This climb comes courtesy of Simon Warren on twitter.

Where are the photos, the route map and the elevation, I hear you ask? Well, Simon has published a book covering 100 climbs in the UK, and The Lecht is featured, so you’ll just have to buy it to find out. His website gives info on where to find the book covering the 100 greatest climbs in the UK.

Below is a snapshot of the climb (his twitter background)- the ‘easy bit’ as he calls it. The Lecht is known as one of Scotland’s five ski stations. Of the others, the Nevis Range has a cable car and Glencoe takes skiers up the hill on rickety old chairlifts, so there are no climbs of note there. The Glenshee area also uses chairlifts that take you up the left and right sides of the road, which would be great as part of a ride from Dundee to Aberdeen for example (click the link for a very rough ‘draft’ route).

Cairngorm however is the only other ski station road that has a ‘proper’ climb. It’s the finish to Hands On Events’ Cairngorm Classic sportive, held in early June.

This post was sent to me by Ali McGill of the Deeside Thistle Cycling Club in Aberdeen. He’s also MD of Freelance World, who provides accounting services in Aberdeen and sponsors the Deeside Thistle.

Most cyclists in Scotland will have heard of the Cairn o’ Mount and think that’s the main climb in Aberdeenshire [actually I hadn't! another one to add to the list– ed]. And whilst it is the LONGEST climb, it can’t claim to be the toughest. That accolade goes to The Suie, but you probably haven’t heard of it!

And that’s no surprise, ‘cos it’s tucked away in northern Aberdeenshire, just outside the village of Kennethmont a handful of miles beyond Insch.

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The Bealach-na-ba, or the Pass of the Cattle in Gaelic is located in the Applecross peninsula in Wester Ross. It climbs 626metres (2053feet) from sea level in 10km (6 miles). Wikipedia lists it as the second-greatest ascent of any road climb in the UK, while sportive organisers Hands On Events say it is the UK’s biggest road climb.

Picture by Anthony Robson, who writes the Citycycling magazine. Used with permission– thanks!

The climb starts at the Tornapress junction on the A896. The initial slopes are not too extreme, but after the road turns into the steep glacial valley beneath Sgurr a’ Chaorachain, the gradients increase. A long straightish section of road hugging the side of the valley will really sting the legs but here riders must pace themselves, because after it veers right slightly into the upper corrie you will experience gradients up to 20%. Towards the end of the valley the road is engineered in a similar way to Alpine passes, with tight hairpin bends.

The first cyclosportive event was run in the summer of 2006 by Hands On Events, after an idea by local cycling legend Clifford Davidson. There are now two rides- The Bealach Mor, which retains the original route of 90 miles and the Bealach Beag, a shorter distance of 43 miles. I did the 2009 Bealach Beag and did a report- one of my first posts on this blog.