| Date climbed | 25th July 2013 |
| Elevation gain | 194 feet |
| Length | 0.33 mile |
| Duration | 3.3 minutes |
I remember Saltbox Hill from my childhood. I guess there are not that many clear memories each of us have from our youth, but this is one of mine. Me and a couple of my friends and my brother were out cycling one day 40+ years ago. I remember whizzing down Jewels Hill really fast. There was no traffic back then. With the momentum gained from the fast descent I climbed straight to the top of Saltbox Hill. I saw that the others were struggling so I went back down and helped push one of them up while still riding my own bike! Oh to have that much energy now!
More recently I climbed it as a part of this ride. The worst thing about this climb is the amount of traffic that uses Saltbox Hill nowadays; although, in a way, that distracts you from the pain of climbing it! There was a queue of cars at the top waiting to pull out onto the main road – that must be a good test of clutch control. Being on a bike I just sailed past all of them!
![FILE0094(1).MOV_snapshot_03.37_[2013.07.27_21.45.39]](http://www.questel.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/FILE00941.MOV_snapshot_03.37_2013.07.27_21.45.39.jpg)
I’m afraid with the largest cog on cassette being 22 teeth I had to get off and walk the steepest sections. I was in danger of not getting my feet out of the clipless quick enough before falling over. I’ll try again once my new cassette is fitted.
22T – that sounds old school! I’d have probably had to get off as well!
What was your front chainring – 39T ?