JohnKScott

I used to hate them. Now I seek out harder and harder climbs. The nice thing is that I really don't worry about them much any more. I know I can handle most anything in my area. It's just a matter of how hard I want to push myself up them...

I'm sure my perspective would change if I ever hit any mountains...

acupuncture Doc

Columbus Ohio for one...can't find a hill here for love or money.

barba

Drive just a bit south. My home town Athens is loaded with them.

cyclezealot

a 5.7 % grade I can take. Its those 7% plus grades that kill me. what 9 miles tho. I can hack it as long as there are breaks with a couple hundred feet of comparatevely flat terrain once in awhile. We all sometimes are curious about our limits. Most relief I have ever taken on is a 5000 feet climb .

mkadam68

Reminds me of the GMR climb in our neck of the woods (or at least the final climb).

On topic, I like to climb, too. Not if it's the 3 Ts: too long, too steep, or too fast (when with others). GMR's very nice. Not too steep. But it is about 8-1/2 to 9 miles long. And usually not too many cars.

Paco97

I tend to make a game out them as well. I watch my speed going up and try to improve on it each time, then I try to see how fast I can go while going down.

As my Drill Sergeants used to say, "They build Character in you."

I personally would rather turn back down a hill then to walk up one. This way I can keep the hill as a goal for me. In fact this evening, I completed a goal--I crested a hill that I had previous never made it up this season. It gives me a greater satisfaction knowing that I completed a goal, plus I like to torture myself and don't want myself to reap the benefits of the down hill without suffering up it.

Usually when I ride I go down a long road and turn around and ride back, so I now have a saying, "What goes down now, must always go up."

acupuncture Doc

Actually, I lived in Vail CO for a while and in State College PA for 11 yrs. after that. I know hills....and Mountains.

BTW - Athens is a nice area..

keithm0

It was like a bad joke, but with more cussing than laughing.

keithm0

I've noticed that my attitude towards hills depends largely on the purpose of my ride:

If I'm doing a recovery ride, I hate hills because they elevate my heart rate.
If I'm training for speed, I hate hills because they slow me down.
If I'm training for distance, I hate hills because they tire me, and reduce overall distance.
If I'm training for hill climbing, I love hills because they're a challenge, an obstacle to overcome.
If I'm just riding for fun, then hills can be fun too.

That said, the hill that CliftonGK1 mentioned on the Daffodil Classic was killer. Here's the 40 mile ride profile:

https://www.twbc.org/events/daffodil/...eBuckley40.pdf

The 175-ish foot blip near the 35 mile point is the hill of death. It doesn't look so bad, but we had already completed this:

https://www.twbc.org/events/daffodil/...tonville61.pdf

We ended up with about 5500 feet of elevation gain that day, by far the most I've ever done in a single day.

Viking55803

Forty years ago when I started racing, I used to train riding around and over the hills of Palos Verdes and up Topanga Canyon in California. I remember getting into a zone going up those long, long hills where my pedal cadence was constant and breathing hard but rhythmic, just slightly below maximum effort. The hills would melt away. I'm afraid I'm having trouble finding that at this point - maybe the hills aren't long enough, but it seems like I always too fast or too slow. But I'm just back to riding after a number of years off, and hope maybe those old rhythms will come back! Then I'll love the hills again.