Cotham Vale: a secret little bastard hill

Hiding in Cotham is this short but steep bit of gradient, one with lovely views over Redland.

As a downhill, when it isn't fenced off after a snowfall, the primary problem is the sharp corner at the end. You cannot take the turn with speed as there may be something coming in the other direction.

It has fairly little traffic though, not even school-run parents, just people hoping for somewhere to park. As these cars are moving slowly or waiting for someone else to pull out, they are slow moving: no sprints to get to the school before 8:45 here!

As an uphill, well, it's a bastard. The gradient is between 20% and 25%, no letup. But short, wonderfully short. After Ninetree and Marlborough Hills, this one will be over before you've even noticed that you are suffering. That is, assuming your legs are working after the St Andrews and Kingsdown bits of the ride.

Nugent Hill -the uphill

Good cycling route, as it has little through traffic, especially now that they added a physical build-out to back up the no-entry sign.

The road was closed with the ice; looks OK now.

For the Bastard Hills of North Bristol ride, the plan is to go partway up then cut left, descending down to the start of Ninetree hill. The alternative option would be up to the top, turn right to get to Cotham Brow, then descend Cotham Brow a bit before looping back towards 9-tree. That would add more suffering, but it would also add a right turn onto Cotham Brow, then another one off it.

We're trying to avoid both right turns -they make it trickier to manage a group of cyclists- and the main roads. The goal here is to have fun exploring the hills of Bristol, and it's less fun when you have a bus or a minicab driving six inches behind you getting impatient with the group. Here, by skimping on a bit of Nugent Hill, we avoid lots of traffic for only a bit of lost climbing. And that we will catch up on elsewhere.