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Friday 18 April 2014

Thwaites Brow

The climb of Thwaites Brow is one of those hidden, rarely spoken of gems of an ascent that mostly the older cyclists know of. I first found it not by word of mouth, but scouring over a map looking for squiggly lines over dense contour lines. I rode out and spend a good fifteen minutes cycling round an industrial looking for the start of it! Taking a right hand turn into what looked like a builders yard greeted me with a behemoth of a cobbled climb!
Cycling round Keighley, Haworth and Hebden Bridge for a good portion of my life has left me with an intimate knowledge of those shaky roads. So much so that when riding over cobbles I dont think about Flanders or Roubaix but just cobbles, similiar to when one rides on tarmac.

Follow that 'Unsuitable for HGVs' sign.


 The climb thats straight away with no easy bit to warm the legs up on. Just round that corner the road rears up to 20%.


Hairpin one and two. The road is falling into disrepair and rather than fix the cobbles the council does a haphazard job with ashpalt and concrete.




Due to the steepness of the climb you quickly gain altitude, with the view opening up nicely as you do.




 The end of the cobbles sneak you on quickly. Look for the tiny football pitch! Whilst the end of the cobbles, it isnt the end of the climb, which continues all the way to the pub. If you really want the full experience, continue past the pub, down a slight descent and turn left onto Harden Road. This takes you up to the top of St Ives and rewards you with amazing views over Ilkey Moor, Rombalds Moor and out towards the Dales.


Location: Keighley
Length: 0.4 mile (cobbles) 0.8 mile (to pub) 1.5 mile ( to Harden Rd)
Average Gradient: 15%, 10%, 7%
Max Gradient: 25% (inside hairpin)


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