Not another 100 Climbs

I have a confession. I don't like the series of 100 Climbs books, particularly the new Wales book. Its nothing personal. I mean, as a lightweight, the hills should be my natural territory. It's just a couple of things. I'm fed up of the fetishisation of 'the climb'. Maybe it works in places where the climb is the ride. I mean, riding up and down the Galibier will take up most of the day. But in south Wales, where the climbs are 1-3 km, a ride is about where you are going not just one climb but several. Its the combination that makes a ride: that’s what makes cycling interesting. And then there’s some of the choices, and omissions. Take the road to Penrhys. Seriously, one of the 100 greatest climbs in South Wales? What’s interesting about Penrhys is the decision to build a housing estate on an exposed mountain-top, not the nondescript 1km 10% straight road, hard as that may be. And, its about where that road might take you, like the nearby Blaenllechau climb from Ferndale, sadly absent from the 100 climbs list.

So in no particular order, here’s the start of an alternative 100 climbs of south Wales. They’re worth riding because, yes, they are hard, but also interesting.


The Ponty Trifecta

A staggering omission from the 100 climbs is the ‘Ponty Trifecta’ – 3 lung busting climbs out of Pontypridd. If your training and want to test yourself, race up the Graig, hoping that the traffic lights are in your favour for your Strava segment (there's also a back way too if you fancy it). Descend and then ride to Llanwonno via Graigwen. Unrelentingly steep out of Ponty, once over the cattle grid the climb never lets up, its just the countryside is more pleasant to look at. Once at the top either go in the pub, or descend to Ferndale and retrace your path up the Blaenllechau (see below). When you’ve done that its time for Ponty Golf Club. Be prepared: the +30% hairpins at the top are the least of your troubles – grinding over the cattle grid requires serious concentration. At the top, if your bike allows, take the gravel track to the real summit, or just look down on the post-industrial landscape below and all those climbs on the surrounding hills.

The real summit of the 'Ponty Golf Club' climb, Mynydd Eglwysilan

The Ridgeways

If climbs are about going to as well as going up, where should you head? There are a number of ridgeways running along the top mountains that divide the valleys in south Wales, some narrow, some bumpy, some gravelly. By far the best must be the Manmoel road between Oakdale and Ebbw Vale. But there are others: across Gelligaer common; Mynydd Bedwellte from Markham to Tredegar; Mynydd y Grug from Wyllie to Machen; and Cefn y Brithdir from Pontlottyn to Aberbargoed.

Mynydd y Grug

The climbs to those ridegeways are all great, all different. Try the 3kms of 9% from Machen up Ty Canol Lane; from Taff Merthyr Garden Village up to Gelligaer common (or maybe this way is better); from Abertysswg or New Tredegar to Mynydd Bedwellte, perhaps stopping at the Cholera cemetery at Cefn Golau.

Heading to Cefn Golau across Mynydd Bedwellte

Alternatively, try the steep corkscrew climb out of Georgetown and up onto the Manmoel road; or the bleakness of the narrow farm track onto Cefn y Brithdir from Pontlottyn or the steeper side from Aberbargoed. There are other ways up too: don’t be constrained by this list.

The best road in South Wales? The Manmoel mountain gravel road

The Hollywood Climb

The Bwlch and the Rhigos are the 'Hollywood' climbs of South Wales. Doing the two in one day? Now, thats a ride. but the fame heaped on these climbs is undeserving: just as the locals know that Alpe d'huez isn't particularly special, its infamy marginalises other more worthy climbs. So, if Daniel Friebe wrote about cycling in Wales, what would his 'indie-boho hipster climb’ be? Perhaps the road to Abercarn Quarry;Or Troed-y-Rhiw Road to Mynyddislwyn starting in the appropriately named Wattsville?

My choice is Blaenllechau. A hidden gem, it goes up in sections, the top hidden from view til you get there. The last two sections seem to repeat themselves: when you return you’ll think you are nearly there, only for another steep pitch to move into sight. At the bottom are two sharp hairpins. Not the long sweeping bends on the Bwlch or Rhigos, but proper switchbacks. The first you can hit at speed, freewheeling and drifting wide under the retaining wall, that give it the appearance of the first km of Alpe d’huez. At the top, a huge slag heap, flowers and memorials to those departed, and a view of brightly coloured terraced houses in the valley below. Yes, this is the Valleys.


Pimples: Not Simple

These arent the hardest climbs. The hardest climbs are those within touching distance of home, encountered after 4 hours or more low on energy. In Cardiff, that could mean Rhydlafar: just a pimple, but enough to question whether its worth turning right at the bottom to do the extra miles to avoid it. Or, the lanes around the back of Pontprennau and the sharp rise to Lisvane: you’ll have gone that way to avoid being battered by a relentless headwind on the flats. But was it really worth it? The feeling at the top of these ‘climbs’, of now being home, matches anything you might experience in the Alps.



We can write the story of a climb in different ways. One way is numerical: their gradients, their lengths, the power required. We can put all this together and rank them out of 10. What's lost in this objectivity are the stories and memories of how these climbs made us feel. The best stories of climbs are written by our own experiences, different for each of us, varying at different times, states of fitness, alone or in company. As others have said, The only way to truly appreciate cols is to pass through them and the only way to truly appreciate the stories they tell is to seek those stories out yourself". And in doing so, lets write our own stories of the climb and tell them to others, for this is what we should want to ride for.