00:00Oh, Jesus.
00:03Oh, shut my mouth!
00:06I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
00:13Hill climbing is probably the toughest discipline in cycling that you've never heard of.
00:17In the months of September and October every year in the UK,
00:20you can always find a group of cyclists racing up the most hellish gradient they can find
00:25in what can only be described as second-degree fun.
00:27And the format for these events is pretty simple, actually.
00:30Basically, it's rider against the clock up the steepest piece of tarmac that the organisers can realistically find.
00:36Which is why today we are here at Swains Lane in London for the nichest of niches, an urban hill climb.
00:43Sam has dragged me here today to Swains Lane, which is arguably one of the toughest climbs in the capital.
00:48900 metres, an 8% average gradient might not sound like much, but this one is going to hurt.
00:5420% maximum gradients, full gas racing, and Sam's even got a little trick up his sleeve,
01:00which is going to make my day even more painful.
01:02That's absolutely right. As an ex-junior hill climb champ,
01:05I think that you've already got enough of an advantage over pretty much everybody here.
01:10So, I've brought along this.
01:18This is the Rally Chopper.
01:20Now, it was created back in 1972 and then it went on to become really popular in the 80s
01:25thanks to films like E.T., The Goonies, and then more recently, Stranger Things.
01:30So, this bike really does have a proper cult following, which is why you're going to be riding it today.
01:37So, Joe, how are you actually feeling about this challenge?
01:39Well, as much as I'm not looking forward to lugging all 18 kilograms of this bike up Swains Lane today,
01:45I think it does fit the ethos of the event quite well.
01:47There's Brompton categories today. There's two categories for cargo bikes.
01:51So, I think, actually, I'm not going to be quite as out of place as I might be in a traditional hill climb.
01:57You're going to fit right in, to be honest.
01:58So, if you had a goal for today, though, what would you like to achieve?
02:02Well, to put things into perspective, I think the course record for this climb is around just over the one-minute mark.
02:08I had a look at what the best Brompton time was last year, and that was about 2 minutes 12.
02:12I will genuinely be over the moon with anything less than three and a half minutes.
02:16Three and a half minutes. OK, I reckon we make that the target for the day.
02:20And if you can get under three and a half, I'd be very impressed.
02:23And actually, to be honest, I'd be impressed if this bike makes it to the top in one piece.
02:46Oh, Jesus.
03:16Go, go, go, go, go!
03:46I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
04:13How are you feeling, Joe?
04:14Yeah, it's been a while since I felt like this, to be honest.
04:17Yeah, it was really good fun, though.
04:20I chucked it into gear two to start on the less steep bit, and it pinged into gear three.
04:25My legs were like, oh.
04:27Sat back down, knocked into one.
04:30Sort of measured my effort on the less steep section, and then when it kicked up, just...
04:35Full gas.
04:36Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:37But it was good.
04:43So, Joe, how did you get on?
04:44You know what? All in all, not too bad.
04:46I think pacing, as I mentioned earlier on, Cameron, was pretty good.
04:51With hindsight, actually, I think the pacing was better than I realised.
04:54Initially, I thought maybe I went out a little bit too easy.
04:56But with hindsight, I think I got it pretty much spot on.
04:59So, happy with how I rode and pretty happy with the time as well.
05:03So, to put us out of our misery, what was your time?
05:05Two minutes 21 is the official time.
05:08But the thing is, I think we need to put some of that into context,
05:11because I think the winning time of the day, or the fastest time of the day, was 1.17 or 1.18.
05:17It was about that.
05:18So, essentially, you were a minute off the quickest of the day.
05:21And we know people have gone slower as well.
05:23Yeah, and in fairness, I'd be really interested to see how that compares to the Bromptons as well.
05:26Because, as I said last year, I think it was 2 minutes 12 or something was the quickest Brompton time.
05:32But yeah, we'd have to see.
05:33I'd be really chuffed with that as well.
05:34To be honest, I'm pretty glad I made you come up on this bike,
05:37because the amount of love that the rally chopper has had today has been phenomenal.
05:40Absolutely.
05:41People have been throwing it back to their past, kids have been loving it.
05:44So, all in all, a fantastic day at the Urban Hill Climb.
05:47If you guys enjoyed the video, then please do drop it a like.
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05:52And we will see you again very soon.
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