Best Cycling Climbs on the Moors

On Friday, Kevin Rushby of the Guardian Newspaper hit the nail on the head when he noted that The Tour de Fance had bottled-out of tackling Yorkshire's toughest hill climbs.

The Tour has played it safe and avoided the real lungbusters to be found in North Yorkshire.

And although we're happy to welcome the Tour, it's a shame that both of Yorkshire's Tour stages miss the hardest climbs and finest scenery to be found in the North York Moors.

Climbing the Chain-breaker - Rosedale's Chimney Bank.

But holidaying cyclists visiting the North York Moors can still take advantage of all the beautiful, magical countryside routes that the Tour de France professionals feared too much.

And the harder routes around the North York Moors will be quieter than the gentler stages picked by the Tour in the Yorkshire Dales.

Listed below are three tests of endurance that any cyclist should be proud of having on their cycling CV!

None of the roads are Alpine in height - but what they lack in altitude they make up for in simple steepness.

Chimney Bank, Rosedale Abbey

The first recommended hill climb is our very own Chimney Bank on the doorstep of  Rosedale Abbey.

Chimney Bank climbs around 550 feet in under a mile and with a gradient in excess of 33 per cent; or one in three (1:3) in the old money!

Because of its immense steepness and twisting hair-pins, the road up becomes impassable with anything from a light frost to driving snow.

But you'll usually be OK  in the summer months when icing is less likely on the high Moorland above Rosedale.

Chimney Bank is known locally as the chain-breaker; and nationally, Chimney Bank is recognised as Englands steepest public road.

It starts from the village of Rosedale Abbey; with the start line being only a couple of hundred yards from Rosella Cottage in the centre of the village.

And at the top - with an oxygen starved brain and exploding lungs, you will feel close to heaven itself.

The gentle ride downhill across the remote Spaunton Moor to Hutton-le-Hole is an extra reward for all your effort.

Three Spectacular Hill Climbs on Offer in the North York Moors.

Carlton Bank, Bilsdale

Another killer climb situated to the Northwest of Rosedale is Carlton Bank on the very edge of the North York Moors; and with great views across the Cleveland Plain to the Pennines about 40-miles distant.

Carlton Bank rises around 570 feet in a mile and is a truely lung-bursting climb up to the village of Chop Gate (pronounced "Top Yat").

There you'll find the lovely old pub - the Buck Inn is very welcoming of cyclists.

White Horse Bank, Kilburn

To the Southwest of Rosedale Abbey is White Horse Bank - named after the near-by horse carved into the chalky Escarpment above the village of Kilburn.

With an ascent of around 510 feet in three-quarters of a mile, White Horse Bank provides cyclists with a lovely twisting wooded climb.

And at the top you'll find the glider station with a cafe in the old control tower.