How Hilly is Your Commute? With 100% more graphics!!

[El-Duderino]

As a complete noob I have just found a cool little tool that allows you to show a graph of a cycle route.

Its this website- http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/

click on course creator, enter your route and then click summary to show the elevation of your route!

These are the two options I have to commute by, hilly and shorter or flatter and longer!

Which would you choose?

Feel free to post your own!!

 

[hackbike 666]

Number two because im a lazy old fart.

 

[ColinJ]

I work from home and last weekend I went out and did a ride with this profile, and did some work at home later so I suppose that you could call it a hilly commute!

 

[hackbike 666]

How did you do that?

 

[HLaB]

Most often I do my shorter commute (I can get a 5-10 min lie in) its quite hilly at the end (305ft in 3.1ml).

The last 2 weeks though I've getting up earlier and doing my alternate route, it does a similar level of climbing (374ft) but over 4.8mls most of which are an old railway path, limited to circa 2%

 

[ColinJ]

How did you do that?

Are you asking El-Duderino or me?

 

[iacula]

Thanks El- D looks a really cool toio!l

 

[magnatom]

Here is mine. However, I go through the Clyde tunnel cycle path (it goes under the car tunnel, which goes under the river) and the elevation data doesn't reflect that (it just has the land elevation at that point. So it looks easier than it is.

Does anyone know of a mapping system that takes into acount the actual height of the road (or cycle path)?

 

[Panter]

What a fantastic little tool, that is extremely usefull, thank you

With regards your question, I'd probably alternate them or just see how I felt on ther day.

How do you post pictures up of your graphs?

 

[El-Duderino]

Thanks for the replies guys, I usually go for the shorter but hillier route as it is a quiet little back road with less traffic than the other route.

How do you post pictures up of your graphs?

Just printscreen, save and then upload to an image hosting website!

 

[Bollo]

Here you go - this is the 'full' commute that I try to find time for at least once a week.

View attachment 2503

 

[Panter]

Just printscreen, save and then upload to an image hosting website!

Simple as that

Thanks for that, appreciated

 

[jimboalee]

Here's the lowdown.

A circular route, and every commute ride is because you start and finish at home, is effected by hills by an amazingly small factor.

Providing you can freewheel down most descents without applying the brakes, the downhills counteract the climbs by an accuracy of over 99%.
Yes, the calorific penalty for pedalling up and freewheeling down is less than 1%. Trust me, I went to the extent of calculating 240 km through Cornwall and Devon using 'finite element' theory typing in every contour and distance between contour. This was in the days before GPS and SatNav and I painstakingly used a scaler on the OS Pathfinders.

When I found the result of my efforts came to 40 kCals more than the "Flat" theory 5500 kCals, I gave up the exercise and inserted a 'frig factor' dependent on REALLY steep hills only. My threshold for 'REALLY STEEP' was 12%.

If you can't freewheel and need to brake on the downhills, Add 1% to the theoretical calorific expenditure for the 'flat' trip and you won't be far wrong.

BTW, does bikeroutetoaster allow you to export the data to MS excel in tabular format? If it doesn't, it’s a 'useless heap of s***e' and the 1% frig will be quicker, easier and as accurate. Does it indicate the gradients? If it doesn't, you may as well use a ruler on the OS Pathfinder and a calculator.

My commute starts at 420 ft, goes down to 60 ft and rises back up to 375 ft in 14 miles. This is 'Flat' and I ignore the facility on my Garmin and Training Center which displays Elevation.

Anyway, if you have an option of a short hilly route and a longer flatter route, what you should be looking at is http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_wind.html for the wind speed and direction in your town.

 

[borsuk]

generally quite flat but i go through this

every morning (about a mile through the woods) and over this

as well. an abandoned quarry it is. quite a steep climb, about half a mile or so but, as you can see, it's worth it

 

[02GF74]

grrrr only recoignises road, not cyclepaths ...