Box Hill is not that bad. But we have two ranges of hills running west to east South of London called the North and South Downs. Boxhill is on the North Downs and they are a bit higher than the South but the roads there are longer and not quite so steep. The South Downs however and they can be steep but not as long. Our easy route to the top of the Downs for offroad is 1 mile at an average of 12% and right at the end where the trail is rutted and broken it goes to 18%. Road riding is the same as the Downs dip down to the rivers frequently from the 800ft height. You can get some fairly flat rides by riding those valleys but they are no fun. If you live in my area you soon learn to ride hills or you do the boring bit of up to 40 miles across the marshes at 25 mph in your clubs chain gang.

But you train for your hills and you set the bikes up for your terrain. If you have flat terrain- then even small bumps can hurt. For me Flat rides and I haven't trained the mind for them. While everyone else is in a pace line at 25 mph- My brain is still trying to save energy for the hills and above 20 mph I am flagging.