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How far from your door to decent climbing?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

How far from your door to decent climbing?

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Old 10-20-14, 07:14 PM
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on the path
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How far from your door to decent climbing?

How far from your door to decent climbing? In other words, if you get on your bike at home how many miles do you have to ride to get to steeper and/or extended climbing?

It's pretty flat in my immediate vicinity. If I ride 10 miles to the west there is a 7 mile climb. That one has grades up to 7 and 8% and levels off and goes down few times. It's not a steady climb. I can go south about 15 miles and hit a much tougher climb. That one is about 4 miles and hits 14% grade several times and even 17% at one point (measured by my Garmin.) That one doesn't let up much. After reaching these 2 there is more climbing to do in the respective areas.

On one hand, I can get a nice 10-15 mile warmup before the real fun begins. On the other hand, if I want to get a decent amount of vertical feet in, I'm out for a minimum of 2 1/2 hours. Also, it makes it impossible, for all practical purposes, to climb squares from home. That's what I'm dealing with. Whatcha all got?
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Old 10-20-14, 07:19 PM
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There are no flat roads near me. About 10 miles to the bigger hills
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Old 10-20-14, 07:20 PM
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28 miles
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Old 10-20-14, 07:21 PM
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Rolling hills about 65 miles away. No real climbing for hundreds of miles. Climbing is a non-factor in Houston cycling. Thank goodness. With a compromised CV system I can't manage any extended climbing at all.
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Old 10-20-14, 07:28 PM
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Rolling hills begin two blocks from the front door.
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Old 10-20-14, 07:32 PM
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Here in the Low Country, climbing is just not an option. From my door to any real hills would be 100 plus miles. I have one road with a hill and an interstate overpass that I do an out and back on, at the end of most of my rides.
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Old 10-20-14, 07:34 PM
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Originally Posted by caloso
28 miles
While in Sacramento earlier this year I remember remarking how flat it looked. At least between downtown and the airport anyway..
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Old 10-20-14, 07:41 PM
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Originally Posted by on the path
While in Sacramento earlier this year I remember remarking how flat it looked. At least between downtown and the airport anyway..
If you think Sacramento is flat, you have no idea what the word really means. You seem to like climbing so you're lucky on your home turf. I'm lucky too since I hate it.
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Old 10-20-14, 07:42 PM
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It's about 50 miles from my house to scenic hilly terrain. If I want to train on hills, I ride 4 miles to a county park. It has a 1.1 mile loop. There are two hills each lap to give you a bit of a climbing workout.
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Old 10-20-14, 07:44 PM
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. 5-1 mile
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Old 10-20-14, 07:46 PM
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I have a 12% hill starting 1/2 block from my driveway. Then the longer climbs are about 2 and a half miles from there. I always finish with a long climb back to my house to each ride.
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Old 10-20-14, 07:47 PM
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About 150 feet from a 22% sloped road, on the easiest 30 mile ride where I live, I expect to gain in excess of 2000 feet.
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Old 10-20-14, 08:01 PM
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Originally Posted by rpenmanparker
If you think Sacramento is flat, you have no idea what the word really means. You seem to like climbing so you're lucky on your home turf. I'm lucky too since I hate it.
Honestly didn't think I was that lucky. Maybe I should change my mind. If I lived on the other side of the river (<10 miles from here) climbing squares from home would be easily doable.

Kind of surprised by so many responses from the flatlands..
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Old 10-20-14, 08:11 PM
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About half a mile to some decent short neighborhood grades and 15 miles from my doorstep to the summit of a 3850' hill (from 400' at home). Most of the way up is around 7% but you need to save a little strength for the last fifth of a mile at 17%.
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Old 10-20-14, 08:14 PM
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I need to ride 30 miles to get to anything that makes me think about shifting off the big ring. Once I get there, the climbs are nice, but the northwest of Phoenix is flat.
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Old 10-20-14, 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted by rms13
. 5-1 mile
When I lived in Nevada there was one road to town, and the climb started(6.2 miles 1340ft.) the moment I got onto land.

Last edited by BoSoxYacht; 10-20-14 at 08:52 PM.
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Old 10-20-14, 08:25 PM
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sustained climbing.. like cat2-3 about 10-12 miles... can get to HC in about 15miles.

and I have some short nasty climbs right around the corner from me, but some of the roads are private.. like a 1.0 with average 17.3% av. For off road which I don't do much of..there are some nice trails very close..since I live near the base of a ridge.
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Old 10-20-14, 08:27 PM
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You can't swing a dead cat without hitting some big hills around here.
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Old 10-20-14, 08:36 PM
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Originally Posted by spdntrxi
sustained climbing.. like cat2-3 about 10-12 miles... can get to HC in about 15miles.

and I have some short nasty climbs right around the corner from me, but some of the roads are private.. like a 1.0 with average 17.3% av. For off road which I don't do much of..there are some nice trails very close..since I live near the base of a ridge.
I've been to Pleasanton a few times for work and would love to ride around there. Beautiful.

I have lots of hills around me. About 30 km to get to the local mountains though. Mt. Seymour being the hardest I think which is about a 1000 meter climb starting from the very bottom averaging about 7%.
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Old 10-20-14, 09:15 PM
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I have about a half dozen different roads that reach between 1200 and 2000 feet of climbing within 20 miles of my front door. Gotta go a good 50ish miles to get to a 3000' peak.
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Old 10-20-14, 09:20 PM
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We live on 14% grade. Just walking up from the garage to the front door is probably close to a 20% grade.

The moment I roll out of either of our driveways, I'm either descending or climbing.

This is Tasmania, after all.
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Old 10-20-14, 09:28 PM
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I live near the bottom of one of the biggest hills in my area. Cycling almost anywhere means climbing up nearly two miles of narrow winding roads (starting at my driveway). Whereas that made my beginning (or reentry) in cycling difficult I've learned to deal with it. And... my ride home is always a fast downhill coast.
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Old 10-20-14, 09:31 PM
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Originally Posted by BoSoxYacht
I need to ride 30 miles to get to anything that makes me think about shifting off the big ring. Once I get there, the climbs are nice, but the northwest of Phoenix is flat.
So is the southeast of Phoenix. I miss UT.
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Old 10-20-14, 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by utahp8ntballer
I miss UT.
Yeah, I'll bet. This is my backyard:

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Old 10-20-14, 09:57 PM
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About 1/3 mile. Short warm-up.
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