There I was, hunting about for a possible cycling club meet when I came across an article about the Bristol Road Club's hill climbing competition. Well, I had to read it, didn't I? Unsurprisingly they'd had a bash up Cheddar but, there at the bottom of the web page was their bit about Belmont Hill. I'd been intending going close to it anyway on a route round North Somerset so I guess it just was meant to be.
I hit the bottom 30km into the day, about ideal, and with a successful push up Brockley Coombe already under the belt. After that I'd dropped down to Winford and, for a change, turned left as opposed to right. 'Nuff rambling...
Turning right onto the climb you can see from the bottom that it's going to be quite steep. The initial section is easy but there's a rightwards bend onto a steeper bit easily visible. I presume it's the Bristol Road Club that have put the marks on the road, every 100m to start with and every 50m from around a third of the way up. Of course, I didn't know how long the route was so ticking off the 50m intervals only served to raise the question as to what length of climb would be marked off in 50m sections. The answer is 1400m.
As the profile shows, that steep bit at the bottom proves to be the hardest section of the lot but given it's about 20% let's be thankful for that. In truth, this never gets that hard as there are rest sections after all the hard bits and the hill isn't very long anyway. It's marginal as to whether you'd call this top end of grade 4 or right on the base of grade 3 - I'd go 4 but if you hit it 130km in instead of 30 then you'd probably disagree...
It's short, it's steep for a while and it takes you up onto the ridge above Portishead - and there are some really good descents off this ridge. I went down Portbury Lane to Easton in Gordano but, if you've never done Naish Hill, then it's an experience not to be missed - but make sure your brakes are FULLY functional and don't hit the top bend too quick or it gets very exciting. Very...
DP
I hit the bottom 30km into the day, about ideal, and with a successful push up Brockley Coombe already under the belt. After that I'd dropped down to Winford and, for a change, turned left as opposed to right. 'Nuff rambling...
Turning right onto the climb you can see from the bottom that it's going to be quite steep. The initial section is easy but there's a rightwards bend onto a steeper bit easily visible. I presume it's the Bristol Road Club that have put the marks on the road, every 100m to start with and every 50m from around a third of the way up. Of course, I didn't know how long the route was so ticking off the 50m intervals only served to raise the question as to what length of climb would be marked off in 50m sections. The answer is 1400m.
As the profile shows, that steep bit at the bottom proves to be the hardest section of the lot but given it's about 20% let's be thankful for that. In truth, this never gets that hard as there are rest sections after all the hard bits and the hill isn't very long anyway. It's marginal as to whether you'd call this top end of grade 4 or right on the base of grade 3 - I'd go 4 but if you hit it 130km in instead of 30 then you'd probably disagree...
It's short, it's steep for a while and it takes you up onto the ridge above Portishead - and there are some really good descents off this ridge. I went down Portbury Lane to Easton in Gordano but, if you've never done Naish Hill, then it's an experience not to be missed - but make sure your brakes are FULLY functional and don't hit the top bend too quick or it gets very exciting. Very...
DP
