Month: July 2013

I remember the first time I saw One Tree Hill. It was on a ride back from Ide Hill and as I passed near Underriver my route turned right but as I looked to the left I saw a large house on the top of a hill and I couldn’t believe how high it looked. You had to almost crane your neck up to see it. I made a note to check it out when I got home.

Well I did check it out and found that it was Carter’s Hill, although everyone seems to know it as One Tree Hill. It has enough of a reputation that I was able to find several cycling-based references to it on the web. I became intrigued. I had to try it.

There is a false start to this climb. In fact it even descends briefly before the good bit kicks in. And kick in it does, ramping up steadily getting ever steeper as it twists and turns its way up to Fawke Common. The section just before the end hits 17.5% gradient for about 600 ft, before it eases back to 10% to the finish.

It’s a good one. There is a sportive called the Circuit of Kent that features this hill at the end of a 80+ mile ride. That’s just cruel!

Hollingbourne Hill is a long (by Kent standards), ever-steepening slog. It starts just as you pass Hollingbourne Manor on your left. It’s already quite steep as you ride through the village and past The Dirty Habit pub on your right. As you exit the village it gets steeper.

The high banks on either side of the road offer no views to inform you how high you are and there is never any sign of where the top of the hill is. It just keeps climbing remorselessly towards the next bend up ahead. And it keeps getting steeper! After about six and a half minutes you finally see the gradient easing up ahead; the road takes on a convex profile, indicating that it’s becoming less steep. You’re nearly there. The worst bit is over. You can change up a couple of cogs now and ease off the gas as you approach the summit.

Addendum

Two and a half years later, I entered the Hollingbourne Hill Climb event