The Penny
The hardest route of the two. This is a brutal tour of the Calder Valley. Around here, the hills really are murder.
"That was hell....when's next year's edition?"
The first Hilly Valley was 110.5km and featured 3,064m of climbing. We liked it, but we felt we could do even better. So we cut 5km from the route and added over 100m more climbing. That means that Hilly Valley now has more metres of climbing than the Fred Whitton Challenge and packed into 75km less road.
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We took onboard the feedback from last year and we've streamlined the route. The first 20km are brutally tough with 876m climbed before the quarter distance mark. Then there's the small matter of the full fat Cock Hill to climb; 7km, 4.7%. Last year it was only the easier top half that was required.
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The end isn't any easier than last year either. The last 28km feature 893m of climbing on already exhausted legs. It's the calling card of Hilly Valley - relentlessly steep climbs with no rest in between. Good luck!
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