Originally Posted by
BengalCat
A 20 percent grade for any climb other than a very short blip on a full climb of a lesser grade is beyond the overwhelming majority of recreational riders. If you are going to be able to climb 20 percent grades you need some serious power and fitness. Even a professional rider in their prime would suffer on say a two-mile climb if they were pushing it.
With a very few exceptions, climbs vary. They'll be 20%+ for awhile, then back to 10%, then to 8%, then 20%+, etc., etc., etc. If you ride those sorts of grades a lot, you get used to it. But there are climbs in middle Tennessee / north Georgia that have challenged the best World Tour riders in the past.
It's a tough place to live for a guy who's really a flat-lander and a time trialist.