I was going to take my bike but before we left I looked in my 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs book and spotted a number of the climbs in the vicinity. One of these was #55 - Rosedale Chimney. Not only was it close - but it was easily ride-able (is that a word?) from the Hotel and I had plotted a loop that came out at about 24 miles. The original plan was to do this Saturday morning but I changed the plan and modified the route to return back to the village of Rosedale Abbey and meet my wife in the village and then go on from there for the rest of the day.
Here's the route and profile:
The climb is rated as 10/10 so was a bit of a "must do" and I assumed that it would be similar to the beast that is Hardknott Pass that I failed to climb in the summer of 2014.
We got up and had breakfast and then I got ready. It was a chilly but not cold with a noticeable wind - but again not too strong. However within the first few miles I felt decidedly unfit. I needed the lower gears and my heart rate was all over the place. I knew at that point that the climb would be a challenge but was hoping that the 10 mile run to the foot of the climb would get me fully warmed up and feeling better. The route was a gradual ascent from mile 3 to mile 10 and by about mile 8 I was feeling a bit better and thought I was in with a chance.
As you arrive in the village (from Pickering) and take the first sharp left to the climb you see this sign - it's pretty clear that it will be steep!
It was steep enough here that I dropped onto the 34T chain ring to try and spin up the cadence some more. Round the left hander that can just be seen in the distance of the above photo the gradient starts to bite but its still nearly 500m to the proper foot of the climb, which is just past a pub. Again the signage makes it clear that this will be tough:
This is where the climb starts properly. At this point I was already in the lowest gear I had (34-28) and it was hurting. I pedalled on round the first gentle left hander and could then see the cattle grid and the first (right hand) hairpin. I took this right on the left side to minimise the gradient but it kicked up even steeper at this point. The 2nd (left) hairpin seems only a few minutes away but I was struggling by now and did not take it as wide as I should have.
Once you come round the 2nd hairpin bend the road goes straight up at 20%+ with no respite. I pushed on but was getting slower and slower. On the few occasions I was able to glance at my Garmin I could see I was doing barely 3-4mph and at this speed keeping straight is a huge effort. I kept digging as deep as I could but I knew then that I would not make it without walking. I gave it one last push but had absolutely nothing left at all and had to pull to the left and stop. I was completely blown. My HR was ~185bpm and I could barely walk.
I walked for about 1-200m and managed to get back on and ride to the top but it took a good 5 minutes to recover.
I managed 9:55 - vs the book time of 9:00. Given that I had to walk with hindsight this was not so bad perhaps. Position wise - 487th of 1287 so again - none too shabby.
There was then a long run down hill (with an element of a tailwind) - I got 3rd for 2015:
I then followed the Garmin route back to Rosedale Abbey village and then back up to the very bottom of the hill to the pub just at the start of the climb proper and met my wife - we went on over the moors to Whitby and then down the coast via Robin Hood's Bay for the rest of the day.
So what about the climb? It was an absolute beast - on a par with Hardknott pass at least. I thought about why I failed - I think it was a mix of quite a cold day (it was 2-3 Deg C) at the Chimney, not having a low enough gear - whether I would have made it with a 34-30 I don't know, but mainly not being properly bike fit yet as its quite early in the year. I think that the fact that my HR was all over the place on the run over and the fact that once it peaked at about 185bpm I was blown was the reason - there was nothing left. When I climbed Wrynose I had the same HR but I sustained it for a few minutes - this time once I hit the peak - that was it.
Here's the link to the page on the blog with the records of my attempts on the climbs: My 100 Cimbs Progress
Also... my wife gave me a Garmin Virb Elite for my birthday and this was the first ride I used it on - not an auspicious start in reality.
Here's the video I created using the Garmin software - with some of the data from my Garmin 800 overlaid on it. You can see when I had to stop as my head is bent over the bars!
Here's the link to the Video on Youtube as well: http://youtu.be/oPB9CZlKOWI
This one has been uploaded at up to 1080pso if you have the bandwidth it looks great.
I'll write a more detailed review of it in a later post - but my initial thoughts are: excellent quality, easy to use.
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