Quote Originally Posted by DarcyInOregon View Post
Maybe there is a list of terminology somewhere on the internet with an accurate description for commonly used words to describe a route, but I haven't found it. Like in this forum, when someone says they are having a hard time climbing a "steep hill", what are they referring to? Is the distance 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile or 1 mile or longer? Is the grade 3%, 5%, 8%, 12% or higher? One person might consider a steep hill to be 1/4 mile at 3% and another cyclist considers steep to be over 1/2 mile and at least 9%, so it would help if there was an accurate description for what is "steep."
I hear you, but I think steepness is really in the eye of the beholder--what you're used to riding on. I went on a club ride in a city where I'm living temporarily where people were out of the saddle to climb a hill that wasn't much worse than one I breeze over in my daily commute back home.

My boyfriend and I use http://www.mapmyride.com/ a lot because it provides elevation profiles. Often times, routes for charity rides and club rides will have been loaded in there already and we can know a little better what we're getting into.