Lake 地区 1 ? MailOnline 0: TED THORNHILL tries to cycle his 'dad belly' up Hardknott Pass - one of the UK's steepest hill climbs and a road even drivers 述べる as 'hell on Earth'

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'It's all 上りの／困難な from here, lads,' a taxi driver at Oxenholme Lake 地区 鉄道 駅／配置する said when he 秘かに調査するd me and my chum Colin clipping in to our road bikes in the car park.

A quip? More a 声明 of fact. The Lake 地区, after all, is distinctly lumpy.

Though 'very 上りの／困難な' would have been more 正確な for us, as we had arrived 経由で an Avanti Pendolino from London Euston to 征服する／打ち勝つ one of the most outrageous lumps of all for UK road 使用者s ? Hardknott Pass. A 1.38-mile-long (2.2km) 選び出す／独身-跡をつける road with gradients of up to 33 per cent.

It's not 厳密に the steepest road in the UK ? that honour goes to Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech, むちの跡s, which ramps up to a mouth-乾燥した，日照りのing 37.45 per cent.

Still, Hardknott Pass is wild enough not just to strike terror into the hearts of cyclists - even drivers find 交渉するing its vicious ramps and hairpins a 神経-shredding experience. One Tripadvisor driver labelled it 'hell on Earth'.

Ted Thornhill cycled up Hardknott Pass (above, looking east) in the Lake 地区 - a 1.38-mile-long (2.2km) 選び出す／独身-跡をつける road with gradients of up to 33 per cent

A November 試みる／企てる at this 肺-破産した／（警察が）手入れするing, thigh-決裂ing beast was abandoned 予定 to high 勝利，勝つd ? so strong we 恐れるd we'd be blown over on the 降下／家系 (which is not for the faint-hearted).

We returned this June - a much safer bet 天候-wise, but in the absence of 強健な 気象の excuses I would have to （軍隊を）展開する，配備する the 支援する-ups in the (almost 必然的な) 直面する of 敗北・負かす ? 存在 49 years old, having a dad belly and never really having enough time to train, beyond a few cycling excursions to the 'Kent アルプス山脈', a handful of 5km runs, and cycling to work and 支援する through London (not known for its hills).

行う／開催する／段階 one on day one was cycling from Oxenholme 鉄道 駅／配置する to our hotel in Ambleside ? Rothay Manor.

Colin 大勝するd us along delightful lost 小道／航路s that 負傷させる through picturesque villages 含むing Brigsteer and Crosthwaite before we joined a main road 負かす／撃墜する into Bowness-on-Windermere, where we paid £2 for a フェリー（で運ぶ） crossing to the west shore of lake Windermere.

A plaque on the 大型船 知らせるd us that previous Windermere フェリー（で運ぶ） 乗客s have 含むd William Wordsworth, John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter and Arthur 身代金, with services dating 支援する to the 13th century.

After an artisanal coffee and millionaire shortbread at the coffee hut on the other 味方する, we 棒 through the chocolate-box villages of Sawrey ? where Beatrix Potter lived ? and Hawkshead, and と一緒に Esthwaite Water, before gliding into the boutique-y 港／避難所 of Rothay Manor Hotel.

Our ４半期/4分の1s? A plush 控訴 in the recently 開始する，打ち上げるd 'Pavilion' 別館, festooned with cushions fit for 王族 and 誇るing a classy rain-にわか雨d-equipped en-控訴 with Brooklyn vibes.

All things considered, a 罰金 HQ for our 潜在的に over-ambitious cycling endeavours. Always important to have somewhere nice to 崩壊（する） in.

Ted's Lake 地区 長期冒険旅行 saw him cycle from Oxenholme Lake 地区 鉄道 駅／配置する to Windermere (above), where he caught a フェリー（で運ぶ） to the west shore

The Windermere フェリー（で運ぶ） travels between Bowness-on-Windermere and Far Sawrey (above)

The に引き続いて morning, after a sinew-支えるing breakfast of porridge and kippers with poached egg, we 開始する，打ち上げるd our 強襲，強姦.

There was no pre-amble, our 大勝する was a 40-mile 回路・連盟, with 課すing Wrynose Pass 後部ing up within around 30 minutes of pedalling west.

It's a 2.5km- (1.5-mile) long 選び出す／独身-跡をつける road with 支えるd, vicious gradients of up to 25 per cent ? wild enough to 疲れた／うんざりした even the fittest of cyclists, with a 19 per cent hairpin at the 底（に届く） 近づく Fell Foot Farm 供給するing an hors d'oeuvre for the breath-sapping main course.

On the way up we paused for breath and admired the 劇の scenery as a cyclist walked past us on the way 負かす／撃墜する - 'I don't 信用 my ブレーキs,' he said ? before climbing out of the saddles to 押し進める ourselves over the 25 per cent ramp at the 最高の，を越す to the 首脳会議, which lies 393m (1,281ft) up and is the 会合 point of the historic 郡s of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland.

The first big climb of 'Hardknott Day' was Wrynose Pass (above),?a 2.5km- (1.5-mile) long 選び出す／独身-跡をつける road with 支えるd, vicious gradients of up to 25 per cent

A road 調印する at the 底（に届く） of Wrynose Pass 警告するs of the nervy 条件s ahead. Pictured 権利 is Ted half-way up Wrynose Pass

My time? It took me 32 minutes 正確に／まさに, with an 普通の／平均（する） 速度(を上げる） of... 3mph. Woefully slow. But better than my 33-minute 45-second time in November, when I 普通の／平均（する）d 2.8mph.

How 急速な／放蕩な do the best cyclists go up Wrynose? British Hill Climb 支持する／優勝者 Andrew Feather has 登録（する）d a time of nine minutes and 26 seconds on fitness-app Strava, with an 普通の／平均（する） 速度(を上げる） of 10mph.

What goes up, must, as they say, come 負かす／撃墜する ? and the Wrynose Pass 降下／家系 west is short, but very 法外な.

After Wrynose Pass the 大勝する undulated along a 素晴らしい landscape (above)

At the 底（に届く） the riding was sheer joy, with our 大勝する undulating along a 素晴らしい landscape seemingly 解除するd from a Postman Pat 始める，決める ? we bobbed and weaved と一緒に 石／投石する 塀で囲むs and through the hamlets of Cockley Beck, Seathwaite and Hall Dunnerdale, before turning 権利 at Ulpha village and up Birker Fell.

After a few 法外な and cheeky hairpins we arrived, 井戸／弁護士席, 明らかに in the middle of nowhere ? a lofty land-before-time wilderness area where the 見解（をとる）s stretched for miles to crags on the horizon wrapped in moody clouds.

Improbably, there's a 広大な／多数の／重要な caf? up there, The Crosby Cake Cupboard, positioned by a 宙返り／暴落するing river.

After a coffee and egg roll there we hurtled 負かす／撃墜する the thrilling Birker Fell 降下／家系, dodging startled sheep and zooming past buzzards.

Ted and his chum Colin paused on Birker Fell (above) to take in the incredible scenery

Ted's （警察，軍隊などの）本部 for the trip - b outique-y?Rothay Manor Hotel in Ambleside

Hardknott Pass wasn't far off, but nothing on the approach foretold of the 差し迫った 演劇 ? we 棒 past children enjoying ice creams in campsites, the quaint Ravenglass and Eskdale 狭くする-計器 鉄道 and an 招待するing pub, the Woolpack Inn.

The start of Hardknott Pass is 示すd by a disused red phone box and a 調印する 警告 of a '狭くする 大勝する' ahead with '厳しい bends'. Another 調印する says: 'Road suitable for cars and light 乗り物s only. Unsuitable for all 乗り物s in winter 条件s.'

I を締めるd myself, because from here ? there is no warm-up. It's up and over a little 橋（渡しをする） and then you're in the 傷つける locker, discovering that Hardknott Pass's 評判 is 井戸／弁護士席 deserved.

Hell on Earth? Hell up and 負かす／撃墜する Earth.

On the 加える 味方する, the scenery is jaw-dropping.

The quaint Ravenglass and Eskdale 狭くする-計器 鉄道 is one of the sights Ted passed on the way to Hardknott Pass

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The gradient 地図／計画する for Hardknott Pass on Ted's Wahoo Elemnt Roam GPS 部隊 (left) is mostly red. On the 権利 - Ted tries to get his Hardknott game 直面する on