most of my preferred routes go up hills/mountains ranging from 800 feet to 2500 feet, but i like mixing in long flat/fast stretches to dilute the pain, resulting in around 75 feet per mile overall.
most of our mountain roads are graded to not exceed 12% often with averages more in the 6% range. according to various sources the steepest 1/4 mile i’ve regularly ridden is 12%, which i don’t really enjoy. can’t make good power at that cadence in my 36-34 small-big. in the city proper, there are lots of 20% roads for a few blocks at a time, but i don’t ride up them on an unpowered bike. the intersection we live it has an 18% going down and 20% going up on one street, but the other street is flat-ish.
the longest continuous climb readily available to me (riding distance from front door) is mt diablo, which i enjoyed a lot.
