Probably the dumbest question of the day!!!

[cmac77354]

I'm very new to cycling (road bikes) and totally addicted, trying to absorb and learn as much as possible. My question is regarding hills.....I see lots of people say "the hill was an 18% climb or 7% climb, etc. How the heck do you know that!! Is there some device or maybe a funtion on your computer that tells you this? I have lots of hills where I ride, and I just like to know. Thanks.

[tulip]

Slope is Rise/Run. So the higher you go up in the shorter distance across, the steeper the slope. The percentage is simply the ratio of rise over run. Nothing to do with cycling specifically, just geometry.

Where I live there are no huge hills, but they are hard enough for my legs. I don't worry about the slope, but I'm sure there's some device that will measure it for you.

[alpinerabbit]

there are bike computers that tell you. They measure elevation and put it in relation to your distance.
DBF has that function and I sometimes ask to know why exactly I'm suffering.

rise over run = meters/meters by the way. feet and miles, don't think that works????

the low tech version is a sort of spirit level you strap onto your handlebar.

[Susan126]

Measuring Hilliness of Routes (http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/r/m/hilliness/index.htm#grade)

[ibcycling]

there are bike computers that tell you. They measure elevation and put it in relation to your distance.
DBF has that function and I sometimes ask to know why exactly I'm suffering.

rise over run = meters/meters by the way. feet and miles, don't think that works????

the low tech version is a sort of spirit level you strap onto your handlebar.

Feet/feet works just fine, so would miles/miles. Just have to keep the measurement type the same.

There's a route mapping site that tells you the average grade and steepest grade of hills but I can't remember which one it is.

[Jiffer]

I have a Garmin bike computer that tells me grade percentage and how many feet I've ascended and descended. Today I climbed 2,550 feet during my 55 mile ride. I wish I would have looked at the grade of a particularly steep hill I climbed, but sometimes it's better to just not know! I used to look all the time, but lately I just ignore it and climb the best I can. But it's nice to have an idea what people are talking about when they say 7% or whatever.

[cmac77354]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.

[Trek420]

.... if you fall over backwards, it's too steep

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=4806

[sundial]

Trek, LOL! :D

I rely on my husband's Garmin to tell me what the Suffer-O-Meter is for the ride. ;) You can also look at USGS maps provided by your county extension office or you can look at Google Earth.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

.... if you fall over backwards, it's too steep

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=4806

OMG- that's almost happened to me a few times! Anyone else had that happen, when they are grinding slowly up a steep hill and suddenly the front wheel comes up off the ground?.....it's really SCARY!!!! :eek:

[Mr. Bloom]

if you don't have a bike computer that measures grade, try www.routeslip.com (http://www.routeslip.com)

you can go to routeslip and measure the elevation difference between two points...and then calculate the grade.

[Tuckervill]

I heard routeslip was abandoned by its developer. mapmyride.com works pretty well, too.

Karen

[Mr. Bloom]

Well Karen, I guess that explains why it hasn't been working well lately:p

[SouthernBelle]

routeslip has been acquired by mapmyride. Go there and use your old routeslip ID and you should find your old routes.

[ibcycling]

There's a route mapper out there that tells the average grade and steepest grade but I can't find it now. Maybe someone will know which one it is?

Lora

[jaydee]

When I was a little girl we went on a school excursion which involved walking up a really steep hill. Our teacher told us that if we walked up backwards, it was easier. Do you think that applies to cycling?:D