Toughest Climb in Ireland?

Shoco83

Quickpip wrote: »

Sinbad,  I don't see any of the climbs in NI on the list, have they been added? I did the Black Mountain climb this evening approaching from Davey's pub and although pretty brutal wasn't as tough as the Kilbroney Park Climb.

Try it from the centre of omeath

Quickpip

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

[quote="Quickpip;104089987" I did the Black Mountain climb this evening approaching from Davey's pub and although pretty brutal wasn't as tough as .....

Try it from the North ....much tougher[/quote]
Thanks....Just back from doing this spin this morning. Certainly a little tougher than from the LWG side, particularly that first spike to the cattle grid. The fact that the road is not in great shape over this section makes it more difficult as you cant really zigzag up. Nice breather in between then another spike to the mast.
Still think the Kilbroney Park climb on the other side of the lough is on par if not tougher as its a continuous climb the entire way. Then again its shorter and has a better surface and wider road. Oh well, if you are ever in Rostrevor area give it a go(go right to top of car park) and let us know how you got on.

Fingers Mcginty

Quickpip wrote: »

Oh well, if you are ever in Rostrevor area give it a go(go right to top of car park) and let us know how you got on.

Will do ...I'm always on the look out for local spicy ones I might try out rostrevor during the week. Can you link a strava segment?
Edit: Just seen it ....your post on previous page

Quickpip

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Quickpip wrote: »

Oh well, if you are ever in Rostrevor area give it a go(go right to top of car park) and let us know how you got on.

Will do ...I'm always on the look out for local spicy ones I might try out rostrevor during the week. Can you link a strava segment?
Edit: Just seen it ....your post on previous page

I'll do out a wee strava route from newry? Take in a few of the climbs/sights to rostrevor and then small loop back to newry and you can follow route and/or pick out the parts that suit.

xxyyzz

this one in Kerry looks a doozy according to strava

magicbastarder

the use of percentages can be a bit misleading - i just had to confirm what it actually means; a 45 degree climb is measured as 100%, where many people would assume it was 50%, i guess?

goldenboots

magicbastarder wrote: »

the use of percentages can be a bit misleading - i just had to confirm what it actually means; a 45 degree climb is measured as 100%, where many people would assume it was 50%, i guess?

Don't think that is true. A 45 degree climb would have a slope of 1 (100%), but a gradient of approx 0.7 (70%).

An upward slope is measured from 0 to infinity, while an upward gradient is from 0 to 1.

G1032

magicbastarder wrote: »

the use of percentages can be a bit misleading - i just had to confirm what it actually means; a 45 degree climb is measured as 100%, where many people would assume it was 50%, i guess?

Simplest way to calculate is meters climbed divided by distance travelled *100
A 1km climb that rises 100m is basically a 10% gradient [(100/1000)*100]

This isn't exactly accurate but close enough that it doesn't matter


http://theclimbingcyclist.com/gradients-and-cycling-an-introduction/

magicbastarder

what calculation is used to work out that the gradient of a 45% slope is 0.7?

anyway, i guess a lot of people assume that a 6% slope is 6% of the way between being horizontal and being vertical; i.e. that 100% would be vertical.

smacl

magicbastarder wrote: »

what calculation is used to work out that the gradient of a 45% slope is 0.7?

anyway, i guess a lot of people assume that a 6% slope is 6% of the way between being horizontal and being vertical; i.e. that 100% would be vertical.

Cosine of 45 degrees (0.7071) where gradient is based around the angle of inclination.

goldenboots

magicbastarder wrote: »

what calculation is used to work out that the gradient of a 45% slope is 0.7?

anyway, i guess a lot of people assume that a 6% slope is 6% of the way between being horizontal and being vertical; i.e. that 100% would be vertical.

It's basically an application of Pythagoras theorem that we all loved in school.

Imagine a triangle, where the horizontal and vertical lines each measure 1 in length. The diagonal line would then measure 1.41 (approx). You would have a 45 degree angle where the slope is the vertical divided by the horizontal which equals 1 (100%).

The gradient is the vertical divided by diagonal, which is 1/1.41 = 0.7 approx.

magicbastarder

smacl wrote: »

Cosine of 45 degrees (0.7071) where gradient is based around the angle of inclination.

ah, i'd not heard of cosine being used for gradient calculations before. i'd usually seen vertical rise vs. horizontal run mainly. many ways to skin a cat, i suppose.

smacl

goldenboots wrote: »

It's basically an application of Pythagoras theorem that we all loved in school.

Imagine a triangle, where the horizontal and vertical lines each measure 1 in length. The diagonal line would then measure 1.41 (approx). You would have a 45 degree angle where the slope is the vertical divided by the horizontal which equals 1 (100%).

The gradient is the vertical divided by diagonal, which is 1/1.41 = 0.7 approx.

Yep, hence cosine = adjacent / hypotenuse. Would be a great idea for an applied math class, getting them to repeat this out loud going up Stocking Lane

goldenboots

smacl wrote: »

Yep, hence cosine = adjacent / hypotenuse. Would be a great idea for an applied math class, getting them to repeat this out loud going up Stocking Lane

In this case, Cosine would give the correct answer because the Adjacent is equal to the Opposite when angles are 45 degrees.

In general, however, the gradient would be given by Sine = Opposite/Hypotenuse.

smacl

goldenboots wrote: »

In this case, Cosine would give the correct answer because the Adjacent is equal to the Opposite when angles are 45 degrees.

In general, however, the gradient would be given by Sine = Opposite/Hypotenuse.

My bad, too many years in land surveying where the convention is 0 is up and 90 is straight ahead (i.e. zenith angles)

Steve SilverMint

Fairplay for putting that together it's a brilliant reference for anyone looking to find new hills to challenge themselves on.

As a Kilkenny native I was disappointed to see we don't even have one in the top 100. Coppenagh made it in at 118 but Kilkenny has a few far tougher climbs over 200m than Coppenagh.

Links to a few good ones on Strava.

https://www.strava.com/segments/2208250

https://www.strava.com/segments/7273090

https://www.strava.com/segments/15447115?oq=the%20brown

https://www.strava.com/segments/1188337

Euro Fred

What's the longest climb you can do in the greater Dublin region?

I have it in my head (probably from here) it's from Bray up to the TV mast at Kippure

retalivity

Euro Fred wrote: »

What's the longest climb you can do in the greater Dublin region?

I have it in my head (probably from here) it's from Bray up to the TV mast at Kippure

Yep.
Shorter longish ones but closer to the city would be rathfarnham to featherbeds or firhouse to ballinascorney

Euro Fred

retalivity wrote: »

Yep.
Shorter longish ones but closer to the city would be rathfarnham to featherbeds or firhouse to ballinascorney

That's brilliant, I really don't want to cycle all the way to Bray and your options are closer to home

Wishbone Ash

Euro Fred wrote: »

What's the longest climb you can do in the greater Dublin region?

I have it in my head (probably from here) it's from Bray up to the TV mast at Kippure

https://www.strava.com/segments/9412109

There's another one on Strava (Lucan to Kippure) that is 30k but the first 10k is fairly flat: https://www.strava.com/segments/10477018

Heartbreak Hank

retalivity wrote: »

Yep.
Shorter longish ones but closer to the city would be rathfarnham to featherbeds or firhouse to ballinascorney

You can actually add a few km onto this by swinging left near the top of Ballinascorney and going to the Kilbride Camp. The surface is really good too.

Google Map

You could continue on to Sally Gap but once you cross into Wicklow the surface is poor especially for a steep decent.

Euro Fred

Cheers for the routes, it's a stupid but annoying thing on Strava that my longest climb isn't very big but my longest ride is awesome tbf

buffalo

Is it possible to get the spreadsheet link in the first post? I can't be arsed finding it in the thread.

I was up Mount Leinster at the weekend - I've been up it a few times including during the Ras but never up to the mast. That's the mistake I made this time.

I think it has to be the toughest climb I've done - Priest's Leap, Mamore, Glengesh, Coomanaspic, Kippure, Wicklow Gap with Turlough Hill, Healy Pass, Conor Pass... none of them had me zig-zagging back and forth across the tarmac like that access road. With the fog at the time, I couldn't even see where the damn thing ended, nor could I enjoy the descent with so little visibility.

ford2600

buffalo wrote: »

Is it possible to get the spreadsheet link in the first post? I can't be arsed finding it in the thread.

I was up Mount Leinster at the weekend - I've been up it a few times including during the Ras but never up to the mast. That's the mistake I made this time.

I think it has to be the toughest climb I've done - Priest's Leap, Mamore, Glengesh, Coomanaspic, Kippure, Wicklow Gap with Turlough Hill, Healy Pass, Conor Pass... none of them had me zig-zagging back and forth across the tarmac like that access road. With the fog at the time, I couldn't even see where the damn thing ended, nor could I enjoy the descent with so little visibility.

Do it with a dynamo light next time. I needed those couple of watts!

It's horrid.

Jim Fitzpatrick did it 9 times in a day when training for RAI

buffalo

ford2600 wrote: »

Do it with a dynamo light next time. I needed those couple of watts!

It's horrid.

Jim Fitzpatrick did it 9 times in a day when training for RAI

heh, I had a different view:

De Bhál

buffalo wrote: »

nor could I enjoy the descent with so little visibility.

I did it last year and even on a beautiful morning, which I had, there's nothing enjoyable about the descent.

Wishbone Ash

buffalo wrote: »

Is it possible to get the spreadsheet link in the first post? I can't be arsed finding it in the thread..

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ElqKjY8GMgqLqbtfFJYW0lnKTf3_LgZ5r0zxwAm6wS0/edit#gid=0

iwillhtfu

Cycled up the Corrabut Gap yesterday first time up it, it's certainly up from the off set as soon as you turn left you're straight into it. :eek: I had only recovered from the road up to it a few mins before hand

In my mind I had MT.Leinster access road aswell and it was a beautiful day for it alas I got to the nine stones car park and the legs were saying not today. Name sake certainly let me down but what a day for a spin and not a sinner on the road.

I'll get up there one day on the road bike. I've been up it and down it on the MTB and it was some craic particularly the down part.

Have as few pics but will need to sort out an alternative to photobucket due to their antics.

mcgratheoin

Rode Tickincor to Powers the Pot yesterday - didn't get a time on the segment due to a complex junction at the top of Tickincor - anyone who's ridden it knows what I mean!

Wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I'd have to bump it up the list a bit - I thought it was definitely harder than Kilmashogue, hard to compare with other stuff I haven't ridden though

floodser

Was down at the gravity enduro in Kilbrannish with my son on Saturday, so decided to have a go at Mt Leinster.

It was a beautiful day, but my god, on the way up all i could think of was not stopping and falling off. Descent was fun. I was holding the breaks as hard as I could and was still moving.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1106819321