How hilly is your ride

[rugby bloke]

What about Hardwater or the road up pass Whiston ?

Don't tend to take them as regularly, Hardwater is certainly a proper climb in my eyes. If I do the Whiston Climb I'm usually coming from the Castle Ashby side. When I first tried it last year I needed a stop for a breather half way up !

 

[lazybloke]

To answer the original question.. Surrey hills aren't too big but I'll usually climb parts of Ranmore or Box Hill. My typical climbing is 33-90 feet per mile. Average over 9 rides was 59 feet per mile.
For comparison, the recent FNRttC certainly felt hilly at times but was quite low at 45.

A bit further north - Polzeath. Been there a few times without the bike and I find it challenging enough to walk around the area ... Have to have a poke around Strava so see what I can find.

When I holiday in Polzeath area, I don't fancy mingling with drivers on those twisty narrow roads. I'm usually content to nip across from Rock to Padstow (obviously stopping for a pint of Doom Bar) then enjoy a quiet family bimble along the Camel trail.

But I bet there's some cracking cycling on the local roads IF the traffic can be avoided.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I enjoyed the Fred Whitton. You have some real nice climbing up your way. Was surprised also that there were some flat pieces in between on that ride along with very nice scenery.

Hardknott on a 100miles is a very tough climb indeed!

@huwsparky

I'm afraid that distance and those huge passes are beyond my fitness level!

FW record was broken this year (by a previous holder) in 6 hrs 15 mins or thereabouts. He did a long Fell race the day before too and was a 'bit tired' at the start of the FW.

 

[cyberknight]

Last club run was 3500 foot in 64 miles, A week and a half off the bike = legs still aching .
View: https://www.strava.com/activities/599457173/embed/a6f40524705717de29374226052c5f69d37bbe72

 

[EnPassant]

I don't use Strava or Garmin, so I can only measure height gain in terms of how much my legs complain and how panoramic the views are. I do have the choice of staying on the flat in the Vale of Gloucester or heading 15 miles West to hit the hills of the Forest of Dean or 5-10 miles East to hit the Cotswold escarpment. Nice to mix it up regularly to keep it fresh. Always used to detest climbing, but now I have to get a climbing fix every week or two.

Only moved to Gloucester about a year ago, Quedgeley Tesco's is a 10 mile flat round trip for me so not far from you I guess ,
I've not made it to the Forest of Dean yet, my max comfortably is still only around 30 miles, so I could get there and back but I'd have to give any actual hill once I got there a miss....
Six months ago i struggled up those inclines you commonly meet on approaches to bridges over a railway line or motorway but those are now easier and I recently started tackling the hills in that Cotswold escarpment the one past the cheese rolling place at coopers hill I have managed a couple of times now (with eyes popping from the strain) I do use Strava though and it thinks that hill is a cat 4. I think strava doth overstate the case somewhat but hey ho. It's getting a bit easier the more weight I lose, and thanks to the folks here now have a 28 rear instead of 27, but there are still parts I get off and walk, some hill out of Stroud completely defeated me on Sunday.

 

[mjr]

I live in the fens,,,,,

Yeah, in Ely, the biggest hill for miles. Try riding in the real fens...

http://cycle.travel/map/journey/22666

 

[Shut Up Legs]

How long before somebody suggests grading rides for their hill to distance ratio? You could then add another grade for steepness or "technicality" a bit like rock climbers with their incomprehensible grades.

Various people have done this, e.g. http://www.climbbybike.com/climb_difficulty.asp

 

[steverob]

Where I live in central Buckinghamshire most of my rides work out at about 30-40 feet of climbing per mile - I regard 50ft/mi as being my marker on whether my ride was "hilly" or not.

Strangely though, I get that 30-40 no matter what terrain I seem to do. If I head north or west out into Aylesbury Vale, it's all rolling countryside - nothing steep but constantly up and down and that does keep the elevation numbers ticking over. If I head south or east I encounter the delights of the Chilterns - mainly Cat 4 climbs, although some are seriously steep (just short at the same time), yet because it doesn't have much in the way of smaller undulations, once you're over one hill and down the other side (unless you decide to tackle a whole load of climbs in a single ride) you'll end up with a similar amount of elevation to a rolling route.

 

[Accy cyclist]

It's full of hills around here. The only flat bits are the local supermarket's car park and the cemetery. It's good for keeping fit but some days i wish i lived where iggibizzle does where it's nice and flat.

 

[Saluki]

I`m not sure what the figures are to define it, but whenever I, or anybody I know rides around here and it comes up on Strava, it is always including cat 1, 2, 3 ,or 4 hills, obviously 1 being the steepest/longest. It`s not just here, it`s a standard thing. This part of the country is like Yorkshire.....LUMPY!! 25% climbs here are commonplace, and in Cornwall there are a handful of 33%. Good for the legs!

I get off an walk up them.
Unless I'm on the Camel Trail, there is climbing everywhere to get out of town. I did a 32 mile ride and climbed over 800m. I'm not a good climber and got off and pushed out of Mawgan Porth. The hairpin at the bottom of the hill did for me.

 

[huwsparky]

@huwsparky

I'm afraid that distance and those huge passes are beyond my fitness level!

FW record was broken this year (by a previous holder) in 6 hrs 15 mins or thereabouts. He did a long Fell race the day before too and was a 'bit tired' at the start of the FW.

Think the winner did it in 5:47. His name was Rob Jebb I think. Now that is a pretty mental time on that route. That's about a 20 mph average over that distance on that terrain. Big kudos to him. He almost certainly could have been pro, think he is over 40 years old too.

I'll be back next year for more!

 

[tommaguzzi]

I mostly ride in the peak district so 6000 to 7000 ft climbing in 65 miles is a normal weekend ride out.
By I find it harder if I go east into the flat lands and finish up battling the constant westerly headwinds to get home.

 

[Elybazza61]

Yeah, in Ely, the biggest hill for miles. Try riding in the real fens...
View attachment 131218
http://cycle.travel/map/journey/22666

At 21meters it's hardly Mont Ventoux though,,,,

 

[nickyboy]

100ft per mile is standard here. I can trick the route up to 125ft per mile (by taking loads of funny little lanes) or down to 75ft per mile (by keeping to the main roads). Can't move for Strava Cat 4 climbs, they're everywhere. Quite a few Cat 3s and a few Cat 2s. Interestingly the Cat 2 climbs are not difficult, just long. There are some right bastard Cat 4 climbs though

Occasionally I'll treat myself to a run down to Cheshire, particularly in the winter But with the hills to get to the flat stuff and the hills back again it's still 50ft per mile

The downside of this sort of riding is that doing properly long rides is beyond me. I'm ok up to 60 miles (6000ft of climbing) but I couldn't enjoy 80 miles in the Peaks...just too hard. I did an 82 mile ride with 9,000ft of climbing in a sportive near here and the final 15 miles were not fun at all

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Think the winner did it in 5:47. His name was Rob Jebb I think. Now that is a pretty mental time on that route. That's about a 20 mph average over that distance on that terrain. Big kudos to him. He almost certainly could have been pro, think he is over 40 years old too.

I'll be back next year for more!

@huwsparky

Thanks for the update on the time - my memory is not serving me well!

That's an insane time - I have an acquaintance who managed 7.25ish 3 years ago and he is a very fit guy and the thought of him being around 1.75 hours behind Jebb is mind boggling to me.