Fiddler's Elbow?
#1
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Fiddler's Elbow?
Next week my usual group ride is doing a hill climb. All the guys told me Roxburg Hill Road into Fiddler's Elbow Road in Western New Jersey will change this ride from a hill climb to a hill walk. Has anyone ever climbed these hills? Does my group need to HTFU or am I gonna want to die next week?
#2
Peloton Shelter Dog
Next week my usual group ride is doing a hill climb. All the guys told me Roxburg Hill Road into Fiddler's Elbow Road in Western New Jersey will change this ride from a hill climb to a hill walk. Has anyone ever climbed these hills? Does my group need to HTFU or am I gonna want to die next week?
#3
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Taipei has a similar tester: MaoKong to CaoDong. about 5km of 8-13% starter, a few km of flattish stuff to move across the ridgeline, and then about 600m of 20-21% to top out. got a few cheers from a farmer as i crested and found a convenient telegraph pole to hang onto. I have not attempted that one on the single speed yet, but might next weekend to get bragging rights over pCad.
hard on the legs whatever the gearing. no thought of actually taking the camera out on the way up, but i did on the other side of the ridge on the way down.
hard on the legs whatever the gearing. no thought of actually taking the camera out on the way up, but i did on the other side of the ridge on the way down.
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I am always somewhat leery of Taiwanese posts.
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#7
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Head to the regional forums and check out the northeast section. There are several threads & posts by Ken Roberts, who has plotted out a lot of the tough climbs in NJ. Hillier than Hillier - NJ is an informative thread which includes FE.
From all indications, Fiddler's Elbow will certainly get your attention. Since I love routes that involve challenging climbs, I plan to make a trip out to west jersey later this summer to tackle it.
From all indications, Fiddler's Elbow will certainly get your attention. Since I love routes that involve challenging climbs, I plan to make a trip out to west jersey later this summer to tackle it.
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20 percent for a half mile? sounds good
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42x21 up a 20% is very impressive, I have another reason to idolize you
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I would keel the f over definitely, so it sounds impressive as compared to me. And you are still my idol stupid gearing and all.
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We like the Apple stock more than the Apple products.
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Maybe I do need to rethink my goals in life, but whatever. With the 3G iPhone at $199 now, its a much better possibility of me having one. I switched over like a year ago, and I will never buy another Windows box.
#15
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Also see Uhlerstown Hill Rd. in PA across the river from Frenchtown in NJ. Last time there I rode around several other people who had fallen over before running off the uphill side of the road when the ride leader fell over. It's 20+% and one of our guys did it in his big chain ring.
#16
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Gike: good luck with the elbow. it's just a case of stand and grind, and find your balance point early!
and if you fall over, there's always walking. it's not that far. take a camera and show us the view from the top.
and if you fall over, there's always walking. it's not that far. take a camera and show us the view from the top.
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Thanks alot, I never would have thought to bring a camera and I'll get the pics up asap (the ride is Wednesday).
#18
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I'll never forget the top of Fiddler's Elbow Road. The steep grade ends rather abruptly, and you wind up on this flat stretch of road with beautiful meadows on either side. I wasn't sure if I had survived the climb, or if it had killed me and I had ascended to Bike Weenie Heaven. I realized it was the former when I looked down at my bicycle and it was still a Trek (it had not transformed into a Merlin Pearly Gates Ti Custom).
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You're in for a walk up that hill, at least half way there. It's a a very tough climb. Be warned.
I'd bring at least a 34/27, even then you might have to stand up just to keep turning the pedals.
I have to be honest I walked it soon after hitting that 21%, but who knows if I would've brought a
the above i could've made it.
Corsaire
I'd bring at least a 34/27, even then you might have to stand up just to keep turning the pedals.
I have to be honest I walked it soon after hitting that 21%, but who knows if I would've brought a
the above i could've made it.
Corsaire
#20
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You're in for a walk up that hill, at least half way there. It's a a very tough climb. Be warned.
I'd bring at least a 34/27, even then you might have to stand up just to keep turning the pedals.
I have to be honest I walked it soon after hitting that 21%, but who knows if I would've brought a
the above i could've made it.
Corsaire
I'd bring at least a 34/27, even then you might have to stand up just to keep turning the pedals.
I have to be honest I walked it soon after hitting that 21%, but who knows if I would've brought a
the above i could've made it.
Corsaire
So the gear you'll need on Fiddler's is very dependent on your cycling ability, training, experience, fitness. I'm confident I'd get over it in the 39 x 25, but it would be tough. I'd be a hell of a lot more fluid with a 39x 25 than I was in the 42 x 21. That latter gear had me barely turning the pedals over at one point back in 1991, I couldn't maintain any rhythm at all. I got over the top without keeling over, but it sucked hard and it wasn't pretty.
The kicker is that hill was about 20 miles into the Hillier Than Thou Century, which included every tough climb they could find in Eastern PA and Western NJ. It was a real ball buster ride as I recall, it took us 6.5 hours or something like that. Probably the toughest long ride I've done. Lots of vertical, and the grades on some of those hills were nasty. Fiddler's wasn't the longest climb, but it was the hardest.