DrIsotope

Oh no, please tell us more about the hills you've climbed. I bet they're ammaaaaazzzzing.

seypat

These cyclists really like climbing.

Scarbo

Now you're just turning just plain peevish, petulant, and puerile.

DrIsotope

Bro, the faux-clever is really not working. Trolling is more art than science.

But hills or no, you can sort of work a thesaurus. As they would say on Strava, kudos!

PepeM

This thread turned a bit weird...

Does steel climb better than carbon?

Scarbo

Man, I really got your goat this morning, haven't I? You came in swinging, telling us all we were full of crap. What's that matter, dude? I'm sorry the subject of climbing fills you with such rage. lol

Haha--I can't think of when it was that I last cracked open a thesaurus. Some of us are just . . . literate. You know?

Seattle Forrest

The local hiking forum has a lot of threads boasting about stuff like "I climbed Mount Rainier in 5 hours" and "Anish just finished the Arizona trail in 19 days 17 hours 9 minutes, smashing the previous record of 21 days 14 hours 16 minutes." It's not a BF thing, it's a human thing.

PS - Congratulations Anish! That trails is 800 miles, she did it on foot carrying her food, clothing, tent, and sleeping bag.

DrIsotope

Depends on whether goodly flex can outpower the tiny micro-asplosions that help propel CF frames up hills.

nycphotography

The value of the steep hill is that there is no place to hide, no place to recover!

You are forced to work at max all the way to the top. A lot of training hills accomodate your will power being broken. Nevermind this, I'll cruise it in from here. The long steep climb, not so much.

Once you have enough fitness to climb the long steep hill, then it becomes about maintaining the effort, and managing the recovery points. No (or very few) hill is 14% continuously over 1000ft of gain. They ease a little, then they kick up. Learning to manage that give and take, learning to hold the effort to the top, learning what happens when you go to hard, blow up? Are you done? Can you recover and get back up to pace?

Also, there's a "knowing" that comes into play. You get to a new climb, and you "know" what you can do, how it will likely play out, which boosts your confidence, and confidence boosts your mental strength when it gets tough.

Seattle Forrest

If there's a giant magnet at the top of the hill.

12strings

I personally have never completed any climb on a Carbon bike, but I've done many on Aluminum and steel. So I guess the answer has to be yes!

ClydeTim

Amazing to me that I live near some of the highest paved roads in California and I have climbed 2 of them (out of 10 listed). Some long gradual climbs at about 6% for 60 miles or so with 10,000 ft. But yet forum members continue to claim that they have much steeper roads than those of the highest mountains available. OK so there are a few steep sections along the way that are 20%, but don't you think that we climb those in order to get to the top? They are there but factored into the overall 6%.

What I find funny is that I can do a short steep climb (29%) any day of the week. To do the long gradual climb of 6%, I really have to train. Part of training is doing those short steep climbs as a building block for the long climbs.

I did a ride of about 40 miles with 6000 ft or so. At the top was a section of 22%. The steep section would have been a walk in the park had I not done the long gradual climb first.

I also do 23% climbs on the MTB but again, those are short sections up in dirt roads. Where you guys find 20% grades over 6 miles puzzles me! Not saying anybody claims this, but it they sure make it sound that way.

indyfabz

Actually, I did think it was great while it was happening--until I got to hardest parts. And there have been plenty of other times when I have been climbing mountains and thought it was great in the moment. And of course no one never wants it to end because you would never get to where you were going if it never ended.


This was the route for my Montana trip in June of this year:


https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14890942


Loved everyone of those climbs, even when I was getting hailed on for a short bit. I enjoy that sort of challenge as long as I am properly prepared for potential weather conditions so I don't endanger myself. That happened during a 2014 tour in Montana. I got a case of weight weenie fever just before I left for Missoula and decided to take a lame rain shell instead of my real rain jacket. Twice I got caught in storms. Once at nearly 8,000' with hail, rain and even some wet snow. The second hit around 7,000'. Driving, very cold rain. I was quite hypothermic on the way down and ended up having to get a motel room rather than camp. Didn't make that mistake this year.


North Cascades Highway, May, '99. Rained turned to snow at some point during the nearly 30 mile climb:

indyfabz

I was never a math whiz so I could be wrong, but wouldn't 60 miles at an average of 6% give you about 19,000' of climbing?


X feet of climbing/316,800'=.06
X=316,800'*.06
X=19,008

ClydeTim

I don't know, all I know is it's an organized event and after 60 miles, you have a total accumulated of nearly 10,000 ft.

My point is that it's a long gradual climb, not one of those 20% grades.

This is the graph if you want to count the inches.

Seattle Forrest

When I did Loup Loup Pass, I made a loop and took some dirt roads back down. I wished I could have met somebody at the top and got a ride back down. Probably would have enjoyed it more if I had just taken the highway back down. Same thing happened with Old Blewett Pass, I enjoyed the ride up, wished I didn't have to ride back down.

ClydeTim

I feel the same way. On most of my climbing rides I enjoy the climb up. If I had it my way, I'd skip the descent. Waste of time in my book as the climbing is the interesting part.

Seattle Forrest

North Cascades Highway, Ross Dam Trailhead, spring 2012?



Going to head back this winter with XC skis.

indyfabz

Ah. So it's 10,000' of total climbing in 60 miles. That makes sense. I misread your post as saying there is a single, 60 mile climb averaging 6%.

ClydeTim

I may have not have worded it clearly at first but you get the idea.

woodcraft

Between worrying about carbon asplosions, and disk brake fluid vaporization,

I should think not!

RJM

I would honestly rather ride longer climbs at less steep angles than shorter, steeper stuff. I find it to be better training for road riding and endurance. However, finding a short but steep hill and hitting it over and over again is a great way to do zone WTF? anaerobic intervals.


If people really want to hit steep stuff and be all "dude I'm so awesome because I did that and I'm still here" they should get into mountain biking. Nothing on the road compares to the utter nonsense of single track stuff.

Seattle Forrest

I have you all beat when it comes to steep.

RJM

That looks more dangerous than riding a bike on the road. lol.

hsuehhwa

+1


I don't like any decent >10% AND >1 mile.