What's a hilly ride?

[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!

[bmccasland]

I am currently a flat-lander and I admit it. My definition of "hilly" is anything vertical other than the pipelines that cross the Mississippi River levee. In these parts, riding over a freeway overpass constitutes a hill. There's a section of the Miss River levee that has several pipeline crossings that roller coaster, then you ride down off the levee under some more pipes, and back up - it's all rather fun - especially if no one else is on the path and you can hammer it.

On the MS-150, we ride in the "Florida Parishes" and into southern Mississippi, which has right and proper hills, which I suppose most of you would call "rolling."

[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.