The first time I hit Curbar Edge was after I'd done the Coast to Coast mountain bike route over two days. I thought I'd ridden some tough hills on that. This was a Sunday ride with some non-C2C friends. And we hit Curbar, and it hit me back hard.

For a long time since then, I considered it the toughest hill I'd ridden. It had a special place in my mind as being a bastard. And that mental image made it one.

Nothing else in Derbyshire, not Mam Nick, not Winnats Pass, not Rowsley was worse than Curbar.

Today I rode three of the 100 Greatest Climbs, and this was the 2nd I hit and it was the easiest.

It's not the tough bastard I thought it was.

Oh it's tough.

Just not as tough as it was in my head. Today I slayed that beast of my imagination. I didn't even PR it. It just got put into perspective more.

It starts hard, a big, steep imposing ramp, then levels off a bit (if you can call it levelling off) through the village before some nasty hair pins and an endless ride to a blind corner that hides a last little sting.

It's hard work, but I now love it instead of hating it. Which is nice. Good training. I plan to hit it on some evening rides when the day gets longer. Fresher legs and smash my PR I think.