I wanted to get some longer rides in on my bike to get ready for the Oregon Clyde ride this weekend so I decided to map out a route with my first long climb. I discovered that a 7%-8% grade was doable but hard (needed the granny gear) and that 15%-18% was completely brutal (especially after a few miles of 7-8% grade). So, I had my first 1000ft climb, my first (and second) fall with clipless pedals & my first 30mi+ ride in over a year (I commute 20-30mi a day but that's over 2 trips). The route profile does not show some of the worst hills (short, steep rollers) & the gradient point calculator is definitely wrong (some extremely high and low numbers) so I averaged the climb numbers for this post. Total climbing (according to my computer) was 3150 ft. over 28.5 miles.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5555
The first fall was caused because I didn't drop into my low gear in time and fell as I was fiddling around with the shifter. The 2nd fall happened about 1/2 way up the steep part of the climb when I tried to zig-zag across the road at too slow of a speed. My heart rate was quite high the entire time but the legs felt fine. Once my cardio catches up I'm sure that I'll get a lot more burn in the legs. The next time I go I may be able to take some pictures (instead of trying to breathe).