What's a hilly ride?

[madscot13]

I have no idea what my rides are. I've never figured out how to calculate ride over run. though i would say rolling hills. Every ride ends or starts with a small hill because I am so close to the river. I usually ride up into Maryland starting at Glen Echo as my base and either do a loop around there or head up to Poolesville. Maryland has rolling hills right?

[malkin]

Keeping track of numbers is not something I do well. I'm pretty sure about how many beers are in a 6 pack, but anything more complicated than that, I end up like Captain Kirk asking, "Is that a lot?"

Still, hilly is when I can't breathe, or can't pedal anymore, or can't believe I'll survive whatever peril awaits at the bottom.

I'm starting to like hills. Some of them.

[sundial]

When I start slowing down enough that I might roll backwards, that's a hilly ride.

[Mr. Bloom]

When I start slowing down enough that I might roll backwards, that's a hilly ride.

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[TrekTheKaty]

I didn't answer because my Garmin 305 doesn't do elevation well. And of course, all hills are relative based on mood and the length of the ride. However, I just learned something new. My "hill" workout with DH involves hills that are long--you know can look at it and tell it's gonna hurt. However, I learned in Michigan this summer that a small hill can bring you to a stop, if it's steep enough. They look harmless, then sneak up on you.

My idea of hilly? The Ride the Rivers Century in St. Louis--specifically Calhoun County, Illinois. I have vague memories of wanting to throw brand-new bike in the ditch and lay down on the grass to cry but I made it!

[OakLeaf]

They look harmless, then sneak up on you.

while I love 10,000 feet of gain centuries I HATE short steep rollers. And while I used to say 5,000 foot centuries weren't hilly centuries I am now a convert.

Ah, there's the validation I was looking for when I posted this poll. It's just hard on your legs to go from massive application of force on a climb, to spinning like crazy on a downhill, switch every 90 seconds, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Really I had a bit of a revelation myself today. All we have in my immediate area are the short steep 'uns. Today a group of us drove a short distance for a budget tour in the next county over. There were a couple of pretty good hills, but there was also one that was long but not steep. Now that I look over my data, we gained 374 feet in 2.3 miles (that's in 114 m in 3.7 km ). The max grade on that hill was only 11%, and most of it obviously was much shallower. We all agreed that we could do that all day long. Interesting.