I read that these three climbs in the foothills were tough climbs, so naturally I had to do them They are all in the Newcastle/Auburn area in Placer County, CA. As usual I recorded video of all the good climbs, so here they are.

Garmin Connect data for the entire ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81350751

Ridge Road. This was the "easy" one compared to the next two. Maximum grade was only 11% near the top, and I accidentally caught up to a couple of women who had started the climb before me. The conversation with them is in the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyKjhQc9Qbk

Chili Hill Road. This was steep and painful! Maximum grade was 17%. At the top I saw a cyclist taking pictures of his son who was climbing the hill. I mentioned that I recorded my climb and he liked that When his son got to the top of the hill he saw my camera setup and was very interested as he also wants to start recording his rides. He also loves watching cycling videos. I told him I would be uploading all the good climbs to YouTube later on that evening. His father said he is trying to get his son into cycling. I told him his son has a climber's build and he agreed. He said his son had the Andy Schleck look

When I got ready to upload the videos I noticed I had a new subscriber to my YouTube channel. When I uploaded the first video it immediately got a view and a thumbs-up. It was the kid on the hill.

I think his father will have no problem getting him interested in cycling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnT0vfuP3iY

Glenview Road. This was also steep and painful, and was the next to last climb in the ride. Maximum grade was 19%

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22q2zixhX18

Here's a picture from the top of Glenview Road. I rode my Specialized Sirrus hybrid with road wheels and tires:


Specialized Sirrus at top of Glenview Road climb by kittyz202, on Flickr