Length (m) |
Average Gradient |
Men's CR |
Woman's CR |
Strava Segment |
7600 |
3.8% |
14:07.7 Andy Cunningham (23/10/2016) |
17:17.1 Joanna Blackburn (22/08/2021) |
Length (m) |
7600 |
Average Gradient |
3.8% |
Men's CR |
14:07.7 Andy Cunningham |
Woman's CR |
17:17.1 Joanna Blackburn |
Strava Segment |
Cragg Vale is one of my least favourite hill climbs. It's the exact opposite of a "classic" hill climb and is effectively an uphill time trial. Starting in the large Calderdale village of Mytholmroyd, the hill climb continues up through Cragg Vale village onto the open moorland to finish at Black Stone reservoir. With a gentle gradient of only 3.8% it's almost a waste to have an event on this road, there are honestly 20 better hills nearby to hold a "classic" event on (See https://calderdale50.wordpress.com/ for a summary of the local climbs). Some like Mytholm steeps are eye-wateringly difficult and it would be an awesome event to host the national championships there one day.
I feel as though I'm being a bit harsh on Cragg Vale. It's actually one of the most popular roads in the area with nearly 100,000 attempts recorded on strava. It's never very steep but it's certainly pleasant to ride up, particularly in Winter as it's always gritted and well maintained. It's quite enjoyable passing through Cragg Vale village onto the open moorland, with the stream quietly babbling alongside . Even the Tour de France ascended back in 2014 and you can still see the encouraging graffiti on the road if you look close enough.
Interestingly Cragg Vale is the longest continually uphill road in England. In theory this means you should not get any rest but without any infernal gradient there's nothing particularly to recover from.
Whilst it is a long climb there are two distinct halves to it. The first 4km is the steepest yet still only averages 5%. It's fairly consistent but you can accelerate around each corner to keep pace. The steepest section comes between the 3- 4km mark as you start to exit Cragg Vale village. This km averages about 7% peaking at about 10% but it's nothing to write home about. Once past this section the road opens up and you are into the second phase. The last 3km only average 2.5% and at full pelt it barely feels like you're climbing. Get your head down and keep consistent until the line. There's not a lot to it to be honest.
Quite annoyingly I have the second ever fastest hill climb time. In 2019 we had a stonking tailwind and I had just got back from holiday so was pretty fresh. I had a pretty good effort and ended up just 2 seconds off Andy's record. I would have got it but it was very misty at the top and I couldn't see where the finish was so didn't sprint for the line until too late. This is simply an excuse for not riding hard enough but oh well. It would have been nice to own that record. A final tidbit is the 3rd fastest hill climb time is 14:19 by the one and only Tejvan Pettinger in 2014.
I feel as though I'm being a bit harsh on Cragg Vale. It's actually one of the most popular roads in the area with nearly 100,000 attempts recorded on strava. It's never very steep but it's certainly pleasant to ride up, particularly in Winter as it's always gritted and well maintained. It's quite enjoyable passing through Cragg Vale village onto the open moorland, with the stream quietly babbling alongside . Even the Tour de France ascended back in 2014 and you can still see the encouraging graffiti on the road if you look close enough.
Interestingly Cragg Vale is the longest continually uphill road in England. In theory this means you should not get any rest but without any infernal gradient there's nothing particularly to recover from.
Whilst it is a long climb there are two distinct halves to it. The first 4km is the steepest yet still only averages 5%. It's fairly consistent but you can accelerate around each corner to keep pace. The steepest section comes between the 3- 4km mark as you start to exit Cragg Vale village. This km averages about 7% peaking at about 10% but it's nothing to write home about. Once past this section the road opens up and you are into the second phase. The last 3km only average 2.5% and at full pelt it barely feels like you're climbing. Get your head down and keep consistent until the line. There's not a lot to it to be honest.
Quite annoyingly I have the second ever fastest hill climb time. In 2019 we had a stonking tailwind and I had just got back from holiday so was pretty fresh. I had a pretty good effort and ended up just 2 seconds off Andy's record. I would have got it but it was very misty at the top and I couldn't see where the finish was so didn't sprint for the line until too late. This is simply an excuse for not riding hard enough but oh well. It would have been nice to own that record. A final tidbit is the 3rd fastest hill climb time is 14:19 by the one and only Tejvan Pettinger in 2014.
2021 Event
Once again there was a set of roadworks on the course meaning it had to be shortened by about a mile. I wasn't feeling great on the day to be honest. Just 2 days before I had my first 80mile road race in 2 years and it took way more out of me than I anticipated. I'm aware that this is an excuse for losing but I was genuinely very fatigued. I was up against Olympian Adam Duggleby and he is a vastly better flat time trialer than me. He's a bigger lad than me so my strategy for beating him was rail the steep section and hang on with the tailwind over the top.
I did what I could and I caught my minute man as I left Cragg Vale village. I had averaged 410W for the first 7 mins but could really feel the fatigue. I ploughed on as the road opened up and caught my 2 minute man. With about 1km to go a fellow competitor yelled "you're about the same as Duggleby". I raised it a gear and sprinted for the line but it wasn't to be. I was quite handily beaten in the end.
Adam beat me by 24 seconds. Using Strava compare, he was 10s up at the mid point and carried on putting time into me over the top. I like to think it was the TT bike that made the difference because I did about 0.4 W/kg more than him but I'm making excuses for losing.
I did what I could and I caught my minute man as I left Cragg Vale village. I had averaged 410W for the first 7 mins but could really feel the fatigue. I ploughed on as the road opened up and caught my 2 minute man. With about 1km to go a fellow competitor yelled "you're about the same as Duggleby". I raised it a gear and sprinted for the line but it wasn't to be. I was quite handily beaten in the end.
Adam beat me by 24 seconds. Using Strava compare, he was 10s up at the mid point and carried on putting time into me over the top. I like to think it was the TT bike that made the difference because I did about 0.4 W/kg more than him but I'm making excuses for losing.
How To Ride
The biggest question people ask is what setup should you use. It's shallow enough that the speeds are high but you still gain 290m of elevation. The 2021 report gives a perfect example of the answer and I'm pretty confident a time trial bike is the fastest set up. Every time I have ridden it I have used my road bike with TT bars and a TT helmet and even the steepest section you're still going over 25kph which would warrant a TT bike. In the race I have never changed into the small ring which to me is the biggest sign a pure TT bike would be faster.
Even if you are a strong time trialist and can maintain position and speed on the flatter section towards the top it's worth hammering the first half. This is the hardest section therefore you can make the biggest gains here. I would advocate for a positive split and hang on as the road flattens to the finish.
The wind can be a big factor. The prevailing westerly wind makes it a headwind more often than not and it's such a slog so take this into account as it will literally change your time by minutes.
Even if you are a strong time trialist and can maintain position and speed on the flatter section towards the top it's worth hammering the first half. This is the hardest section therefore you can make the biggest gains here. I would advocate for a positive split and hang on as the road flattens to the finish.
The wind can be a big factor. The prevailing westerly wind makes it a headwind more often than not and it's such a slog so take this into account as it will literally change your time by minutes.
My Efforts
Year |
Time |
Power (W) |
Placing |
2021 |
12:38.3 (Short Course) |
399 |
2nd |
2019 |
14:09.7 (Tailwind) |
- |
1st |
2018 |
10:01.1 (Very short course) |
400 (Old PM) |
1st |
Previous Results
Year |
Men's 1st |
Men's 2nd |
Men's 3rd |
Women's 1st |
Women's 2nd |
Women's 3rd |
Adam Duggleby 12:14.1 |
Jude Taylor 12:38.3 |
Joe Beech 13:10.7 |
Joanna Blackburn 14:54.3 |
Sarah Lewthwaite 15:35.9 |
Joanna Crebat 17:15.1 |
|
Jude Taylor 14:09.7 |
Andy Cuningham 14:47.4 |
Jack Brown 14:58.9 |
Sarah Lewthwaite 18:52.7 |
Sandra Burrows 24:52.1 |
Ala Whitehead 26:29.5 |
|
Jude Taylor 10:10.1 |
Ian Mitchelson 10:34.9 |
Rick Bailey 10:49.3 |
Sarah Lewthwaite 12:52.7 |
Hannah Benson 13:19.7 |
Rachael Mellor 13:42.1 |
