Hill no 39 – 81 Newlands Hause

Newlands Hause was a pretty climb too – weather was fantastic today and I was actually feeling ok as I pulled out into the initial part of the climb, past an array of parked cars into what I thought was an unnecessarily aggressive and steep initial climb!

Lots of cars parked around the side - with the spectacular nature of the scenery I wasn't suprised!

Straight from the start I was puffing away, trying to get air into the lungs – the hill was steep immediately and didn’t give you any time to “get into” the hill or warm up at all on it. It was a good 13/14% gradient from the off!

Fortunately, it slackened off a little eventually, but a sign of how steep the hill was was that a desperate look down at my cogs showed that I was already in the smallest gear and had no more options. Its always a bad thing when you do that and you realise that you've got nowhere else to go! You just have to grit your teeth and keep going for it.

Newlands Hause did have a little downhill section which gave me cause for celebration (I think I gave a little cheer as I coasted down and took the weight off of my legs) – it didn’t last though as it ramped up again and the brief respite didn't stop it from hurting the legs all the way to the finish.

Saw some cyclists bombing it down the hill which looked a lot more fun to be honest! Wind started to pick up too at the top, which made it more tricky again! Dog loved the wind though:

A tough little climb. Only just over 10 minutes, but a lot going on.

Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9v9g_TefM&feature=related
Garmin data here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90464223
Flickr photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/100hillsforgeorge/sets/72157627051469406/