jppe

Very impressive indeed! I’ve descended into Ft Collins from Estes a couple of times via Big Thompson Canyon, but never climbed it. That would be a full day for sure. Beautiful ride too.

horatio 

Looks like I managed about 12,000’ this year, between June and September. That’s more than I thought, though not impressive in the least.

jppe

Climbing this year has been “self limited” post hip replacement. I felt like getting more and more saddle time and letting the tissues fully recover was more important than straining the joint on climbs. I could climb but the hip was just more tender....The most climbing this year was probably on Cycle Oregon on the Diamond Lake/Crater Lake Day. I don’t recall the exact stats but it was 6000-7000’ over 60-70 miles. The equivalent of 100ft per mile.

The most climbing in one day all time was a 125 mile training ride in the NC mountains. The route was an out and back and had 15,500’ of climbing for the day. No really steep hills (6-10%) with the longest climb 13 miles. The first half of the ride was 62 miles with over 9000’ of climbing.

The most climbing in a week for me was our 7 day ride doing Skyline Drive + Blue Ridge Parkway. It was roughly 600 miles with 60,000’ of climbing. Climbs were generally 5-8% and every day was approximately 100ft per mile.

I’m a steady climber enjoying using my 34-28 or 34-32 gear combinations. Going uphill fast just ain’t going to happen.

OldsCOOL

“Not impressive” to you? To others? Be proud of that.

OldsCOOL

This is what some of our hills look like:

canklecat

Looks like some of our terrain. Most of the Fort Worth area is pretty flat, with some undulating and a few short steep climbs. But to get that kind of roller terrain we need to venture outside of the Trinity River valley. Go west or north and it looks like your photo.

jppe

Love the wide shoulder! Do most of the roads you ride have nice shoulders like that?

OldsCOOL

The main highways do. Some have about 2ft. Riding in this area is a lot nicer than others. This loop we rode was 36 miles with (if I recall) 1700ft climbing.

OldsCOOL

Here is another. I took the photo for the visual effect.

horatio 

Now picture this with a rumble strip. That’s our typical shoulder where I ride.

There are rollers similar to yours above, about 10 miles from my front door, but it’s a secondary highway with heavy truck traffic I avoid.

OldsCOOL

I have found the most dangerous trucks are the older dumptrucks driven by young guys with NASCAR dreams.

BengalCat

One has to wonder if that sign is to warn trucks about the grade or to warn cyclists about trucks at that location.

canklecat

I don't ride "shoulders" that narrow. That's just a fog line with a bit of pavement overspill. The previous photo's shoulder, sure. Otherwise I'll take the lane until it's safe for me to let vehicles pass.

Mostly I avoid rural highways like that. I actually prefer the typical Texas farm to market roads with no shoulders or fog lines. That way drivers don't get the false expectation that it's a "bike lane" and expect me to do a high wire act on a torn up 12" wide balance beam at 20 mph.

OldsCOOL

No, I don’t ride close the edge much either. I wear bright clothes and have as much of an irritating blinkie I can get.

big john

I've found professional drivers tend to be safer than young idiots in their own cars. One day we went into the mountains after a rain when there were dozens of dumptrucks working clearing drainages, etc. These guys took extra care around us and even waved us around them when they were on a slow downhill. We were all impressed with their driving and then we were buzzed by an idiot in a small car.

TheDudeIsHere

The graph I show is straight up Baldy Rd (Not the backside GMR). We've done that exact ride just as the graph so no extra miles.

It is 5,000+ in the short distance, so out and back is only 26 miles.

Going up Baldy is tough but a cool ride. BUT, the traffic is flying up on really narrow roads, and plenty of it. Once you hit the tunnels, you tend to lift the pace even when your'r tired.

192 ft per mile.

big john

I did that once with RacerEx and Cleave and some others during the ATOC. Gone down Baldy road a few times, that's pretty crazy too.

TheDudeIsHere

Yeah, one section I was nearing 50 MPH. I stopped for a minute or two half way down trying to figure out how to avoid hitting some of the boulders on the road at high speeds. At times, it can be pretty gnarly.

big john

Hitting 50 is easy there. Descending after the race was scary with all the other knuckleheads around. I just got as far right as I could. It's like when they have a fast descent in a charity ride, I just get out of their way.

TheDudeIsHere

One year I made the mistake of driving up Baldy rd after the race. Talk about a mess! Soooo many cyclists weaving in between cars both sides. Head on with me in my lane at high speeds, utter Kaos (for those Maxwell Smart fans!). Of course I would not be allowed to say that in the Advocacy forum.

bpcyclist

Ha!! I'm from West Texas originally. The town is called Levelland. Not much climbing in Levelland. But the high school, whose mascot is the Lobos, did pile a bunch of soil up and create a little hill on campus, just 'cuz. They call it Lobo Lump. Never did get to climb it, though. Someday maybe... What gear do you use for a lump, anwyay?

zacster

I did 6000' of climbing up Mt. Haleakala. I wanted to do the full 10k' but couldn't.

For 2019 I did 106,900' of climbing total over 231 rides, which sounds way too much considering NYC is not very hilly. The total includes Zwift climbs, but I haven't done that much of that. 106900/231= 463'/ride. Hmmm, my 3 laps of Prospect Park exceed 500' so maybe it is possible after all.

TheDudeIsHere

AH, forgot about this year. I really sucked. Only 2,000 miles and 65,000 ft of climbing in 60 rides. Biggest climb was 4,000 ft in 17 miles.

All time biggest climbing ride, 12,000 ft in 72 miles.

BlazingPedals

I looked at a few maps. OldsCool's 10-mile loop from Boyne City to Walloon Lake is 678 feet of climbing. Call it 68 ft/mi. In mid-Michigan I average more like 18-20 feet per mile. There are no big climbs anywhere near my home. Strava keeps an inaccurate account of my climbing, but I don't even look at it.

Carbonfiberboy 

I only keep track of totals for our tandem. This year we only got 71,000'. Our best year was 2014 with 138,000'. Our tandem rides average between 40' and 50' of gain per mile. We plan our rides with that in mind. It's a nice combo of flat and climbing for us. We like 'em both.