Box Hill - Zig Zag

[Jon Cooper]

How many of you out there cycle the Zig Zag at Box Hill??

I try to fit a ride up it most weekends but it is not getting any easier - the first section is really deceptive - sometimes like cycling through treacle. By the first corner I am down to 7mph and I need some advice on how best to tackle it...

Jon Cooper

[David Martin]

On 18/4/04 9:24 pm, in article 6uBgc.46478$R6.9442@fe10.usenetserver.com,
"Jon Cooper" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote:

> How many of you out there cycle the Zig Zag at Box Hill??
>
> I try to fit a ride up it most weekends but it is not
> getting any easier
> - the first section is really deceptive - sometimes
> like cycling through treacle. By the first corner I
> am down to 7mph and I need some advice on how best to
> tackle it...

Set yourself a time limit to get to the top after which you
don't get a bit of cake at the cafe..

It's a long time since I rode the zigzags. Must try it again
when I am next down by my parents..

..d

[Knowlesy]

"Jon Cooper" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote in message
news:6uBgc.46478$R6.9442@fe10.usenetserver.com...
> How many of you out there cycle the Zig Zag at Box Hill??
>
> I try to fit a ride up it most weekends but it is not
> getting any easier
> - the first section is really deceptive - sometimes
> like cycling through treacle. By the first corner I
> am down to 7mph and I need some advice on how best to
> tackle it...
>
It is my favourite climb - I like the views. Don't go too
hard at the start. Use a low gear and keep the cadence
highish. If you want to go hard at it wait till the long
straight bit and blast it from there. If you want a harder
test try the climb up Ranmore common.

[David Martin]

On 18/4/04 10:01 pm, in article
G1Cgc.157$bC4.122@newsfe3-win.server.ntli.net, "Knowlesy"
<Knowlesy@elsewhere.com> wrote:

> "Jon Cooper" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote in
> message news:6uBgc.46478$R6.9442@fe10.usenetserver.com...
>> How many of you out there cycle the Zig Zag at Box Hill??
>>
>> I try to fit a ride up it most weekends but it is not
>> getting any easier
>> - the first section is really deceptive - sometimes like
>> cycling through treacle. By the first corner I am down
>> to 7mph and I need some advice on how best to tackle
>> it...
>>
> It is my favourite climb - I like the views. Don't go too
> hard at the start. Use a low gear and keep the cadence
> highish. If you want to go hard at it wait till the long
> straight bit and blast it from there. If you want a harder
> test try the climb up Ranmore common.

Or go round the back of Box Hill and up Pebble Hill.
(TQ 212528)

I used to ride a lot around there. There are several nice
climbs around Leith Hill (TQ 139 431) as well. Sheephouse
lane (TQ 130 470) is fun, short and @£$%^ steep. The climb
up to Ranmore common (TQ 113 487) is steep and much longer
than the others. Don't think I ever made it up that on my
road bike without stopping, even with the 54" bottom gear.

Dragged teh road bike up the footpath from by cockshot farm
to Leith Hill tower. Then rode west down the greensand way
to the car park. On 20mm road tyres it felt like my arms
were about to be dislocated..

..d

[Dave Kahn]

"Knowlesy" <Knowlesy@elsewhere.com> wrote in message news:<G1Cgc.157$bC4.122@newsfe3-win.server.ntli.net>...

> It is my favourite climb - I like the views. Don't go too
> hard at the start. Use a low gear and keep the cadence
> highish. If you want to go hard at it wait till the long
> straight bit and blast it from there. If you want a harder
> test try the climb up Ranmore common.

It always makes me chuckle when I get to the rest home
halfway up. At least I probably would if I had any spare
breath to chuckle with. The best way to improve on the zig-
zag is probably to ride it regularly in company with someone
who's a slightly better climber and just try to stay with
them. That's good news for me because it gives me a very
large number of potential training partners to select from.
Which makes me wonder why I used to ride it a 9 stone
mountain goat of a partner who would simply vanish into the
distance. :-)

--
Dave...

[Martinm]

dkahn400@yahoo.co.uk (Dave Kahn) wrote in message news:<57db8bde.0404190145.79864420@posting.google.com>...
> "Knowlesy" <Knowlesy@elsewhere.com> wrote in message news:<G1Cgc.157$bC4.122@newsfe3-
> win.server.ntli.net>...
>
> > It is my favourite climb - I like the views. Don't go
> > too hard at the start. Use a low gear and keep the
> > cadence highish. If you want to go hard at it wait till
> > the long straight bit and blast it from there. If you
> > want a harder test try the climb up Ranmore common.
>
> It always makes me chuckle when I get to the rest home
> halfway up. At least I probably would if I had any spare
> breath to chuckle with. The best way to improve on the zig-
> zag is probably to ride it regularly in company with
> someone who's a slightly better climber and just try to
> stay with them. That's good news for me because it gives
> me a very large number of potential training partners to
> select from. Which makes me wonder why I used to ride it a
> 9 stone mountain goat of a partner who would simply vanish
> into the distance. :-)

The zig zag is one of my favourites, it's made like a
continental road; it seems to be a British thing to put
roads straight up the side of a hill (unless of course I'm
wrong.....)

[Ian Smith]

On Sun, 18 Apr, Jon Cooper <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote:

> How many of you out there cycle the Zig Zag at Box Hill??

Last time I did was towing a trailer with 18 month daughter
in it. Plus, I didn't have to stop 'till about half-way
along the last straight (after the rest home).

Having enough wheels that you go straight and can't topple
regardless of how slow you go helps.

> By the first corner I am down to 7mph and I need some
> advice on how best to tackle it...

Well, if you go up the off-road track that starts parallel,
I find riding with a mate who's not too familiar with it is
best. Stay together 'till you're about 80% up (at which time
you're in the trees and can't see how high you are), then
nod to some slightly notable vegetation, side-turn or
whatever and say something like "good, I always reckon that
[bush/rock/tree/path] is about the half-way mark". At that
moment, they lose the will to continue, and with a very
little extra effort you can leave them floundering.

OK, it doesn't get you to the top any faster, but it gives
you a good chortle when they catch up.

Anyhow, if you want to try a _real_ hill, keep going at the
top, through the village, turn right at the end (a wonky T-
junction) and right after another couple of hundred yards (a
real T-junction). Now you go downhill, but at the bottom go
round teh roundabout and retrace your route.

I'll admit I've not done that one with a trailer & child!

regards, Ian SMith
--
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