plate say 33% but in my experience is more than 33 !!!!)
I will send photos soon....
it has been an INCREDIBLE experience for me...
Mauro
Tirano - Italy

mauro wrote:

hey boys,
this week I flown from Italy for Lake Discrict for to climb some Cumbria passes...I hav done Whinlatter, Wrynose and Hardknott. For every pass I have climbed both sides...
what can I say ?? Whinlatter is easy.....Wrynose is hard.....Hard knott is terrible but I did it without stopping and without put foot down in both sides !!!! very hard but possible !! I have not my bike with inclinometer, but I think that , maybe for 30-50 meters, slope is around 40 % (plate say 33% but in my experience is more than 33 !!!!)
I will send photos soon....
it has been an INCREDIBLE experience for me...
Mauro
Tirano - Italy

Hi,

Good work! They were a bit steep these climbs .... as I said but someone in an earlier BIG review stated the max incline of the Hardknott was in fact 28%. I believe that in fact it is more like 30% at steepest (but it is not above 30% I believe). I could only cycle up to 26% (with backpack, in bad shape and weighing all too much ... ), so had to walk these 50 metres ... first time I have had to walk on an asphalt road ... . Also walked like 30 m on the Wrynose (partly because it was dark, but also a bit too steep, but more like 28% there, just like some say also).

Just booked my B&B in Bergamo for the Summer trip -- now I just have to get the planning ready ... . /Jerry

Speaking of steep, steep roads...my son did a triathlon in Harlech Wales last week. To finish they had to run up a road to the castle (25%) but I saw another road up the side of the castle - asphalt - the board said 40%...I did not try it!!!!!!!!!!

Stevo1 wrote:

Speaking of steep, steep roads...my son did a triathlon in Harlech Wales last week. To finish they had to run up a road to the castle (25%) but I saw another road up the side of the castle - asphalt - the board said 40%...I did not try it!!!!!!!!!!

That might be a record steepness for the UK ... ! /Jerry

last week I cycled through northern-England and I did the hard knott en wrynose with strong headwind on my 39*23 and I made it. Just some pain in the knees but that will heal

Really steep!

Anthony wrote:

last week I cycled through northern-England and I did the hard knott en wrynose with strong headwind on my 39*23 and I made it. Just some pain in the knees but that will heal

Really steep!

Seems like I soon will have to do this too before I loose all credibility -- but I also carried a bottle of whisky with me in my backpack and had a lot of clothes on ... could that not be an excuse for some walking?

Well if ever any of you guys are over this way looking to climb Hardknott/Wrynose etc, then drop me a line. I live close by so it's local country for us.

There are loads of 'not talked about' climbs (not on the list here) that are certainly worth trying.

If anyone's interested, I've put a few of our local rides up here...

http://www.bikeit.eclipse.co.uk/localrides/index.htm

The Fred Whitton Challenge in May is an excellent sportif ride and that'll bag you Kirkstone Pass, Honister Pass, Whinlatter Pass, Hardknott Pass and Wrynose Pass. (Can't beleive you don't have Newlands Pass on there - it's beautiful ;-) On the challenge,you hit Hardknott Pass at 100 miles, and that's a real tester! It's a hard event to get into, but well worth it.

Look forward to seeing some of you over here in the future.

Cheers... Allan.

Hi, thanks, Allan.
Don't forget that plenty of us will be there next year in the month of may for the annual official meeting of the challenge.
You can perhaps manage the tours with Kevin Speed.
I've climbed plenty of them in 1995 but I will have plenty of pleasure to be there once again.

Hi Nelson (according to my parents our ancestors should have come from the UK and had Nelson as the surname and then it was changed to Nilson with one 's', while normally it is with two 'ss' here in Sweden, but somehow this got missed by the church early last century so supposedly my surname is now with two 'ss' also, but I still write with one 's' myself as I learned to do so while young.)

Yes, someone else recently mentioned this challenge here in our local bicycle club forum! I was only there one day so I did not really have time for all the passes in the area - another time. /Jerry

For anyone interested, the Fred Whitton Challenge (a sportif ride held every May in the Lake District) is a very difficult event to get into (heavily oversubscribed), so for those who tried and failed to get a place, or for those simply over in the Lake District on holiday who want a truly challenging ride, then you can still do the route at any time and if you wish loan a timing card (free of charge) which you dib in to a reader at various points around the route. This is something that has just been launched and they're hoping many will take up the challenge.

Full details are here...

http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.org.uk/fourseasons.html

It really is an exceptional route and you'll finish with 5 BIGs to your credit (Kirkstone Pass, Honister Pass, Whinlatter Pass, Hardknott Pass and Wrynose Pass).

A couple of write-ups on the Fred Whitton Challenge are here...
http://www.bikeit.eclipse.co.uk/fredwhitton2006/index.htm
and
http://www.bikeit.eclipse.co.uk/localrides/ride2b/index.htm

I can't think of a nicer way to spend a holiday

Cheeers... Allan.

It'll happen the 9th of may and our meeting will happen the next week since wednesday until sunday. Those terrible english climbs in the lake district will have some honour at this time.