What's a hilly ride?

[pinkbikes]

I think I'd be good for about ten miles of that. Maybe.

Funnily OakLeaf, I am right with you there because that is probably about as far as I've made it! It really is quite horrid. But a ride up there every week or two and my legs are the toughest they've ever been. I'm still slow as a slug though!

It is actually a 14.3mile climb at 213feet/mile and if you do it in the down direction you still get 142feet/mile of climbing! It is pretty horrid in either direction and has 18% climbs in both directions.

I have done the whole thing in the down direction and survived (I got deposited at the top and left my car at the bottom). But I have never managed the whole way up because I just don't think I could face all the climbing involved in coming down again!

The ride I quoted is going "up" as far as a certain sidetrack and then turning around and coming back "down" again and it works out at 177feet/mile over both directions. As you can understand, I use the terms "up" and "down" quite loosely!


PS: Now I've actually worked out how damned steep it is I never want to go there again. I am a wimp at heart!

[wildeny]

Gosh girls could you have done it metric? I had to do a spreadsheet! and ended up at 85 ft/mile.

Me too.

Why not using "Grade"? That way it is regardless of the unit.
My definition of "hilly" is that the average grade is 8+ % for a distance of 4+ km (2.5+ ml).
After conversion, that's a climb of 422+ feet per mile, for 2.5+ miles.

[hilldweller]

Hilly for me is when there's an obvious high point - you know it when you get there - and also when the grade's steep enough that I'm consistently pushing hard in low gears. Around here that's usually a route with a total climb of around 300m (1000 ft) or more.

[hilldweller]

I'm not quite sure how to figure out all the numbers, but I count a ride as hilly if it crosses my mind more than a few times that I could be going faster if I got off and walked. Of course, with a good headwind, this can happen to me on nice flat roads.

Sarah

LOL Know how you feel

[kfergos]

This was frickin' hilly for me:


(bigger image)

Added up it totaled to 3,600 feet of climbing in 70 miles, with at least three climbs with grades over 15%. That's plenty, in my book.

[itself]

Hilly climb, try 9 miles of unreal hill from Rio Verde to what becomes Scottsdale, AZ. It's the hill that never ends, and part of the Tour de Scottsdale.

Lisa

[tribogota]

No computer, no idea, but I live at 2600 meters above sea level (Bogota) and we go up, it gets chilly and altiplano like, and we go down and it gets hot and humid with mango and coffee trees. It all seems hilly to me, but I have never ridden anywhere else, so not really sure.

[shootingstar]

I'm such a duh in terms of hill elevation in our area. But finally answered this poll, after consulting dearie on some regular hills that I do nearly daily. I tend to know hills only by grade.

I dislike hills that are heavy road traffic hills ascending and there are 4-way traffic lights along the way. Nothing more annoying than breaking one's cycling rhythm.

[roadie gal]

I've never thought of it in terms of ft/mile, always in total feet climbed. Living in the mountains almost all of my rides are hilly. I have to go way out of my way to find a flat ride. An "easy" ride will have over 1000 feet of climbing in 20 miles.

[Vireo]

Here is the elevation chart for Trans Iowa (320 mile non stop gravel race). It averaged out to 5,000 feet of gain per century. But it was the toughest 5k per century I ever remember doing--steep continuous rollers on gravel. Starting elevation was 741ft and max elevation was 1050 ft.



That was much harder and much more painful than doing a long long 30 mile climb.



So 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.

[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.

[salsabike]

So 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.

Yeah---to me, it's all about not the feet per mile per se but the distribution of those feet---where and how they appear---that makes the big difference.

[Mr. Bloom]

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

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