Pcad's Definition of a Hilly Road Ride

[HokuLoa]

I knew this thread would draw out the friggin CA and CO 'mine is bigger than yours' mountain weenies.

Hardly o'Fredly one. It does bring out the climbing junkies who would look for "hills" in the flattest of landscapes though.

FWIW, I have mad respect for those who have to search more to find the vertical. Lots of us have it too frickin easy...

[DropDeadFred]

Garmin data or it didn't happen

[AlphaDogg]

Berthoud Pass took my breath away one time while I was driving it. It's like 11,000 feet (above sea level, not that you actually climb), right?

Yeah. It has an elevation gain of about 3000ft over about 15 miles. I haven't ridden it yet, but plan on it sometime in the relatively near future (read: 6 months). I live at ~5000ft above sea level, so it would definitely be easier for me to ride it than for someone from (for example) Louisiana to ride it.

[Shimagnolo]

I knew this thread would draw out the friggin CA and CO 'mine is bigger than yours' mountain weenies.

If you insist...

mt-evans.png

[david58]

Same here; I can do more climbing within the city limits than crossing the Cascade Range. The roads in the mountains are graded more smoothly; they top out around 8 %, and the steepest paved road in Seattle is 26 %. But the glaciated mountains are a hell of a lot more fun to ride in.

Whoever built the roads in Seattle must have just been trying to out-do San Francisco. They succeeded. Man, sidewalks with tread bars, never seen that till I took the kid to college there and he took me on a walk over in Queen Anne....

[AlphaDogg]

BTW, on the hilly-hell front there is nasty little group event in Boulder this weekend called the 5 Devils or Fearsome 5. Rocky Mountain Cycling Club puts it on as part of their challenge series. It climbs the 5 nasty hills of Boulder county (most up and then back down) in one day totaling 100miles and 15K ft of climbing. Anyone up for Sunday "church??"

Sorry for the shameless plug Unkie Pcad...

I would, but I'm busy . About a month ago, I rode from Denver to Boulder. Very, very scary. I took the Cherry Creek trail from my house to downtown Denver and then took 32nd ave to McIntyre in Golden, McIntyre to 64th, and 64th to CO-93. 93 lacks good shoulders, so I had huge semi trucks passing me with less than 6 inches of space when climbing the nasty hills. It ended up being a 45 mile ride, but all in all, it was good. I will never do it again, though!

[Shimagnolo]

I would, but I'm busy . About a month ago, I rode from Denver to Boulder. Very, very scary. I took the Cherry Creek trail from my house to downtown Denver and then took 32nd ave to McIntyre in Golden, McIntyre to 64th, and 64th to CO-93. 93 lacks good shoulders, so I had huge semi trucks passing me with less than 6 inches of space when climbing the nasty hills. It ended up being a 45 mile ride, but all in all, it was good. I will never do it again, though!

Up until the past year, 93 had a great paved shoulders except for a one mile section along Rocky Flats, and the section from 128 North to Marshall Rd.

Then they suddenly began ripping out all the shoulders. WTF?
A Boulder local tell me the plan is to repave the shoulders, but I have yet to see it.
I need to ride 93 to get to Lookout Mt occasionaly, but not in it's current state.

[AlphaDogg]

Up until the past year, 93 had a great paved shoulders except for a one mile section along Rocky Flats, and the section from 128 North to Marshall Rd.

Then they suddenly began ripping out all the shoulders. WTF?
A Boulder local tell me the plan is to repave the shoulders, but I have yet to see it.
I need to ride 93 to get to Lookout Mt occasionaly, but not in it's current state.

Yep, there was gravel and cones where shoulders should've been. I could've died out there (sort of an exaggeration). I got countless close passes. On the first climb on 93, coming from 64th, I was riding with a space of about 3 inches for my tires. I gave up on that one and walked up the rest because the trucks were way too intimidating. On the subsequent climbs, I has at least 2 feet of a shoulder/unused right turn lane, so I was fine. That downhill coming into Boulder sure is glorious. I hit about 40mph and I thought my jersey was going to get ripped off because the wind was so strong.

Ever ridden NCAR? I hit 45mph going down it (on my old hybrid, before I got a roadie) and there is a 25mph school zone at the bottom. There's a radar sign that tells you your speed. I was going so high over the speed limit that it actually said "SLOW DOWN!" I slowed down to the point where it registered 39mph. Also, I forgot my sunglasses that day, so there were tears streaming down the side of my face. Don't ever forget your sunglasses.

[Shimagnolo]

That downhill coming into Boulder sure is glorious. I hit about 40mph and I thought my jersey was going to get ripped off because the wind was so strong.

That is the Northbound leg of the Morgul Bismark and part of my regular ride, so I do it 2-3 times/week. I have occasionally broken 50mph there, but it depends on the wind. In the winter, the crosswind out of the West can be really nasty, and sometimes makes it impossible to keep from getting blown into the ditch.

Ever ridden NCAR? I hit 45mph going down it (on my old hybrid, before I got a roadie) and there is a 25mph school zone at the bottom. There's a radar sign that tells you your speed. I was going so high over the speed limit that it actually said "SLOW DOWN!" I slowed down to the point where it registered 39mph. Also, I forgot my sunglasses that day, so there were tears streaming down the side of my face. Don't ever forget your sunglasses.

I've done NCAR a few times. I've been warned by the locals that the PD sometimes sets up a radar trap and tickets cyclists at the bottom.

[Velo Vol]

Not at all. You can follow other cyclists (who have public profiles). Whenever rides are logged, the followers can see ride stats. (Probably why Pcad doesn't like it. It can be embarrassing.)

Actually, that sounds kind of similar to Twitter.

[Hermes]

You're trying to goad me with idiotic and obscure acronyms aren't you?

I assume with that response that your VAM sucks. You can default to the ultimate Fred response and say "well at least I am climbing them" which is a classic reply from an old guy. Can we assume you did not walk any?

[MrTuner1970]

Actually, that sounds kind of similar to Twitter.

Well, it's not really.

Just the following part, perhaps.

[patentcad]

I assume with that response that your VAM sucks. You can default to the ultimate Fred response and say "well at least I am climbing them" which is a classic reply from an old guy. Can we assume you did not walk any?

Here are the results for 'VAM' acronym definitions you self absorbed road nazi nitwit:

Acronym Definition
VAM Vinyl Acetate Monomer
VAM Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae
VAM Ventilation Air Methane
VAM Virginia Association of Museums
VAM Vitt Ariskt Motstånd (Sweden)
VAM Vitt Ariskt Motstånd (Swedish: White Aryan Resistance)
VAM Verwertungsgesellschaft für Audiovisuelle Medien (Vienna, Austria)
VAM Vulnerability Assessment and Mapping (UN)
VAM Virtual Appliance Marketplace (VMware)
VAM Virtual Access Method
VAM Voluntary Action Manchester
VAM Value-Added Module
VAM Van Allen and Mallis (coin quality rating)
VAM Value Added Manufacturing
VAM Velocita Ascensionale Media (Italian: average climbing speed)
VAM Value-Added Measure
VAM Vuil Afvoer Maatschappij (Dutch waste disposal company)
VAM Vapour Absorption Machine (India)
VAM Vegetable, Animal, Mineral (hair tonic)
VAM Video Area Manager
VAM Migraine Associated Vertigo
VAM VPN Accelerated Module (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
VAM Vacuum Advance Mechanism
VAM Vibration Acoustical Monitoring
VAM Vehicle Allocation Matrix
VAM Venice Arts Mecca (California)
VAM Attack Squadron, Medium
VAM Vista Asset Management (military logistics system)
VAM Value Approximation Method (baseball statistical analysis)
VAM Vane Adjustment Machine (turbine motors)
VAM Visual Arts Museum (various locations)

Pick one.

Wait. Never mind. Nobody cares.

[patentcad]

Can we assume you did not walk any?

I have bailed on a climb once in 30+ years and on that occasion I simply rolled into a driveway, recovered and the proceeded. My 39 x 25 wasn't quite enough for the 20% upper slopes of Cain Road on that particular day. I had made that ascent successfully on a prior occasion, but I was considerably fatter the day I gave up near the top.

[Shimagnolo]

Looks like I need to help out the old grump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocit...etres_per_hour

[Nick Bain]

OK, so here it is: my ride today was approx 35.00 miles and 3800 vertical feet of climbing. That's hilly, I have to go out and find hills to climb to get the vertical feet greater than the hundreths of miles. The hilliest ride I've done around here was 8000 vertical in about 80.00 miles.

So if you can match or exceed the hundreths of miles you log with vertical footage, it's generally a pretty hilly ride. That's what I find.

Don't ask me what my average speed is on rides like this either you stupid 41 Fred losers.

how many categorized climbs you got in there bro?

[patentcad]

Looks like I need to help out the old grump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocit...etres_per_hour

That is so amazingly stupid, it could only be cycling related.

[patentcad]

how many categorized climbs you got in there bro?

There aren't any UCI idiots in the OC, so they remain uncategorized.

[lazerzxr]

I work in metres. 1 loop of my usual saturday ride is 52km and has 750m of climbing. So I wouldnt say your ride was that hilly. If I go a different route I can get 1400m climbing in a 70km ride.

My average speed is generally around 35 mph for these rides (only recovery effort)

[patentcad]

At least this stupid thread is inflating my already overinflated post count.

[Velo Vol]

There a set of metric acronyms?

Heaven help us.

[big john]

I work in metres. 1 loop of my usual saturday ride is 52km and has 750m of climbing. So I wouldnt say your ride was that hilly. If I go a different route I can get 1400m climbing in a 70km ride.

My average speed is generally around 35 mph for these rides (only recovery effort)

Your first example is about 2400 feet in about 30 miles, quite a bit less than 100 feet per mile. Your second is close with almost 4600 feet in 47ish miles.

Your average speed is obviously an attempt at humor.

[AlphaDogg]

Wait. Never mind. Nobody cares.

Sorry to say it, pcad. Nobody likes you.

[catonec]

you stupid 41 Fred losers.

Winning friends again.

[patentcad]

Sorry to say it, pcad. Nobody likes you.

Bite me.