Maps and hills.

Following on from the last post about maps where I mentioned Quo V2, I just wondered which hill was the best to take from Greenwich up to the A2 (avoiding Blackheath Hill because it can get very unpleasant on a bike.  So I plotted 4 routes up onto the heath using Quo and then looked at their profiles. 


Starting with the shortest route, Point Hill - this is also the steepest.  This route appears furthest to the left.

Then comes Hyde Vale, it's quite a bit longer but it's pleasant.  When you get to the vale at the top,  there are birds to accompany you.  Watch out for Green Woodpeckers!

Moving right, the third to appear is Crooms Hill.  It's a little longer, but pretty steep by the church.  It's a little tight near the bottom because of parked cars but at least you have the park at your side.

Finally there's Greenwich Park.  This is the climb with the smoothest ascent and the smoothest road surface.  And it's the smoothest, fastest descent - apart from weekends when the weather's good, when you'll be slaloming stray dogs, runners and oblivious strollers. 

As I rarely take the same route twice in a row, I end up taking different ones, but the two I climb most often are Hyde Vale (maybe because I lost my virginity behind one of the trees) and Greenwich Park.  Down, however, I'll nearly always take Greenwich Park - except on sunny weekends.