Road Cycling - Do you like climbing? Riding flatlands? Hills?

What type of rider are you? On your rides, do you most enjoy riding flatlands? How about the hills? Or fairly steep climbs? Are you an all-around rider or do you prefer one thing in particular?

I'm not much of a flatland rider... I don't have good endurance to keep a good consistant RPM at high speed. I think my strength is definetly tolerance to pain, when compared to endurance. So I like climbing... I never set a speed goal... my goal is always just to make it to the top without stopping. Where I live, there aren't any mountains or anything, but everywhere is hilly, and there are a few areas of pretty steep climbs of a few miles. I get the greatest joy by making it to the top of a climb over anything else.

What do you enjoy doing the most and explain the joy you find in it? (if you can explain it :D )

Originally posted by brent_dube
What do you enjoy doing the most and explain the joy you find in it? (if you can explain it :D )

I like any type of terrain but I think hills are were I can excell and really only when I go up because I don't have the horsepower to maintain really fast speeds on the flats and I top out with my 12 when going downhill and just let gravity take over so the big guys who I've dropped going up burn me coming back down.

I don`t believe we can have a preferance on what we like to ride on . The terrain in our vicinity governs our preferances.

Living in an area of hills and valleys this is the type of riding i have become accustomed too, so i guess if i did not enjoy my surroundings i would not ride a bike.

HILLS DEFINATELY :)

when i started riding at 16 my friend who got me into was richard virenques biggest fan...always sporting the polka dot jersey when we went riding. soooo, we'd always look for the coolest climbs (mostly steep ones here in northern NJ) to ride...

6 years later and i still love climbing more than anything else. and so, i always try to use my time riding up and down hills and try avoiding the flats. just more exciting to me...hehe

Other than bridges over the Intercoastal there are no hills where I love. As a result on the rare ride when I encounter one (there's some rolling terrain NE of Tampa near where my mother used to live) I really suck.

Going down them is fun though.:D

:beer:

Yes!

Originally posted by willic
I don`t believe we can have a preferance on what we like to ride on . The terrain in our vicinity governs our preferances.


If you had a choice... what would you prefer...

Just because you prefer one, don't mean that you don't like the others either.

I like climbs because they tend to give me the most challenge. :)

I prefer the flats. High speed, steady rythm on the peddles, tyres humming, air streaming past, the sound of the rear mech purring perfectly. I feel I could go on forever.
Wonderful moments!

The tyres whirring????? you sure you actually live in the same UK that I do ;)

I like climbs, especially when touring. It is hard to beat the feeling of climbing a high mountain, unfortunately I don't have any around here. On day-rides I prefer hills that are not so steep (maybe 2-3% ?) and where one can keep a high cadence and speed. I have found that I'm not that much faster on steep climbs (7% +) on a day-ride compared to a fully loaded day (I know that sounds strange).

/Csson

With enough riding, I hope it will all seem easier.. I felt a tremendous sense of pride the first time I climbed Palomar Mountain and even more so when I climbed Mt. Ventoux on a tour.(easiest way up).
I almost prefer a really long mountain climb over some shorter climbs that are really steep grades.. I have my limits. I would prefer a 7 mile- 7.5 percent grade over - lets say, a 1 mile 14% grade.. Those really get to me..
I have a slight height thing- and really steep descent with adjacent cliffs, sort of gets to me.. When I ocassionally get in the speed demon mood- who doesn't like flats for showing off.

I enjoy all 3. The hills I for the workout they give me, the flats because I can just chill and recoup from the climbs, and descents because I love the speeds they offer.
Slainte:beer:

Whenever the road is heading upward, The Chris Man is happy.

I like to climb hills at the start of my ride, maybe after 10 minutes into the ride all I want to see are hills, but after doing about 60 to 100 k on the bike I don't like to see any hill or climbs

I'd love to find an 80 mile downhill:D

A good downhill is the greatest reward after a hard climb. I just wish they would last longer. Obviously, i'm not in it for the pain...I like to fly.

Originally posted by willic
I don`t believe we can have a preferance on what we like to ride on . The terrain in our vicinity governs our preferances.

Living in an area of hills and valleys this is the type of riding i have become accustomed too, so i guess if i did not enjoy my surroundings i would not ride a bike.


I have to dissagree. I have done most of my cycling in flat East Anglia, but when I moved to a hilly area, I discovered I was a natural hill climber. I really enjoy a hills, and even better, a big mountain.
Thats not to say I dislike the gently rolling lanes of Norfolk, but I havent met any real cyclist who enjoys riding in the dead flat reclaimed marsland of the Fens.

Originally posted by Betta
I'd love to find an 80 mile downhill:D

A good downhill is the greatest reward after a hard climb. I just wish they would last longer. Obviously, i'm not in it for the pain...I like to fly.

I know where there is an over 40 mile downhill!:rolleyes:

A few years ago, I moved from the rolling Ozark hills to the flats of central Indiana. My average speed for a 30-40 mile ride increased 3 mph. And I quit riding..it was soooo boring.

I'll take the hills over the flat any day. I find the flat roads are so straight and boring, endless bitumen as far as I can see, not much fun with a constant headwind. The hills however are always interesting as the road and view is constantly changing, also the wind is less severe, by not being so constant.

The fitter I get the more enjoyable the hills are.

CHEERS.

Mark

Where I live there is a difference between hills and mountains..By hills, do many of us really mean mountains ? ..Thats what I mean- hills are no big deal for most of us- I presume..?

I live East of my town. Everything to the West is up hill from me. I can ride about 10 miles to the west and hit the base of the mountains. I haven't yet, but certainly could, and will someday climb the mountains.

As a general rule, north-south travel is flat.

We have a more or less circular bypass all the way around town. This route offers variety but no real "hills," just grades.

There are times when I hate grades and hills. Usually after a 10+ mile ride, I really feel good about them:)

Originally posted by cyclezealot
Where I live there is a difference between hills and mountains..By hills, do many of us really mean mountains ? ..Thats what I mean- hills are no big deal for most of us- I presume..?

Well, in my case, by defenition from the hills mostly where I live... they can be steep inclines, but very short climbs mostly... then maybe short/possibly somewaht steep downhills... going up and down between 1-8 times per mile.

Bet its hard to guess my pick on the poll:D

Brent. From my recollection, if you are cycling Brockway Mountain Drive(- are bikes allowed there?) that is verging on a mountain in my book..

Originally posted by Yusuf
I prefer the flats. High speed, steady rythm on the peddles, tyres humming, air streaming past, the sound of the rear mech purring perfectly. I feel I could go on forever.
Wonderful moments!

And lets not forget spending most of your time looking at the tarmac and dodging pot holes.....

Originally posted by cyclezealot
Brent. From my recollection, if you are cycling Brockway Mountain Drive(- are bikes allowed there?) that is verging on a mountain in my book..

Hehe I haven't done that one yet. That one is a bit tougher than most others I do. I prolly would have tried it already but the pavement is old and it would be a pretty uncomforting ride back down. I'm guessing bikes are allowed, since on an organized ride for this year (which was cancelled :( ) it passed through the drive, and said you can climb it if you want. My favorite climb is a 3 mile stretch of highway from my small town (which is about as low lying as Lake Superior) to Calumet. The road is really wide and smooth... no tight turns either... makes for a great downhill :)

Now that I think about it, maybe I can tackle that climb, since the Drive has steep parts, but there are also many short drops in elevation on the way to the top... while Calumet has no flat rest points... just a constant grade up.

Originally posted by rhafe
Yes!

I agree