It wasn't. On a cracking day, we drove up the coast to Woolacombe and I tackled hill no 70. There is something about Cornwall/Devon out of season - no traffic, gorgeous beaches virtually to yourself and the most relaxed atmosphere. Also some big climbs to hit!
This one is a beautiful road heading out of town, not the main road that takes you back "East" and to civilisation (well, the rest of the country), but one that hugs the coast and climbs up much steeper. As you climb up you have the beach to the back and right of you, the town to the left of you and a blinking steep hill in front of you.
It isn't a massively long climb, Simon says you should do it in around 8 minutes and I had the benefit of a decent tail wind so managed it in 7 (which was good as I have my winter legs on at the moment), but it is steep, steep, steep all the way up. Once it kicks in (which it does pretty quickly) it is all at 15% and above.
Even reaches 25% at one point, although I never saw it above 23% on my garmin, but it is well worth it, especially for the decent as you get amazing views over Woolacombe and over the sea. On a day like today, well worth it (and then the dog had the BEST play on the beach).
Lovely day, lovely hill - and no 70 ticked off!
Excitingly enough - new video camera too - much better quality footage!
Garmin here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/131376109
Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJQzGCOjrXs
Tackled this beast by 'mistake' on a 15kg MTB with a small rucksack... took me about 20 minutes to get up it..i meant to take the NCN 27 through the car park just before you hit the hill but wasnt quite sure where i was going so i went for the unknown... No wonder the road bikers that passed me on their way down had a wry smile on their faces...
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