GCN Takes On The National Hill Climb Championships

Three GCN presenters qualified for the UK National Hill Climb Championships—one of the craziest and most brutal bike races in the world, featuring a long climb with a maximum gradient that’s incredibly steep! Watch as Dan, Conor, and Ollie strip their bikes down, face off in an intense psychological battle, and give an all-out effort on the Matlock course against the UK’s best climbers. Stick around to see their final times, power numbers, and who won the coveted GCN podium!

Chapters: ⏱️
0:00 – Intro: Qualifying for the Nationals
0:20 – The Brutal Climb Details
1:11 – Hill Climb Bike Reveals
5:33 – Si’s Excuses and Thoughts
7:09 – Ollie’s Detailed Race Strategy
08:17 – The Race Begins: Dan’s All-Out Effort
10:05 – Conor’s Mid-Race ‘Bonk’
12:41 – Ollie’s Race begins
14:03 – The GCN Presenter Results and Podium
16:18 – The Overall Winners

📸 Thumbnail Photos Andrew Smith – andysmithphotography.co.uk

Useful Links:
Join this channel to get access to perks 👉
https://gcn.eu/JoinYTmemberships
Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! 👉 https://gcn.eu/subscribe
Insurance: Viewers in the USA and UK can explore GCN Insurance products 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNinsurance
Sign Up To The GCN Newsletter 👉 https://gcn.eu/Newsletter
GCN Uploader 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnuploader
Visit the GCN Shop 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnshop
GCN WhatsApp Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNwhatsapp
GCN Instagram Broadcast Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/instagrambroadcast
Join the GCN Club on Zwift and ride with us! 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNClubRides

What’s the steepest hill you’ve ever climbed on a bike? Let us know your craziest gradient in the comments! 👇

Watch more on GCN…
📹 https://youtu.be/VvWgmBfKgjY
📹 Watch our Editor’s Choice Playlist 👉 https://gcn.eu/editorschoice
📹 Or why not check out our Features Playlist 👉 ​​https://gcn.eu/gcnfeatures

🎵 Music – licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
Marches – Tigerblood Jewel
Ambivalence – Dream Cave
Early Morning – Dye O
Escalation – Jon Bjork
Expanding – Elliptik
Flex That Hip – Andreas Dahlback
Grieg_ Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46_ No. 4, In the Hall of the Mountain King – Odyssey Orchestra
Intro for Legends – Bonkers Beat Club
JUMBOTRON – BLUE STEEL
My Last Song (Tigerblood Jewel Remix) (Instrumental Version) – The Eastern Plain
On My Way – Aiyo
Over the Hedge – Jerry Lacey

#gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife

📸 Photos – © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images

The Global Cycling Network (GCN) is the largest online cycling channel in the world, bringing together a global community of road cyclists to celebrate everything that’s great about the world of cycling.

Our videos bring fans compelling daily content including expert tutorials, techniques, training, racing, cutting-edge bike tech, unparalleled behind the scenes event coverage, humour, entertainment, and more.

Presented by ex-pro riders, GCN offers a uniquely qualified insight into the world of cycling, and most importantly it’s fuelled by our passionate and enthusiastic fans – everyone who makes up the GCN community. We also bring the latest and greatest tech to your attention, showcase the best places in the world to ride and get exclusive access to events and races.

Welcome to the Global Cycling Network | Inside Cycling

Thanks to our sponsors:
Canyon Bikes: http://gcn.eu/-Canyon
Orbea Bikes: http://gcn.eu/Orbea
Pinarello Bikes: https://gcn.eu/Pinarello
Topeak Tools: http://gcn.eu/Topeak
CamelBak: https://gcn.eu/Camelbak
Pirelli Tyres: https://gcn.eu/Pirelli
Vision Wheels: http://gcn.eu/Vision
Wahoo Fitness: http://gcn.eu/Wahoo-Fitness
Park Tool: http://gcn.eu/-parktool
Selle Italia: https://gcn.eu/SelleItalia
Zwift: https://gcn.eu/Zwift
Silca: https://gcn.eu/Silca
MET Helmets: https://gcn.eu/methelmets
Core Body Temperature: https://gcn.eu/corebodytemp
Precision Fuel & Hydration: https://gcn.eu/precisionhydration
Elitewheels: https://gcn.eu/Elitewheels
CeramicSpeed: https://gcn.eu/GCNCeramicSpeed

Watch our sister channels:
GCN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gcntech
GCN Racing – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnracing
Global Triathlon Network – https://www.youtube.com/@gtn
GCN Italia – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnitalia
GCN en Español – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenespanol
GCN auf Deutsch – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnaufdeutsch
GCN en Français – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenfrancais
GCN Training – https://www.youtube.com/@GCNTraining
Global Mountain Bike Network – https://youtube.com/@gmbn
GMBN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gmbntech
Electric Mountain Bike Network – https://www.youtube.com/@embn

Three weeks ago, all of the GCN presenters that matter entered some local hill climbs, and it turns out that we did well enough to qualify for the National Championships. Sh just got real. The UK National Hill Climb Champs is one of the craziest bike races in the world. Today, 500 of the best climbers in the UK, plus us three, will race as fast as we can up an 830 m climb in the center of Matlock, 30 minutes north of Derby in the north of the UK with an average gradient of 14% and a max of around 20. This is going to be a brutal allout effort of around 2 1/2 minutes for the very best. 3 minutes for riders at a good level and four minutes plus for Lloyd. Along with the pain and the smattering of rain, there’s going to be an atmosphere that is absolutely off the charts. [Music] Well, this is proper time Charles in the UK, isn’t it? Sat in the back of a boot. Time for the bike reveals then. I’m going to go first. Is that So, you’re going to be a bit jealous of this. Take that bad boy out. You stolen Alex’s bike. No, I found this in GCNHQ in my size. Brand new in box or didn’t have my name on it, but it does now. Three times, actually. You can’t just keep stealing people’s bikes. You stole my TT bike as well. Yeah, and that’s also mine now with my name on it. And I’m going to ride this like I stole it even though I didn’t. What have you done to the saddle? I know. I mean, Alex is Alex’s saddle. It’s good, isn’t it? So, I’ve done what Tad Paga does. So, he tilts it down for the mountain day so that when he’s climbing, it’s like horizontal to the ground. Now that I look at it, I might have gone a little bit too extreme. What percentage is the climb? 20. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that’s more like 60, isn’t it? I’ll make a minor I’ll make an adjustment for the race, but I think that’s going to suit me well. What have you got, Connor? Yeah. So, this is my bike. Same, which I used the bar hill. Yeah, it’s exactly the same, isn’t it? Your light looks a bit heavy. Yeah. Size of that thing like a brick. Wow. Blooming heck. Half a kilo. So, I’ve paired down the light. It’s a lighter light. It’s lighter than last time. Yeah, you had the radar last time. Marginally lighter this one. I’ve also made a few modifications I’m very proud of. What? You taking your bar bag off? I did. I Yeah, I did take the bar back off. I um I’ve chosen saddles. This is a 3D printed cell boost. Yeah. Um I was really proud of myself putting on taking photos. It looks amazing. I’ve also um got Rome. Why on earth are you using a Wahoo Rome? I want to be able to see the profiles. It’s a 3minute long climb. Use the bolt. It’s the lighter one. I’ve got the bolt on. I’ve got a bolt on. Of course you’ve got the bolt on. That’s a sensible thing to do. Yeah. Take the bottle cages off. So bottle cages off. Slightly lighter light. Heavier computer. Newer saddle. Heavy computer. You made no effort at all really. It does look nice, but still. Yeah. Well, your bikes are all rubbish compared to mine. Right. This is the big reveal. [Music] [Music] wa look at this with everything. Computer bolt cuz it’s the lightest one. 5.2 kilos. And look at I’ve got my tokenistic lights that Alex got. I’ve got those lights. Have you? Yeah. To be honest, it’s quite similar to Alex my bike. So, how much does yours weigh? Don’t know. 8 kilos. That is not 8 kilos. There’s no way that is 8 kilos. Just so you know, Connor, there’s no way that is 8 kilos. Just so you know, the lightest bike I have ever ridden. Just so you know, right? A kilo on this climb, I’ve calculated it, is worth 2 seconds. You can factor that into the end result, can’t I? Yeah. And I’ll tell you what, any camera I wear, you’re wearing, too. You’re wearing the same camera as me. Didn’t see that in the rules anyway. This is a good point. If you don’t see any more of Ollie Bridwood for the rest of this video, it’s because he’s refuse to wear an onboard camera because it weighs about 28 g. Not arrow. Basically, he’s refusing to do his job. Yeah. Right. I better get going cuz I’m off reasonably soon. Better start my fairly comprehensive warm up. [Music] Come on in. [Music] With the bikes ready to rumble and our legs starting to warm up, we all started wondering what size excuse was this week. Sorry, I can’t be there again, guys. Uh I’m actually well, not at gymnastics today. I’m on my way to swimming. Um not to get wet. Uh they’ve given me a microphone, so I’m going to be an announcer. Um obviously were I racing today with you guys, I would have won. probably not the whole thing, but certainly it would have been you chumps. Um, in terms of which one out of you lot is going to win now, honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was any of you. Even Lloydy, right, just before you get going, Lloyd, let’s talk aims and ambitions. What What are you going for? Well, I’m I’m actually hoping to win the veterans category at my You know, I’m a vet. Yeah, I do. Andrew Feather’s also a vet. He’s Andrew Feather’s a vet. Yes. Well, I guess that means I’ll be quite close to the overall win as well then, doesn’t it? He’s got a V2 max of 83. He weighs 63 kg and he’s aiming to do 10 watts per kilo the whole way up. Or my V2 max is higher than my age, which at this point is really quite high. And either way, I’m going to get to the finish line before Andrew Feeder does. So, you start 2 hours before him. Well, exactly. It’ be like when he beat Pugaga, wouldn’t it? Yeah. Okay. Well, that we all beat Feather. Anyway, enough about me. But you can’t watch what you aim for today. I’m hoping to finish. Is that it? I thought you were going to say something else then. Yeah. No, I’m hoping to finish. Right. Well, not good. Good luck with that, Conor. Yeah. Right. Finally then, Ollie, you’ve been putting a lot into this. What’s your aim? Well, uh, I’ve been analyzing the weather conditions today based on the barometric pressure, wind direction, and ambient temperature, plus factoring in my total system weight of 77.5 kg. Uh, and the length of the climb. And I’m aiming, I reckon, for around with a cadence of 65 to be uh around uh 3 minutes, I would say, or so, averaging 470 watt. Uh, well, good luck with that, Ollie. It sounds very interesting. Uh, just before I leave, I’ve been thinking this is the National Hill Climb Champs, right? Yeah. Of the UK. And you claim to be Irish. I am Irish. Well, this is the wrong championships then. Either that or you’ve been rumbled. No. Well, I thought there was an open category. Unbelievable. Right, I’ve got to get going. First Irish man [Music] [Applause] [Music] 4 [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Listen. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] All good. 5 4 3 2 1 [Music] starting my effort, my race. The talk was over. All that had been said and done beforehand was out of the window. There had been mind games. There had been talk of tactics. I tried to psycholy out, but in reality, I knew he was the man to beat here, and I knew it’d be very, very difficult. He was in shape. His kit was meticulously prepared. And this is his his his arena really. But I wanted to give it my best shot to try and beat him. So, I started at a good pace. I was pacing it well. The first minute things seemed to be going well. My numbers were good sitting around 550 560 which for me in this moment of my life that’s very good. And as I approached the crowds and the atmosphere of this event it was like nothing else. I was I was back 5 years I felt like I was a professional again. I was back in the Jira Italia. I was on one of these big climbs and I was like you know what throw the bacon out the window. Let’s go. Let’s give it the beans and let’s see what I’ve got. So I stood up out of saddle and actually I thought I wouldn’t have the legs but I did. I actually by some miracle was feeling amazing and I just went for it. I went as hard as I could and it was just amazing. Everyone was cheering me on. I felt like I could do it. I felt like I could smash this climb. It was a beautiful moment. And then suddenly I remembered how much training I’d really done and things started coming back down to earth. My legs started hurting. Then they started hurting big time until suddenly it all the wagon just broke down and the wheels came off. [Music] Going outrageously quick in the middle bit. Well, my plan was to stay seated and I paced it pretty well until the crowd and then I was going to use the crowd to like get out the saddle and just stay out the saddle to the bend and I went too early. I was like as soon as the crowd started I went for it and I got about 100 meters from the bend and I was like I’m in trouble for it. So what you’re saying Connor is that even on a 3minut ride you bonked. I was actually thinking this on the way home but pretty much Yeah. Well, I mean, it was bloody impressive when you got outside. I was like, do you know where the finish is? I thought it was a lot closer than it was. Let’s keep [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Crazy. [Music] [Applause] [Music] That was hard. Yeah, I think it’s close to me and Connor. Okay, you’ll all be wanting the key result which is that of the G7 presenter challenge obviously. Uh so in equal last place, a round of applause to Sai and Alex who just didn’t bother turning up. Although we got to thank them because it means that the three of us have got a guaranteed podium. Yes, true. Okay. Yeah, we’re going to reveal that now. I think so. So, in third place, me. I was happy with my ride. I did I did 460 watts, I think, average for 3 minutes and 16 seconds. But then I saw Connor romping up the hill in the middle section. It did a really good ride. Second place on the day, Mr. Connor done. Yeah. 308. So, I’m happy with that. I mean, I had a bit of a strategy in my head cuz I really wanted to try and nabi and uh so I did 533 watts out. Wow. I admit I may have gone a bit too hard in that middle section. Might have got carried away. The the the 1,00 W bit. It’s not an exaggeration or a joke. He actually hit 1,000 watts when he got out of the saddle in the middle section. I thought he were going fast and the proof’s in the pudding with the wattage. I just thought if I get out of the saddle and I attack this, I can definitely hold it for two minutes. Well, I wasn’t looking at the power. I was just I’m going to attack it and just enjoy. The atmosphere was amazing. It was really I’ve never done one of these before and it was just fantastic to come here and soak it up a bit and just get the whole experience. Yeah. Well, I was the I was the quickest with 254, which was quicker than what I was expecting. I I was hoping to get under three minutes, which I did. I went a bit better than I thought. So, I was really pleased with that and it was really good for me. I’m not sure on the power, but it was I think maybe like 470 460. I would just like Well, that’s a round of applause, Ry. Yeah, very very decent ride. Yeah. Thanks. But he didn’t have all the cameras on his bike, so let us know in the comments how much driving should be should be ped. He we said this at the start of the video, he refused to put an onboard camera on his chest. So me and helmet me and Connor are doing what the people want, right? Grimaces. Yeah. And anyway, well done to Ollie. That was a stellar ride. Thank God. You know, you know what though? Um, as well as we’ve all done today turning ourselves inside out, we we all got absolutely annihilated by the fastest junior. Um, and so did most of the field. Harry Hudson, unbelievable at 220. He did. I mean, it’s just so impressive actually seeing all the favorites come through. Harry Mack, who won, he did 2 minutes 14 seconds course record and he just looked so supremely strong going through the crowd. People that know about these things have estimated an average power of 10 watts per kilo for him, which is unbelievable. That’s 930 watt 2 minutes for you. Well, you you more than that. You did get over that at one point. I did for a little bit. Huge well done to Rachel Galla as well who upset pre-race favorite Eye Garden to take the women’s event in a time just under three minutes. So, some spectacular rides today and hours. Anyway, we want to say a huge thank you to Matlock CC for putting the event on and for hosting us because the event’s been absolutely fantastic. I’ve never been to a National Hill Climb Chancel. Not sure if you’ve been to one in Ireland, but nevertheless, it was a brilliant day out. I’ve got to say I was glad to get my ride out of the way early so I could sort of relax for the rest of the day and soak up in the atmosphere with the rest of the fans. It’s amazing and I hope people have enjoyed watching this, but absolutely enter it. come along, spectate, just get involved with this event next year because it’s unbelievable and it’s amazing when you see, you know, especially like the younger children who can go up and they can experience that ride. You know, we want to grow cycling, right? And we want cycling to to to be the best sport in the world. And this an event like this just I think has an incredible power to just inspire the next generation. I think it’s amazing. Amazing. Thanks for watching. Give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. What’s the aim, Connor? I’m hoping to finish. Yeah. What about you, Connor? What’s your aim for today? No, no, no. What’s your aim for today, Connor? I’m hoping to finish. Punch me. Punch me in the arm. What’s your aim for today, Connor? I’m hoping to finish. You can’t do a laugh before the start of the line. What’s your aim for today, Connor? Unbelievable.