submitted climbmybbike.com on 22/07/2014
After seeing the velta struggling up the Angliru in 2013 I decided to head out and have a go in July 2014 as my father in law stays in Oviedo anyway and is a great excuse for a “family” holiday. Immediately after collecting my hire bike from the local shop I headed straight for the climb. Riding through wonderful gorges and typical stunning mountain scenery and with light courteous traffic with very few tourist traffic all putting you into a false scence of security. After a gentle climb to la Vega where the Angliru starts, the gradient is not too bad for the first 5k only ramping to about 10% or so. Then it is followed by a flattish section for a k or so but then you look up and see truly what lies ahead. A good contrast would be if you have ever seen The Lord of the Rings and when Frodo and Sam see the fiery hell of Mordor mountain up close for the first time would not be too far off. From there the climb ramps up to 21% and doesn’t let up for a K or so. It does back of the gradient but only to 12% min and this does not last long. The gradient only ramps up from here on with little mercy. My computer registered 21% a number of times before the mighty 23.5 % part. Then all is calm after a few more hairpins with a fantastic view.
