CoogansBluff

Curious what hills that some of you here routinely encounter. The toughest ones that I occasionally climb around Raleigh are 8-10 degrees, and most rides, I don't see those. But I travel to another state a few times a year and bring my bike. There's one that I go up maybe 3-4 times a year, and today I noticed that it peaks at 16 degrees on my Garmin. It's not in the mountains, just a tough climb in the Southern piedmont. Always look forward to it until I'm actually on it, then can't wait for it to end. These kinds of climbs might not be unusual in the mountains.

merlinextraligh

Up to my house in Asheville, the most direct route has a short face of 25%. Most of the climbing on the Blue Ridge Parkway tops out around 8%, but can be quite long. A number of the climbs up to the Parkway can be quite steep with double digit sections.

rsbob 

Most average days see climbs between 5-11% There are two climbs within 2 mile of my house range from 14-16%. Those two are 1.25 and 3/4s miles to the top. I only hit the later two when I feel super motivated/masochistic.

rm -rf

I don't have any "routine" routes. There's so many good rural, smooth road, very low traffic, scenic areas within easy driving distance.

With modern lower gearing, my retired riding group doesn't shy away from 15% grades within longer climbs. But the ones we ride are mostly short, maybe 50-100 feet elevation gain. A 200 foot 15-18% climb would be difficult.

Doing "steep for me" hills on a regular basis is very helpful. Pacing is critical.

Years ago, an 8% to 10% 300 foot high climb would be avoided on many club rides. Now my group includes these routinely. I usually draw routes to climb the steep side, then downhill on the long, shallow side. No braking needed, yeah! (in cold winter temperatures, do that hill in reverse. Long downhills are cold.)

Routes
These scenic rides are often close to 60 feet per mile, 45-55 miles in the summer, shorter in cold weather. Hilly areas are the quietest and most scenic.

A recent route. I only needed to stand on the hill near mile 10, topping out around 12% or so. The rest were mostly below 8%-9%.




~~~
A 45 minute drive, but so nice. The first 400 foot climb hits 11% near the top, but is mostly 5-7%.
Three different 3-mile-long, shallow downhills on good roads, no traffic -- bliss!

GhostRider62

There is a climb nearby that is 14% that I do 3-4 times per week and it is a bit of a chore but it is the best access to some really nice, deserted roads. I hate climbs over that gradient. 8-10% is comfortable

Clyde1820

About 20% max, with a couple of grades. One is ~35-40ft elevation gain in under 200ft, roughly a 18-20% grade; the other, a somewhat steeper but shorter one, approaching 25% grade. Living on a ridge, there's no real way to avoid it, no matter from which direction I approach it.

shelbyfv

We don't have long climbs, usually under a mile, but plenty of them. Flats along creeks, climb to the ridge then descend and repeat. Or ride the ridge awhile then descend and repeat. 40ish miles will have 2500ish elevation. A few of the worst climbs have short sections of 20%. These cause me much anxiety as I can feel the front wheel getting light but I'm going so slowly (2 mph) that I'm afraid to change position. Having become old and fat, I'm a poor climber. Looking at Strava, KOMs are often half or one third my time. Two of my three routes to return home have short sections of 19%. The third is moderate but adds two miles. Guess which I generally choose....

CoogansBluff

Reminds of an old football coach's quip, "If you were running any slower you'd be stopped.'' ...

Once I get down to 2 mph, I'm going to be very cognizant of the possibility of hitting 0 mph and then making sure I can get out of my pedals before tipping over!

CoogansBluff

From the same point in the road but looking both ways, here's a glimpse of the hill that hits 16 degrees. I can only imagine what 20+ degrees looks and feels like.

Steve B.

Long Island, NY and south shore at that, biggest hill is maybe 15 ft. bridge over the local highways. Makes it hard to train for any origanized ride that might have hills.

jonathanf2

I have a 33% dead end street by my house and I have a 25% residential street I use to stress test my bikes (to check for any BB creaking, drivetrain issues, etc.) Short punchy climbs aren't an issue for me, it's those long grinders that gradually get steeper towards the end of the climb that gets my heart pumping.

shelbyfv

I could not possibly ride 33% even at 2 mph. I expect there is some skill involved as well as fitness, keeping both wheels on the road.

jaxgtr

Whatever route I pull up on Rouvy. I have nothing here more than 100 ft and they are bridges, so Rouvy it is. I did one the other day that had sections of 18% which was stupid steep and hurt my legs. Took me a while to make it to the top of that climb.

diphthong

last stretch up to the place has a little section at the top going through a curve that seems like the upper teens for approx 20 pedal strokes out of the saddle. the uphill .2 mile is in the 13% range. it's substantial enough i can count on adding 150 el gain at the end of the ride but also dissuades me from tackling an extra climb or two enroute so that i can get home without clipping out/stopping/paperboying on that last climb.

Jughed

It's "flat" around my house. But there is no way to get in or out of my neighborhood without a 10-15% short grade, one hits 18% for a short section...

The dead flat canal MUP I ride has 3 short 8-10% climbs in each direction - these little blips catch the Sunday riders off guard!!...

These small hills are not good for working on a climbing rhythm or steady pace, and often hit you pretty hard if you are hammering on the flats. I use them to do full gas sprints once a week or so...

wheelreason

N/A around here. It's mostly rolling terrain, with the occasional 5-7% hump of less than a mile. There are a couple of places with double digit grade, but it's a couple of hundred feet or so. When I do my long ride with the slower group, I pick a gear and leave it there all day, I find the spinning most of the time with the occassional grind works for me.

datlas 

Toughest hills around here are 15% and even then only for 1/4 mile or so. I imagine some of them may have very brief pitches up to 18% but that's just for a few pedalstrokes.

Anything tougher than that, I am going to get off and walk. That happened once to me, Smuggler's Notch (Vermont) heading North, I don't know what its pitch was but am guessing maybe 20%?

I much prefer a hill in the 8-10% range, that is sustainable.

RJC1811

Rolling hills in my area everywhere. I can’t do even a short ride without hitting 8-10%. My street has a short 10-11% section and I live on top of a larger hill so the end of my rides are always a climb. I sometimes do intervals on my street and climb it over and over. I usually do that if it really windy or threatening rain. I live near a glacier formed lake so all the hills coming up from the lake are steep. The street coming up from the lake closest to me is a great workout but I have to be in the mood for it. It starts with a short rise to scrub off any speed you carried from the lakefront. Then you get a short false flat and then hit the wall, it immediately goes to 8% and gradually gets steeper topping at15%. The crest seems to go on forever but you finally get a short 1-2% downhill to catch your breath. Then the long climb to the top starts at 5-6% but hits 10% at the top, very cruel. In total it’s only .77 miles long but I’m slow and old so it kicks my butt. There’s steeper roads around but I just don’t have the power to climb them. There’s a century ride in the area that features 10K of climbing, they do all the toughest climbs.

goose70

I live near the Chesapeake Bay, so we have to drive about 90-minutes to the Blue Ridge before we get any big, sustained climbs. Still, the Western Shore of the Bay is surprisingly hilly given that it's technically in the coastal plain. Lots of short but steep punchers. You can quickly go from sea level to 150-180 feet above. The steepest on my regular route tops out at 15%. It's only about 200 meters in length, but it will rubberize your legs if you do that for repeats. Of course, none of this means anything to you folks who ride out west.

Bob Ross

Can't get more "frequent" than every time I go out on a ride: There's a ~100 meter stretch of road from the driveway of my development to the nearest main road that is 12%.
Every. Single. Day.

shelbyfv

It's cool to read about all the different local conditions. If I had my 50s and 60s to do over, I'd make an effort to ride in more places.

wheelreason

Yeah, I'm just south of you and ride in Charles and St Marys mostly, but do go up that way once in a while. it's annoying not to have flat roads for early season miles, nor hills to train on later on. It's all like a roller coaster ride, plus nearly no one can fish a lick...

mschwett 

most of my preferred routes go up hills/mountains ranging from 800 feet to 2500 feet, but i like mixing in long flat/fast stretches to dilute the pain, resulting in around 75 feet per mile overall.

most of our mountain roads are graded to not exceed 12% often with averages more in the 6% range. according to various sources the steepest 1/4 mile i’ve regularly ridden is 12%, which i don’t really enjoy. can’t make good power at that cadence in my 36-34 small-big. in the city proper, there are lots of 20% roads for a few blocks at a time, but i don’t ride up them on an unpowered bike. the intersection we live it has an 18% going down and 20% going up on one street, but the other street is flat-ish.

the longest continuous climb readily available to me (riding distance from front door) is mt diablo, which i enjoyed a lot.

curbtender

I rather go down pig farm. Everytime I get to it it's the heat of the day with no breeze. Lots of other hills around here but this one seems to stick out. Nice run out into Martinez though.
https://ridechronicles.com/2015/01/2...hambra-valley/

jfh

I live a little over a mile away from my parents, and there's a nasty 20% stretch when I ride over there. Fortunately it's pretty short but when I was in high school, I didn't have the strength and/or gearing to make it up without stopping to walk it. Some years after college when I moved back to the area and started riding again, I got a bike with a triple and was pretty pleased the first time I was able to make it up without stopping.

A couple of years ago I rented a bike while visiting Pittsburgh, and hit some of the Dirty Dozen hills, including Canton Ave (cobbled!). Definitely some seriously steep and nasty stuff around there; good times though.