What Britain's climbs lack in distance, they make up for in gradient (Pic: Shirokazan, via Flickr Creative Commons)

The Rosedale Chimney is as easy on the eye as it is brutal on the legs (Pic: Mike Dobson, via Flickr Creative Commons)

Ffordd Penllech in Harlech is the UK's steepest road (Pic: Stephen Elwyn Roddick, via Wiki Commons)

Jenkin Road was the final climb of stage two of this year's Tour de France (Pic: Marc, via Flickr Creative Commons)

Vale Street in Bristol is the UK's steepest residential street (Pic: Sam Saunders, via Flickr Creative Commons)

A sign at the bottom of Porlock Hill warns of the gradient to come (Pic: Stephen McKay, via Creative Commons)

Clovelly is traffic-free but a private access route allows cyclists to have a slice of the action (Pic: Graham Alton, via Flickr Creative Commons)

This brutal hairpin makes Penbarras one of the toughest of the north Welsh hills (Pic: SimonPix, via Flickr Creative Commons)

Great Dun Fell is both long and steep at 7.45km and 7.7 per cent (Pic: Phil Catterall via Wikimedia Commons)

York's Hill hosts the annual Catford hill climb, the world's oldest bike race (pic: Bareknuckleyellow, via Flickr Creative Commons)

Hardknott Pass is the most brutal of the grueling Lake District passes (pic: Eifion, via Flickr Creative Commons)