How do you know the % rating of hills?
- Thread starter Geoff Crowther
- Start date
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Dogtrousers
Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
Last time I went up there I fell off the back of my bike. A quick glance around ... phew ... nobody saw.
I'm finding the idea of deliberately doing "reps" rather frightening
Hacienda71
Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
Fortunately oop north we have lots of steep hills. So you do one go down the other side, do another and so on until you can't do any more. None of this we have a steep hill. 
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
Yes ...
(Photograph by Colin Grice, from Wikipedia)
So steep, that they have a scoreboard for broken down HGVs!
morrisman
Guru
Plot the hill on RideWithGPS and the elevation/grade appears at the bottom of the screen.
JasonHolder
on youtube. learning to be a gent
Strava tells me so 
NorvernRob
Guru
Pah, 25% this and 20% that. Barely worth getting out of the saddle for
This is a mans hill. 50%. And it's in Yorkshire of course.
http://www.whitbyonline.co.uk/whitby/whitby-leisure/donkeyroad/
This is a mans hill. 50%. And it's in Yorkshire of course.
http://www.whitbyonline.co.uk/whitby/whitby-leisure/donkeyroad/
OP
OP
Geoff Crowther
"... travel far, not fast", Ted Simon
Brilliant Rob. Thanks for that. After all that technical waffle it took a Yorkshireman to explain things properly.
I'm hugely indebted.
Geoff
(expat Yorkshireman)
PS Know that hill well but wouldn't contemplate tryin' to ride up it. Fair play Wayne!
I'm hugely indebted.
Geoff
(expat Yorkshireman)
PS Know that hill well but wouldn't contemplate tryin' to ride up it. Fair play Wayne!
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
Percentages are for soft southern shandy swilling jessies.
Real Men know how to rate a hill:
Big ring small cog
Still in the big ring: decent slope
Legs burning: steep slope
No more gears left spinning like crazy :Steep slope
No more gears, standing up, thinking sweary words: Very Steep slope
Sounds like fun : Too Steep Slope
Sliding backwards on wet cobbles when brakes are on: Hebden Bridge
Nigelnaturist
Guru
Like that one, though I think I would be walking above 20%, I did Storrs Hill near Wakefield last year, not very long, but had me wondering if I could do it, it peaks about 18% I think.
Shut Up Legs
Down Under Member
I'm jealous, all those great hills, I really want to try them.
Donger
A.K.A. Buster Nuvverbike (componentry destroyer)
Climbbybike.com is a site I quite like to visit to see profiles of big hills that I plan to take on, as well as the big climbs that feature on the major tours. One of my local hills, Haresfield Beacon near Stroud, features on the site, and it states that the maximum gradient is 25%. That stat alone doesn't tell you what a beast it is though. It's one of those nasty so-and-sos that keeps getting steeper every time you come round a bend. Eventually, when you come round the last right hander, you see a concave road surface stretching out above you, seemingly getting exponentially steeper the further you go. The last time I attempted it, I got to within 200m of the top and finally had to stop around where the Cotswold Way crosses the road. When I tried to start going again, I repeatedly pulled a wheelie, and just couldn't keep my front wheel on the ground. I gave up, disconsolately, and turned the bike around to go back down with my tail between my legs. Believe it or not, I actually had to walk the bike down a few metres to a spot where I could physically remount the bike, it was so steep. Personally i reckon it is quite a bit more than 25%, and I don't think I'll ever be able to beat it.
There's a 25% between Grasmere and Langdale - I was driving up it a couple of months back and there was this old grizzled looking fella grinding up it with 4 big panniers on the bike and wearing a big yellow cape and a yellow sou'wester hat. It was lashing down - I was dead impressed as I couldn't do it in a million years.