Ever wondered what it’s like to ride up the Angliru, Spain’s steepest and most ridiculous climb? Join me as I crawl up 23.5% ramps, stop to talk to the cows, and question all my life choices. Featuring top climbing facts, puffing and panting and a surprise Viking at the top. Would you ride it?
way as you come back the same way then. It’s always good mad Viking gets on the road in the drop. Welcome to the room. First mile’s been pretty gentle. Um but I think we’re now coming to a bit of a tasty bit. Um, but all the action really doesn’t come till we’re well over halfway. There’s a long way before we get to that. We’ll see. As part of my mission to cycle all the climbs in my top Trump cycling climbs pack, I decided I need to tick off the hardest ones while I’m still able. Therefore, I’ve come to Spain to tackle the fearsome Anglaroo. So, less than 1,000 meters of climbing left to go. Less than 9K. Still been fairly doable. Haven’t had to stop so far in the uh 5k I’ve done. Uh but uh I think uh he’s just toying with us at the moment. It’s certainly uh hard work. [Music] Um, if you find this difficult, whatever, but know what’s to come. A little butterfly in your tummy. The Alto de Langaroo is tucked away in the lush green mountains of the Arurius region of northern Spain, 20 km south of Ovieru and 35 km from the Bay of Bisque. [Music] About 7k from here. I think this is what most people consider the start of the proper climb. We’ve done the uh three and four miles to here about halfway but uh the first half is less than 2k but we got to come in the easiest gear and it’s going to be a hell of a grind from here. The Anglaroo climb is 12 and a half km long with an average gradient of 10%. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The lower slopes are steady as I’ve already found out, but the final 6 km are brutally steep with long ramps over 20% and a maximum gradient of 24%. It’s easy to see why it’s one of the most feared climbs in professional cycling. So, let’s see how I get on from here. This is one of those unfortunate sections where you can see what’s coming around the corner. Even the car’s struggling to get up down there. Um, but has to be done. [Music] Cows are cheering me on. [Music] They can sense greatness. Go for it, cows. Go me. On the way up, there are signs of doom every kilometer or so, showing you how high up you are and how far from the top. But most importantly, they show the gradient range for the next section. Right, just over 5k to go. Go on to the board. Next kilometer minimum is 10 12% peaking at 21%. It’s not often you look forward to a 10 12% section on a climb, but this seems to be one of them. Uh, and there’s some thunder and lightning in the air. So, not the quickest climb yet, but unfortunately, there’s still another [Music] 653 m to go climbing. And this is the most impressive. It doesn’t come out on the camera, but this is just straight up. At least when there’s a corner, there’s always hope. It flattens off around the corner. I had now reached the legendary steep part of the climb or the three rest section as I called it. This is where the real fun begins. Up again on this stupidly steep. So while you watch me suffering a quick bit of cycling history. [Music] First used in 1999, the organers of the Vela Espña wanted a climb to match the Zuros Monty’s Ankalon and the tours aldue and they certainly found it here. Since then, it’s featured in the Vulta nine times with its brutal slopes aside in general classifications. Riders like M&A, Condidor, and Vodich have all conquered the angular road, adding their names to its history. It’s going to be used again in the 2025 race where maybe Crusader could be added to the list of winners or maybe not [Music] last mile apparently. top of that really three rest steep bit for now. Um, it’s still 40% to the top. That sounds lovely. It’s still the where the board tell us how much how steep it is gone. That’s probably not to put you off. Oh, it’s a tail. Beautiful [Music] views now though. Take it all back. [Music] Kids. One, two, three more hair pins. Another board. Let’s see what that says. We’ll get there about 10 minutes. [Music] attack. So that won’t be happening. This bit looks a bit flatter. I do this bit. [Music] It’s what’s around the corner. That’s what’s going to count. Oh. Um, that’s not very nice. Get around this corner. See what we got left. Steep. We got left. Come on. Come on. [Music] Viking on the road. Help in there. Is this the top? Yes, you have to carry on 1 kilometer. 1 km. Yeah, but just catch your breath here. Right, we better get to the official top. But in terms of the climb, I think that’s basically done. [Music] As you watch me cruise down to the official car park finish, let’s review the stats. According to Straa, Setus is the quickest up in 43 minutes and 5 seconds at an 11.1 mile per hour average, which is barely an hour and a bit quicker than me and my average of 4.1 m hour. But to be fair, he didn’t stop to take photos or talk to the cows on the way up. But most impressively, it puts me in the top 80% of straa riders who have ever climbed the angler room. Equally impressive were the junior crusaders, Peter and George. They’re not regular cyclists, but they still made it up the climb. Sure, they had a 90-minute head start, but it does put my achievement into perspective. The climb was part of an excellent trip to the Picos in Spain run by Mimmoot Tours. So big thumbs up to them. The Anglaroo climbed.
1 Comment
Omg just how can you do that 😬😬😬