There is a road in Bristol that’s so steep that the cars have to park at an angle so they simply don’t roll down it, and there are scrapes on the road surface from those turning on and off it. It’s so steep that those cars are sometimes tied to lampposts, and the hill is used for egg rolling at Easter. Vale Street is not simple to walk up, especially in cleats, trust me.
And yet it is a road that I was desperate to cycle up. It’s part of folklore in Bristol, and was something that I wanted to conquer, just to say I’ve done it. It doesn’t really matter if I ever manage it again, I just wanted to get up it once.
Vale Street is just over 100m long, but it has an average of 22%, and peaks out closer to 30%, but the insides of the corners at the bottom are even more than that. It is purportedly the steepest road in England.
I tried it once before, last April, and to tell the truth I was simply too scared to get up it. To give yourself the best shot, you have to descend to it from Park Street, then turn right up it, but with it being the most vertiginous at the bottom, it’s hard to get into the right mindset to do it at all.
I simply couldn’t get off the brakes for long enough to pick enough speed to get up the ramp in the first place, and so gave up at the bottom, unclipped, and struggled to walk up it. The dream was dead.
I failed to get up Vale Street in 2023 pic.twitter.com/RvfAmxRqKkMarch 12, 2024
Last Saturday, thanks to a truly insane ride proposed by a friend, I would meet the challenge once again, and I felt the same level of trepidation as the time ticked down to when I would faced my demon again.
Circling down towards the bottom of it, you catch sight of it over the School Road Park, and it is truly frightening. Why there is a road so steep, with houses on it, is anyone’s guess.
I swung left onto Park Street and readied myself. It was now or never. As before, I had trouble coming off the brakes, because my mind was telling me that I needed to slow down to corner, especially on a descent. The problem is that you can’t, you shouldn’t – or you won’t get up Vale Street at all.
And then, it happened. I swung wide before turning right onto the slope, powered over the steep section, went over the far left of the road, and got up. Once you’re set, you can get out of the saddle and grind up the steep gradient, and it’s over quickly. It’s only 100m, after all.
It felt easy, despite all the build up and my brain telling me not to do it. This isn’t me boasting, it’s me saying that it was more of a mental challenge than a physical one. Many of you – maybe most of you – given the right bike and the right conditions, could also make it up. I’m not a great climber, but with a bit of self belief and time I can get up most hills, and now I know I can get up the most vertiginous.
Next time you’re in Bristol, give it a go, and who knows, maybe you’ll impress yourself too, and boast about it to your friends. I think you probably could.
Now I get to say ‘I cycled up England’s steepest street’, but in truth it was no harder than things that happen on most bike rides. It was easy. Still, it’s a nice achievement, and maybe I’ll do it again some time. Just not on a fixie.
