Hardknott Pass

Arguably the hardest road pass in Britain, this is a pretty daft thing to do on a bike, as it would be quicker for almost anybody to do it on foot. It rears up to a ludicrous 33% at the top hairpin so it is right on the limit of the possible in terms of staying upright. I have driven over it a couple of times over the years but thought I would take advantage of this year's cycling elevation to give it a go, although it is a tad intimidating. It has only been a couple of months since I was on the Galibier: which is at least ten times longer with five times the elevation gain. But the typical Alpine engineered climb stays at 8% or thereabouts, very different to this! After a long drive from home I parked up in Eskdale Green for a warm up along the valley through Boot and the hostel until the climb starts suddenly at a telephone box. It immediately rears up then gets even steeper over a cattle grid before veering left for the first mega-steep bit. I managed to do it, and then comes a bit of 'level' relief (actually just standard Alpine gradient) until the even steeper second section, which reaches its peak at the 33% leftward hairpin. After the first bit, I wasn't confident I could stay upright and stepped off the bike at the hairpin, the classic place to fail apparently. Very annoying and instead of carrying on by foot I cycled down (tricky in itself), toys thrown from pram! After an interlude doing Harter Fell, and therefore expending more energy, I decided it was unfinished business and went back (in afternoon sunshine) wearing normal shoes just resting on the pedals rather than clipped in! My logic was that, although I would lose power, if I failed I could at least get my foot down before toppling over. And this worked, rather surprisingly. I did have to stop briefly right at the bottom as two cars passed each other on the narrow road, but I stayed upright through the steepest bits and pulled through the grotesque crux hairpin with immense difficulty given my cruel gearing (my old triple would have been fine). Above the 33% section the road remains at least 20% as you crawl to the top - quite a mini-experience.