mrtuttle04

I recently started using "Ride with GPS" and learned that a hill I ride up a couple of times a month has a grade of 13%. A year ago, I could not even make it up to the top without walking my bike. This brings up what I think is an interesting discussion. What is the steepest grade you ride on a regular basis?

TrojanHorse

I think my street tops out at 18%-20% but only for about 50 yards or so.

15% on any kind of sustained climb is probably the worst I see, and frankly, it's not particularly enjoyable.

raqball

1 1/2 mile of 14%..

I get the top, go back down and do it twice a few times a week..

On my 2nd trip up that beast I have to zig zag it... I have a love / hate relationship with this climb.. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Except when I make it to the top, then I love it because it's a sense of accomplishment..

IBOHUNT

When I was riding I routinely saw stuff in the double digits with the Garmin flashing in the 20's
One of my favorite climbs is 1.1 miles with 800'gain or an average of 13.8%

Look at Strava.com to see if there are any segments in your area.

otg 

I have a short section, maybe 200 yards of 14% near my house. I usually take that way home and get to it when I've ridden maybe 30 or 40 miles. When I get to the top, it's mostly downhill back to my house. Couldn't do it without stopping 2 years ago, so I feel great every time I climb it.

Pamestique 

In mountain biking its not usual to encounter a "pitch" of 20%, but its generally short. If you are talking about someplace where I ride consistantly, the grade is about 6 - 8%

TrojanHorse

What a cute, short, climb!

It's a well known fack [sic] that climbs in your area are short but brutal and climbs in my area are longer and not as brutal. My clyde carcass prefers less steep hills.

indyfabz

Average grade or ruling grade? If average, how long?

IBOHUNT

Oh no you didn!
I'll take my arse whoopin quick thanks very much. Just drill me in the jaw and get it over with. To slog through the one climb near here that's 3 miles at an avg of 6 1/2% is just dumb. That sucked when I was way Phater.

Those chain rings that someone sent me a while back may need to go on the shelf for a while with the garbage I have round here; I can't see my phat arse doing much climbing over 80'/mi with those. I'd have to revive the Vesteroid "I walked my first hill." thread.

My fat arse would prefer less steep as well and preferably all downhill

expatbrit

Man.

I'll stop whining about trying to make it up La Luz.(988' in 2.4 miles)

I'm with TrojanHorse, though -- I'll take a longer, shallower climb every day of the week. Also being clydetastic, I'm not such a climber.

(How i've hit 100k' this year, I'm not at all sure!)

TrojanHorse

The worst two climbs I've done this year in terms of pain were the Palm Springs Tramway (3.7 miles, 1,858 feet, avg 10% but it gets up to 15% at the end) and the Mt Baldy Ski Lifts (4.8 miles, 2,162 ft, avg 9% and again, the end of the route is 15%). Baldy came after a pretty healthy day of climbing already, so that was extra painful.

Both were slooooooow going.

Black wallnut 

One averages 7% for 1.8 miles. Has steepest parts about 19%. Another 4.7 miles of 8.3% average, steepest part 21.7%.

mrtuttle04

That particular hill is a ruler grade for a couple hundred yards. For a sustained average there is one hill that I ride on occasion which is an average grade of 8% over two miles.

Weatherby

Average grade of 10% is the steepest regular ride and another couple hills that crest at 15%. 7-8% is about as much as I can tolerate.

Doing a ride tomorrow with a 13% average grade over a mile.....but this climb comes at the 120 mile mark of a 300K and it is over borken pavement and gravel. Sounds like two feet are going to be the gear for this one.

TrojanHorse

A little cross training never hurt anyone.

Yeah, a climb that's OK when you're fresh is a WHOLE different beast if it's a long way into a ride. Take some pictures and post a recap if you survive.

Weatherby

I'll post but I am not carrying a camera.

mrodgers

My climbs aren't particular steep or particularly long either, certainly not for any of you more experienced folks. Since I only started last year and rode a flat trail along the river, this year on the road I am completely new to hills.

Mainly from my clyde status I'm sure, my problem with hills is they are constant short up and down. They may only be a quarter to half mile long, but the downhill is also the same short distance so my break from climbing up only lasts 10-15 seconds before I'mm heading back up. I have literally no flat to ride. In 15 miles, I don't think I have even a mile total of flat.

Most hills looking on Ridewithgps seem to be 6-8%. My average speed is hovering around 9 mph on the road right now. I notice I am staying in the 2nd chain ring more often though even withh only a handful of rides since I bought the new bike and sstarted riding on the road.

TrojanHorse

Your phone doesn't have a camera?

spdntrxi

.3mi... average is 15%... but it's hits max of 21%.. it's so ugly I turn strava off

There is another (looks private) road that I would love to get on.. 1mi average 17% average, again with peaks in 21-22% range... only 6 attempts which is why I think it's private and it has gates.

CommuteCommando

I live on a hill and there are three approaches. This is the worst. 1/4 mile @ 12%

RoselleLong - San Diego, CA

When I hit 180 lbs I plan to attempt this.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/4609123

RWGPS for some reason is calling it 3%, but check the street view.

Here's the grade, looking back downhill.

contango 

A hill within a couple of miles of where I grew up has an interesting sting in the tail. There's a descent, a few small bumps, then it starts to climb and then there's a tight turn where the gradient peaks. It has been likened to something from an Alpine pass.

The hill isn't long by any means but that last twist sees a few cyclists walking. I was very pleased to make it up the hill something like 140km into a ride.

daviddavieboy

One place I go has a average grade of 5% over 1.2 miles with a max of 13.5%. I did about 300 ft of 15.9% the other day and it near killed me.

dcrowell

On my normal day-to-day stuff, I seldom exceed a 2% grade.

I have been on a ride with a 22% grade. It was short, yet I still hopped off and walked.

A 4% grade for miles just sucks (Blueridge Parkway).

Weatherby

Why assume I have a phone or that I would be carrying one?

antimonysarah

The steepest bit on my hill-climb training route is a short pitch of 15% at the top of a 1-mile hill that averages around 8 except for one or two places where you jog over a hundred meters on a flat street to get to the next part of the climb as it's in a super-quiet twisty-road residential area. (RWGPS, at least after the hill-climb rejigger, calls it 11% but it's on several local hill-climb training rides and everyone calls it 15% (and it feels much steeper than other things that RWGPS calls 11%)). "Mount Pisgah"/Giraud Road for anyone else from Boston.

8-10% is where I start to struggle; anything above that gets walked on brevets and when tired, stuff in that range too. (I did a hilly brevet today. I walked a bunch of steep pitches that I could have climbed each individual one if I'd wanted to, but I couldn't have done all of them.)