Originally Posted by
CoogansBluff
So you feel that a few steep climbs are tougher than lots of rolling hills? Momentum can counteract rolling hills. Guess it's all about when the momentum slows and the real grind begins.
It's one of those things that can't be summed up in simple associations. IE, I probably wouldn't be able to finish a ride that only averaged 2% grade for the length of the ride, but finished with a 20% grade for a 100 feet of climbing and only had a altitude gain of 100 feet for the entire route.
Maybe I could, but I've never been anywhere I could try out a 20% grade. The only decent 10% grade here makes me grunt and be glad it's over.
I can go up and down many 4% grades all day long. I have one short route I ride quite a bit with those 4% grades and accumulate 1600 - 1900 feet on it even though no one climb is more than about 20 - 50 feet of vertical elevation change.