‘A true hill-climbing boot camp’ – your guide to cycling the North Pennines

It’s hard to pick a favourite part of the UK, but if I were forced to choose, I’m pretty sure it’d be the North Pennines – the rugged upland area straddling County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria, between the Lake District to the west and the Yorkshire Dales to the south. It’s a magical place that feels untouched, wild and enticing, and it’s packed with climbs of every flavour: long and shallow, short and savage, one after another in relentless succession. There are more killer ascents concentrated here than almost anywhere else in the country – up, down, and up again – a true hill-climbing boot camp.

They may not be quite as brutal as the giants of our previous two ‘Ultimate Climbs Guide’ editions, the Conwy Valley or the North York Moors, but they come close. Case in point: the dreaded, wind-lashed Chapel Fell which, despite the godly name, is evil by nature, with a devilish headwind always waiting. And then there’s the silence. It’s so still it feels like riding through the set of 28 Days Later – except instead of zombies, it’s just you, the road, and a few wandering sheep in some of the most achingly beautiful scenery in Britain.