Where do you call home?/ What's your local route/hill climb?

Me too, nice flat part of the world. If you want flat with lovely quiet roads, the Fylde peninsula to the east of Blackpool a bit further north is also nice.

West  Lancs plains...I love the wide open plains of West Lancs which are one of the windiest places in the country. Wide open for mile after mile after mile, they're hard work to ride on....but happily I love fighting the wind on the flat more than hill climbs. 

I live only two miles from Bradley Wiggins who uses the same landscape... http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/west-lancashire-with-bradl...

Sheffield... it's a good thing I like climbing hills. 

Home is north east London. When I want to do hills I head to DeeJayJay's territory above - basically picking and mixing from the "Hell of the Ashdown" circuit which is a great route. No-one's mentioned Kidd's Hill (aka The Wall ) which is a serious challenge at the southern end of the Ashdown.

Recently been commuting to Croydon which has introduced me to previously unknown climbs up to Crystal Palace from either direction - College Road and Gipsy Hill on the south side, hte latter being the hardest pull I've encountered in the capital.

The Gipsy Hill descent is an interesting one - easy to get distracted by the great view south towards the City when full focus is required on the various traffic hazards. Third time round I remembered to stop at the top and take my fill of the view first!

Adelaide is a nice mix. Capital of the driest state of the driest continent on our planet Earth.
Hills if that's your thing.
Plateau between the bottom end of Flinders ranges and an ocean gulf; gulf St Vincent, somewhat acts like a funnel using the sw dominant wind to blow at the pollution. The blanket can be seen on still days. Really clearly removes want to descend into the city from one of the small mountain s.
I've seen tourers out on the highway, wide tyres, panniers, take water, some water taps are 400km from another. Hot, dry. Did I mention dry. Dry.
Yet Nullabor temps some, must be about 2800km from Adelaide to Perth, on a bicycle the best chance to be blown would be to head east.
Shouldn't ride at night; 120 foot long trucks and many of,, shouldn't ride during day peak; hole in ozone, Pommies burn really easily.
It's a beautiful place though if you want somewhere absent of Wi-Fi, phone calls unless using satellite technology, voices.
Would be a long hard slog as a holiday though..
Just typing.. Best wishes.

I'm a Yorkshire girl so am spoilt for choice when it comes to cycling up and down hills! My favourite is Buttertubs Pass which is a great ride on a nice day. 

The Yorkshire Dales offer great cycling up and down hills, but I want to branch out a little more, I went on this Innsbruck to Salzburg holiday a few years ago and really enjoyed it, does anyone have any other recommendations either in this country or abroad?

Grew up near Blackpool, so no hills to speak of nearby. (And bike was transport to and from pub or friends)

Now live near Crich in Derbyshire, so no shortage, but special mention to Bullbridge Hill, which is on my commute home.  Only 200 or so ft but hits 16% and I’ve climbed it nearly 500 times, after 20 plus miles.  Takes a bit under 3mins,  so I’ve spent 21 hours on it.  And I still hate doing it!

Andy P - whereabouts in Sussex?  I have some suggestions for you!  Beautiful Sussex, not far from Steyning Bostal.  I don't go up here enough on the road bike; the problem is it goes on towards the coast, and you don't really want to go on the A27 or into Worthing from there.  I like Ditchling and Devil's Dyke, and there are plenty of hills, but it is hard to string a route together to get over the 100 feet per mile thing.  I'm aiming for 120,000 m of climbing this year so am spending too long thinking about my up to horizontal ratio!

Some that don't get enough attention - Chantry Lane in Storrington and Bexley Hill near Lodsworth, but the daddy is Bignor Hill.  It's another dead end finishing on the top at the South Downs Way, and the surface is pretty borderline for a road bike, but it has a section at the start of way over 20%.

I have to kick myself about how good an area it is for cycling, if you like both road and mtb.  Lots of beautiful fairly quiet country lanes for the road bike, and the Downs are about 5 mins from my house.  I've never been to a trail centre, and get really annoyed with my mates when they want to load the cars up and drive somewhere for a ride.  Why?!

Is if that wasn't enough, I get to go to the central region of Italy a few times a year, just inland from Pescara.  The Blockhaus is there, and that is a proper climb.  3 routes  up it too!

The Pennines. Where to start.... I live on a 1 in 4. I have to travel to find a ride without a hill. The cafe table is usually the only flat bit of a ride. I do like a nice day out in Cheshire - or Sussex/Kent/Surrey  when we're visiting the outlaws, just motoring around the back lanes and never finding anything worthy of the name 'hill', but I'd get bored if that was more than 2% of my riding.

Biggin Hill, Kent. Hill wise, take your pick. Toys, Ide, Yorks, White Lane, Brasted & Sundridge to mention a few all within 10 miles. Can't go far without getting comfortable and spinning the legs. Favourite loop heads down towards Lingfield racecourse, back through Edenbridge and Westerham. 30mile loop, 3000ft climbing. 

I'm in Glasgow so we have Crow Rd, Dukes Pass and Tak ma Doun as our locals.  I always end up going over the Crow either at the start or end of a ride.

South London, -hill- Waller Lane, its a toughy - part of my 100k loop.

Born in Kingston upon Hull, the railway flyovers are a fair old dig, must be around 35ft elevation, then there's the brute at the golf course, https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7787146,-0.2935977,3a,75y,85.41h,88.12t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPCS2Y6ptFwP7d5iHOh07NQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

I tell yah, 3% canes your legs when you're used to 0% all the time hahaha.

i used to cycle westwards for the hills back in my youth, Brantingham dale but I was mostly a commuter, didn't have much time for cycling outside of that due to other sporting commitments/college.

Last 28 years rolling countryside of North herts, nothing too stiff, couple of 12% jobs but nothing of note, the A505 out of Hitchin on the dual carriageway is an interesting 'climb' when you're exposed to 70+mph traffic but adjacent is a short sharp dig up Offley Hill.

Rolling hills for me, steep climbs for my body shape/mass isn't for me though have done a couple of cols in the Alps which was fun coming down but not so much going up at 5/6mph!

plenty of short sharp climbs in my part of Essex, from the Epping uplands - toot hill - past Cav's mansion - over to Brentwood way/Great Warley - all about a kilometre long and 10 to 12%

I even found nice little half k climb that's around 20% in the middle of a council estate north of Romford - it's good training because it's in a place where you really want to maintain some momentum

we've even got a nice little racing circuit with a bit of a 10% kick at hog hill - Redbridge cycle centre -  which the regulars have nicknamed the hoggenberg!

Box Hill for me - the Olympic Loop with a top and tail makes for an hour's outing from home.

I've been living in the Cotswolds for years so there are plenty of hills to choose from.  I can also avoid them fairly easily by heading to towards the badlands of Swindon!

I've previously lived in South Devon and loved killing myself on those hills.  Having grown up in Essex, I hadn't really come across many decent climbs until I moved there.

Warwickshire.. locally there's the double of Edge Hill and Sunrising which are within a couple of miles of each other, both are about a mile and average 7 or 8% but the gradient rises and falls all the way up both making them quite testing.. there's a local race which goes three times up Edge Hill.. ouchy! Also there's a nice pub/castle at the top of the hill which has a great view of Warks from it's balcony. https://www.strava.com/segments/641401  https://www.strava.com/segments/848918

A little further south and there's Larkstoke which is always fun to take someone 'new' up.. it's a hard steep ramp at the base maxing at 25%, then evens out to a false flat goes round a corner and you find out there's about a mile of climbing to go.. average 5% all told but unless you measure the effort on that first part it'll be a tough second half..  https://www.strava.com/segments/7004510

Then there's Lady Elizabeth, while not seemingly as testing as any of the above I've thrown in just because I quite like her, 1.2miles quite an even climb allowing a rhythm to tapped out but gradually getting steeper maxing out at about 13% before it evens out.  https://www.strava.com/segments/1012141

Similar ones to you as live near the Mendips.

Cheddar

West / East Harptree

Draycott Steep

Burrington Combe

Broad Road

Then all of the Bath ones, including the ridiculous Prospect Place.

Then all of the ones around the Somer Valley - e.g. the Hollow, Stoneage Lane, both Radford hills, Hodds Hill.

Horowhenua, New Zealand. Best local climbs? Akatarawas, 4.5 miles, 1300', Rimutakas 5.5 miles, 1650'  or Pretoria road, a false flat lead in for 2 miles followed by a 10% pitch for quarter mile, and then followed by 18% for nearly half a mile. 

Peak Hill, Dunkery Beacon, Mamhead, Haytor, Widdecombe all on my local routes. To be fair in Devon there aren't any flat bits, most are ok some are a bit of grind even on a 38:16.

They're a warm up

I've been down south for a few years and the hill climbs are either quite short or not steep the local club ones are Collweston and Steadfold Lane (both of which run cosecutively as alone they're probably not enough).

https://www.strava.com/segments/5705774

https://www.strava.com/segments/5704831

Hove for me so we've got, amongst others, Ditchling Beacon, Firle Beacon, The Bostal, and Devil's Dyke on the doorstep.  Nice if you like going uphill!

I may upset a lot of people if I say Ventoux wasn't as tough as I expected, training on my little hill I found that I managed to lengthen the amount of time I could work at a 160 heart rate but barely hit that up Ventoux. Having said that, one of these party was having a tough time so we cruised rather than attacked.

34/28 is do-able on the KM but probably only just (waits for manly hill climber to scoff). I'm 82kg at 6ft tall and generally do better than my friends when the slopes go north of 8%. What hurts with it is the bottom bit that you never remember as a pain and has a couple of bends, quite quickly goes 12-15% and you start to run out of gears and push your heart rate. The 'easy' bit in the middle then just becomes recovery with what looks like a wall in front of you. The 25% is only 100 metres or so but sometimes it takes an enormous effort to make the wheel rotate once. My last failure on there was a car coming down, any hesitation and it snaffles you up. Also, you don't want to be struggling unclipping, fall on your arse and have a 70 year old man jogging past whistling*

*I am not saying this happened to me (it happened to me)

Sarf-west Lahndahn, innit. So the best climb within range is White Down, though it's not close enough for me to do it as often as I'd like.

I spent some time in the Cotswolds a few years ago and got to know the area around Cheltenham quite well. Bushcombe Lane was the ascent I particularly loved to hate - just doable with a 34x30.

SE London. Biggin Hill then often down to Brighton/Hove where I prefer Devil’s Dyke to Ditchling.

I'm in Gloucestershire so I get to enjoy some of the steep Cotswolds climbs, frustratingly my commute dodges all the fun climbs. Few good ones around Wotton, Frocester and Minchinhampton.

Yeah the crosswinds on the bends can be crazy. I love the descent, too, but never really hammer it just in case - I've been blown across the road coming down a bend once, when I was convinced there was hardly any wind!

The Killer Mile is on my list... Never done it. I'm not great past 20%, but fancy giving it a go... 'should' be ok on my CX (34/28)...

Not sure I'd be able to get ready for Ventoux (another on my list!) on what Cheshire could throw at me, but being close-ish to the Peaks/N Wales is handy.

I was up that Cat on SUnday Davel, probably the best day of the year up there, tad windy though. Back down via Wincle and Tittensbrook so plenty of elevation for me. I'm a lot nearer to the Staffs border though so only needed a 70 mile round trip. Mow Cop is near by as well so the Killer Mile is a nice tester or Ganny Bank which is a sideways approach to the top.

Though Cheshire is mostly flat I did find an alternative way to train for Ventoux on a 6 minute climb of about 6% which was on my way to meet up for our Weds evening beer and bike rides. I'd leave work suitably early and do 4 or 5 reps of this with a slightly longer and less steep ascent. I'd actually hammer the ascent in zone 5 so that each time I would arrive at the bottom in a spot of bother and then pace the climb. Seemed to work for me Then I'd scoot over for the usual 20 miles of flat and the beers!