How hilly is your ride

[clockworksimon]

My local killer loop from near Wrexham goes up and around Hope Mountain. This packs in 2700ft in 20 miles!

 

[GuyBoden]

A nice hill with a view in Cheshire is Mow Top.

Mow Cop Hill climb stats

• Distance 0.9 miles
• Average Gradient: 11.7%
• Maximum gradient: 23%
• Elevation gain: 170 metres (560 feet)
• 60+ mile ride from Warrington (and Back).

http://cyclinguphill.com/mow-cop-the-killer-mile/

 

[sackville d]

Last night's pub social ride had 2647ft of climbing in 20 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/603654761

Now that is getting a bit silly.
1000ft per 10 miles, hilly.
1500ft per 10 miles, silly.

 

[sackville d]

Ha ha ... I'm thinking of knocking together a cheapo singlespeed bike for my 'hilly' Lidl trips. I normally just walk but there are times when I want to nip down for just one or two items but can't be bothered. A bike not worth nicking and not to be mourned if nicked is what I want!

I know it`s Tod and all that but do you mind not bringing the neighborhood down please Colin!

 

[Supersuperleeds]

5,718 feet over 32 miles this morning

Okay maybe there are a couple of glitches in the data

 

[tommaguzzi]

This thread looks like it's turning into a big big knob contest now :-)

 

[Psycolist]

Living in one of the flattest areas of the UK, the biggest hill I encounter is the drop kerb outside my house

 

[Sbudge]

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.

I'm with you on that one. I ride around there most weekends, there are very few long hills just lots of short and steep (10-20% and 100m of ascent) nasties. It's not at all unusual to do a dozen of those in a ride.

 

[briantrumpet]

I find it interesting that Alpine riding and Dartmoor riding come out fairly similar, at around the 1000ft per 10 miles, but the riding is utterly different. You'll probably be able to work out which is which, from these profiles of a couple of my rides:

 

[rugby bloke]

I find it interesting that Alpine riding and Dartmoor riding come out fairly similar, at around the 1000ft per 10 miles, but the riding is utterly different. You'll probably be able to work out which is which, from these profiles of a couple of my rides:

Out of interest, do they feel like the same amount of climbing ? Looking at the profiles I instinctively feel the Dartmoor profile would be harder, even though the individual climbs are much shorter.

 

[briantrumpet]

Out of interest, do they feel like the same amount of climbing ? Looking at the profiles I instinctively feel the Dartmoor profile would be harder, even though the individual climbs are much shorter.

Both are hard in their own ways, and it's probably more to do with the head than the legs - on Dartmoor many of the climbs are quite brutal (I'd forgotten how hard Ashburton to Two Bridges is) but mostly short, but in the Alps you need to get your head in the right place knowing you'll be going uphill for maybe an hour or more, but rarely with anything that really takes you out of a trance-like rhythm. I enjoy both.

 

[Sbudge]

Both are hard in their own ways, and it's probably more to do with the head than the legs - on Dartmoor many of the climbs are quite brutal (I'd forgotten how hard Ashburton to Two Bridges is) but mostly short, but in the Alps you need to get your head in the right place knowing you'll be going uphill for maybe an hour or more, but rarely with anything that really takes you out of a trance-like rhythm. I enjoy both.

I've not had the chance to try any long/high climbs yet, always just the short/sharp stuff. I'm really interested to see how they compare. I've certainly noticed that 2 x steep ascent/descents have a slower average speed (for me) than 1 x moderate ascent/descent with same distance and climb total.

 

[mjr]

I find it interesting that Alpine riding and Dartmoor riding come out fairly similar, at around the 1000ft per 10 miles, but the riding is utterly different. You'll probably be able to work out which is which, from these profiles of a couple of my rides:

It's interesting that those climbs don't behave like Norfolk's ones which although not high, almost always steepen near the top. For comparison, here's the profile of my ride yesterday (still only 38ft/mile though):

 

[briantrumpet]

It's interesting that those climbs don't behave like Norfolk's ones which although not high, almost always steepen near the top. For comparison, here's the profile of my ride yesterday (still only 38ft/mile though):
View attachment 131790

We probably need a geographer or geomorphologist to explain the reason for the difference.

 

[mjr]

We probably need a geographer or geomorphologist to explain the reason for the difference.

I think a psychologist or social historian may be more use, as surely it's more that whoever laid out Norfolk's roads was more sadistic?