what do YOU call a hill????

**Lynne** · 07-08-2005, 05:06 PM

Ok, I'm getting distinct impression that what people call a "hill" can vary greatly. I call a hill anything with like a 6% or higher grade. Around here, you usually hit ones that are anywhere from a mile to three miles in length and the grade varies on each particular hill anywhere from 6% to 10% on average. I only do between 6 mph and 8 mph up those two or three mile suckers, averaging like 7 mph (obvously

)

On a smaller continuous grade (like 5% steady), I can comfortably ride 10-11 mph.

See? Hills are not my friends!!!

So, what's a hill to YOU?

**emily_in_nc** · 07-08-2005, 06:19 PM

How do you find out the grade of hills you ride? I just don't have a clue what the grades are on hills I ride. So, I define anything that is tough to ride up - you have to shift down, possibly stand up, your HR goes up, and it's just basically a hard effort - as a hill, regardless of grade. There are long ones and short ones, but they're all hills to me.

Very simplistic, I know!

Emily

**skibum** · 07-08-2005, 06:43 PM

I think of a hill as anything that noticeably goes up. Something you might have to shift down for or work hard to get up. It doesn't matter how long it is, a couple hundred yards or a couple miles, it's still a hill.

I can't say that I go uphill any faster than you do, Lynne. I am working hard to develop the mental attitude that hills are my friend though. You can't really ride around here without hitting some hills so I figure I'll enjoy the rides better if I think 'woohoo, another hill I can challenge myself with' rather than 'oh darn, not another hill already'.

**RoadRaven** · 07-09-2005, 01:03 AM

Anything that goes up - like skibum says... 100 metres or a few kms...
A low gradient can still be tough if it goes a long while, or if it comes at the end of a long ride...
I'm aiming to stay above 15km per hour (thats about 10miles) and once I acheive that I will aim to stay above 20km (about 12.5miles)
Like I've said before, at the moment, hills are not my strength

**SnappyPix** · 07-09-2005, 01:08 AM

I never really knew what hills were until I moved here to New Zealand!
My absolute max heart rate used to be 184. Previously a hill was something that made my quads burn, and my heart rate go up to 184.
I now find that a hill is something that I can't bring myself to look at; I have to stare at the tarmac in front of the wheel. It makes me dig real deep into my psyche even though I'm in my lowest gear and I'm out of the saddle. My heart rate is bursting my lungs at 191 and still the hill goes on, upwards, round the bend and out of sight.
When I'm climbing my hills, speed becomes irrelevant - just getting to the top is a miracle.
That's my hill! But the view at the top is FANTASTIC! And the descent is knee-trembling!

**RoadRaven** · 07-09-2005, 01:49 AM

hey there Snappy - aint it great?

If you decide you like hills, you should think about trying the K2 --- though I don't think you'll be seeing me riding in it, just cheering from the side

http://www.cycleclub.co.nz/eventsCalendar.htm
link to Manakau, Auckland club

http://202.20.65.2:3000/sportzHUB/ARC/K2_Noticeboard/
event summary from last year

http://www.ramblers.co.nz/links.asp
Link to my local club which lists events round NZ abd a few overseas

But yeah, views are great. I think its understood that no matter where you drive in NZ you are only about 2 hours away from the ocean - and we still have the amazing forests and mountains - the backbone of the fish Maui pulled up so long ago

**SnappyPix** · 07-09-2005, 02:26 AM

Originally Posted by RoadRaven

hey there Snappy - aint it great?

If you decide you like hills, you should think about trying the K2 --- though I don't think you'll be seeing me riding in it, just cheering from the side

http://www.cycleclub.co.nz/eventsCalendar.htm
link to Manakau, Auckland club

http://202.20.65.2:3000/sportzHUB/ARC/K2_Noticeboard/
event summary from last year

http://www.ramblers.co.nz/links.asp
Link to my local club which lists events round NZ abd a few overseas

But yeah, views are great. I think its understood that no matter where you drive in NZ you are only about 2 hours away from the ocean - and we still have the amazing forests and mountains - the backbone of the fish Maui pulled up so long ago

RoadRaven,

Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!

I'm trying to break myself in gently here!! LOL!

Plan to do the Taupo Challenge (160km), the Hamilton to Auckland (measly 97km!!) and the Taranki Challenge - that's enough for starters!
Thanks for the links - that's brilliant, but dangerous! Hee hee!

**nuthatch** · 07-09-2005, 05:00 AM

Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

How do you find out the grade of hills you ride?
Emily

Cute new avatar, Emily! You look so spunky!!

Originally Posted by Lynne

I call a hill anything with like a 6% or higher grade. Around here, you usually hit ones that are anywhere from a mile to three miles in length and the grade varies on each particular hill anywhere from 6% to 10% on average.

In Illinois, this is called a "death march."

**Technotart** · 07-09-2005, 05:36 AM

standing in granny gear - that IS a hill!

Nah - anything I have to use the granny gear for is a hill. Anything else is just an incline.

**betagirl** · 07-09-2005, 06:22 AM

Yeah living in IL, don't see a ton of hills. There are a few around here, typically by river valleys. Those I consider REAL hills for this area. But we have lots of lower grade long climbs that can tax you more than a brief high grade hill. We also have a lot of bunny hops/rollers.

**swlsue** · 07-09-2005, 09:39 AM

Ha!
I live in Houston = sea level.

therefore,
overpasses=hills!

**tatormc** · 07-09-2005, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by skibum

I think of a hill as anything that noticeably goes up. Something you might have to shift down for or work hard to get up. It doesn't matter how long it is, a couple hundred yards or a couple miles, it's still a hill.

This is exactly how I feel

**CorsairMac** · 07-09-2005, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Lynne

Ok, I'm getting distinct impression that what people call a "hill" can vary greatly. I call a hill anything with like a 6% or higher grade. Around here, you usually hit ones that are anywhere from a mile to three miles in length and the grade varies on each particular hill anywhere from 6% to 10% on average. I only do between 6 mph and 8 mph up those two or three mile suckers, averaging like 7 mph (obvously

)

On a smaller continuous grade (like 5% steady), I can comfortably ride 10-11 mph.

See? Hills are not my friends!!!

So, what's a hill to YOU?

ahhhhhhhhhh Gods Love ya Lynne! I climb every night on my commute home - about 495 feet for 6 miles with a gradient from 3%-8% and I average 10 mph on a good day. I was reading one of the other posts and thinkg 18mph on a hill? I'll NEVER do that!! We also have false flats around here - they Look like flats but then why is my speed dropping and why am I'm changing to a lower gear?? I was SOOOO excited yesterday when I had a 20 mph tailwind so my avg spd on my climb home was 12 mph!! wheeeeee
The highest gradient I've ever ridden was 14% and I was soooo sorry I knew that! lol

**BikingAt50** · 07-09-2005, 01:20 PM

Lance Armstrong says that a hill is nothing more than the road slopping upward. Early in his career, he said he only focued on about twenty feet of the road in front of him. That way he never had the psy effect of going up a hill. It was just the road in front of him. It works! On my last organized ride, there was a few places where the road slopped upward significantly. I lowered my head and focused on the road in front of me. Before I realized it, I was on level road again. If I look at a hill, I psy my self out - I defeat myself before I start. Hills are tough for me, but hopefully in time, I will take them with out a problem.....I hope

**SimpleCycle** · 07-09-2005, 01:35 PM

I don't really understand the % grade thing, and don't have any way of telling, so the only ones I know are ones that have signs when you are going down them that say "7% grade, next 12 miles". Those signs aren't my favorite, especially when I know I'll have to come BACK UP! I think 5-6% climbs are pretty intense. We have a mountain here (Mt. Lemmon) that is a 5-6% grade for 23 miles. You're a pretty good climber if you can hit mile marker 11. I've yet to try it and don't really ever want to.

As for what is a hill, I know it when I see it! Pretty much anything I shift down to my third chainring for qualifies. Although we also have 3-4% grades for 10+ miles, and I don't ride those in my lowest ring, but they are hills, and usually called climbs.

Thread: what do YOU call a hill????

Thread Tools

Display

what do YOU call a hill????

Posting Permissions