By kazimladimeji 
Along with Frocester Hill and Haresfield Beacon, Birdlip Hill, (which has ‘Official South West Climb‘ status on Strava), is currently one of the most challenging cycling climbs in the Cotswolds. Despite having not made it into the Official 100 Climbs strava classification, (like Frocester and Haresfield), it’s a very comparable test and deserves to be in the big league of British cycling climbs with it’s impressive profile of 2.6k, average gradient 7.9%, max gradient 16.6% with a 207-metre elevation change. At my ability level, this represents a stern test. I have done this cycling climb 5 times, most recently on Sunday 26th September when the weather was fair.
To Birdlip Hill via B4070/Slad Road
I approached Birdlip Hill via the Slad Road/B4070 exit road as I wanted to chase my time on the ‘Sladish Behaviour’ strava segment first and test out my new tyres. I had replaced my worn out Panaracer Protite Ribmo Touring tyres with the well-touted Continental Grand Prix Four Season which are super quick, with good puncture protection necessitated by Gloucestershire roads.
I filmed the scenic section of this route on the Vemont HD Action Camera.
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VEMONT Full HD 2.0 Inch Action Camera 1080P 12MP Sports Camera Action Cam Underwater 30m/98ft Waterproof Camera and Mounting Accessories Kit for Diving/Bicycle/Climbing/Swimming etc |
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Apexcam 4K 60FPS Action Camera EIS 20MP WiFi 40M Underwater Waterproof Ultra HD Sport Camera 170° Wide Angle 2.4G Remote Control Support External Mic 2x1350mAh Rechargeable Batteries Accessory Kit |
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This Slad Road/B4070 exit road is also a good section of the road for doing your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) tests because it’s a pretty continuous 11.5K section (thanks to there being no junctions/traffic lights), averaging 2.1% gradient, reaching 243m. As a result, it gives even Strava’s most elite athletes a 20 minutes flat out FTP run to estimate their VO2 Max and chart progress over time. You can also estimate VO2 max with a smartwatch like this
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Withings Steel HR Sport - Multisport hybrid Smartwatch, connected GPS, heart rate, fitness level via VO2 max, activity and sleep tracking, notifications |
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Birdlip Hill Descent
The Slad Road/B4070 will, after 20 to 40 minutes of riding flat-out, bring you to the top of Birdlip Hill, which you can glide down and keep going all the way to the Twelve Bells Beefeater, before you turn around and climb Birdlip to ensure you capture the full Birdlip Hill strava segment.
Birdlip Hill Climb – Save something for the last turn
The road climbs steadily for about 1Km at about 1 to 2%. It’s not particularly scenic here, but you can get a nice, wide-angle view of the imposing Birdlip Hill which always helps to ready my mind for the challenge ahead. The road veers right and then a sharp left brings you to a sudden 10 to 12% gradient, a livener that wakes you and reminds you this is a stiff climb. This levels out after a couple of hundred metres, but before you can get your breathe back shoots straight back to up to 10% for another 600 metre grind, ending with a 13-14% sting in the tail as you veer round to the left before a sharp right for the final ascent which is a 300 metre or so 10-12% gradient under quite an attracitve tree top canopy, if you care too look.
However, it’s not over yet, as the final turn greets you with a double-edged sword: the victorious crest of the hill and a brutal 16% morale-sapping final 50-75 metre section ending with an immediate T-junction which you must save some brainpower to negotiate. So, save a little for the final turn! There is a rest spot just around the corner which I usually take, following which it’s a gentle glide home along the B4070.
For me, this Sladish Behaviour/Birdlip Climb combo and double-back home, (with a cheeky pint at the Woolpack at Slad), is a relatively quick Sunday HIT session, perfect for when I have limited time to ride.