Jbo26

Any Century ride is amazing!

BonkonFleet

Are you purposely avoiding climbs?

Steve B.

Back in my Ute, I was training for the Bike Tour of Colorado and living in New Mexico. Did a solo 89 miler with 5900 ft. of climbing. Day 4 on that ride was 103 miles and 7400 ft.

There is no possibility I could do that now-a-days.

Steamer

I did this once https://ridewithgps.com/routes/5347980 on my recumbent bike.

ride report: https://rothrockcyrcle.wordpress.com...nishment-200k/

indyfabz

Meh. Did this in 2009. Riding a fully-loaded bike that included a 6.5 lb. tent. On 37c tires. With a headwind between mile 28 and mile 85. On the 7th straight day on tour. After a 6th day with 4,500' of climbing in 48 miles.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32023100?beta=false

Rides4Beer

This is my usual loop with an extra climb added.


Some centuries from last year.



This is actually part of a longer route, I'll do the full 120 miles this year, over 17,000ft of climbing for the full loop.

Machka 

Last century I did was 161.83km with 1,702m of climbing (5577 ft). Reasonably flat century.

OldTryGuy

Great ride for this flat-lander SW FL at 65years, 66years and 67years was Six Gap 11,000+' in 103 miles.

CliffordK

I tend to consider > 1 mile of climbing (5280 feet) to be a hard day.

I've found these rides to be particularly wicked rides....
RondePDX

About 6000 to 7000 feet climbing for a half a century (plus a few more miles for commuting to and from the start/finish).

So, the same climbing as the OP, but in half the distance. Meaning you're either going up steep hills, or down steep hills, then around the corner and back up. I'd consider it to be more challenging than a full century with the same climbing.

One of my more challenging personal rides was headed up towards Crater Lake, fully loaded for a 4/5 day trip. The first day was 135 miles, and 9,325 feet of climbing... a bit short of my goal for the day. Nonetheless, it was a good day.



One thing that I did learn from that trip is the next time I go there, I want to lighten my load considerably!!!

Not necessarily real fast, but I do try to keep the cranks churning.

BobbyG

Back in 1993, my first summer in Colorado Springs, before the internet, and not knowing what I was getting into I rode Rampart Range Road to Woodland park. I now know that it's about a 4,000 foot climb over 22 miles. I was 31, and it took me 5 hours on what were then unpaved roads using my 26" cruiser that I had just converted from 6-speeds to 18 (including granny gear), but smooth street tires that were completely unsuited for climbing on dirt.

On the other hand, the ride down Highway 24 was a freakin' blast! A crazy fast 15 mile downhill with just one small stretch to pedal just after the initial descent.

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/tr...-view-full-map

jimincalif

Breathless Agony. 108 miles, 11,500’. Last did it in 2017, trying to psych up for it again this year, but dunno if I will.

Riveting

2016 Deerfield Dirt Road Randonee (D2R2) 180km/111mi 13,678' https://www.strava.com/activities/683123416

Wilmingtech

Last winter my wife agreed to do a century with me (on our anniversary none the less). It was her first ever and the first one I had ridden in years. We took our time, enjoyed it with lots of stops and lots of hills and we finished together.

woodcraft

I guess this one:

https://www.strava.com/activities/1583019377

The whole ride is 127, 15k, which I've also done.

rosefarts

Elephant Rock is considered flat and still has over 5000'.

Kapusta

Mountains of Misery in SW Virginia is a century with over 10K” climbing.

woodcraft

This is coming up- nominally 10k in 50 miles, although by the time you ride back to the start it's more like 70 miles.

Nifty Ten Fifty

Just noticed that my pic is in there.

indyfabz

I did the metric in 2012. Even that was damn hard. It was a homecoming of sorts as I was a four-year Deerfield boy. Class of ‘83.

Bulette

Grew up in the midwest where even modest elevation gains required mind-numbing routes/repeats. More recently, had the opportunity to participate in "Das Hugel" (FAQ - Tour Das Hugel). Some riders knock out the ride in 5-7 hours; I didn't bother pacing anyone, and tried to enjoy the scenery. Even without mountains, I'm pretty satisfied with the challenge the local topography provides.

Geekage

A general rule of thumb I heard was that over 1,000 feet per every ten miles was starting to get hard. Obviously, that's for road riding, mountain biking is steeper but shorter.

And I assume that meant loop courses, so there would be an equal amount of descending where one could recover.

woodcraft

That looks to take the top spot.

DrIsotope

A couple of years back, I dead-headed on with the Bicycle Club of Irvine guys on their annual ride up to Onyx summit. They ride from the Thurman Flats recreation area, so the ride is about 55 miles with a smidge over 6,000ft of vertical.
But I don't have to commute to get here, as the 38 and Onyx are right in my backyard, so I ride from home, getting a good 2,000ft of elevation just making it to Thurman Flats.
Then instead of turning around and riding back down, I descended into Big Bear City, met up with my wife, and had lunch at the Grizzly Manor Cafe.

60.2 miles with 8,883ft, an end-ride average of +147.6 feet per mile.

The following year I did head back down the way I came, threw a little loop on the end to round up, and got home with a full century.

100.9 miles with 9,557ft, an end-ride average of +94.7 feet per mile.

But if I wanted to just punish myself and get huge feet-per-mile numbers, I'd just repeat up the 38/Valley of the Falls into Forest Falls, pause the GPS and coast back down.
From my front door to the Vivian Creek Trailhead, I climb 4,729ft in 22 miles-- to average 215ft per mile. I genuinely cannot imagine doing that more than once in a day.

Rides4Beer

Forgot about Six Gap, I've done that too, great ride, looking forward to it again this year!

joelcool

Did this a couple weeks ago.

Drew Eckhardt 

About 10,000 feet. I don't think there's any local route I'd want to ride over 100 miles with less than 6,000 feet of climbing.

10,243 according to Strava; 9,904 RWGPS; 11 something from barometric pressure.

104 miles, 10,000 vertical feet, 9:55 moving out of 11:41, 392 TSS, .57 IF, 3639 kj
https://www.strava.com/activities/622571337
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/9794198
https://www.bikeforums.net/18889345-post28.html