Originally Posted by
ptle
....The road leading up is a third of a mile long with 175 feet in elevation gain. 10% average grade.
Anyone else have any steep hills in their commute? Maybe I'm making it a bigger deal than it should be. I'm sure there's many other people that do harder sections on their commute.
Hah, this thread finally made me post here on BF.
I started cycling to work three months ago and let me tell you: your 'hill' is just a rise in the road
My entire commute is 4.2 miles each way and covers just over 1000 feet of elevation, downhill in the morning and uphill after work. The worst is 400 feet of elevation gain in .62 miles, or about a 12% average grade. That's the hill RIGHT before my house, I crest that hill and am home.
The cooldown lap is essential, I end up doing about half a mile just cooling off.
The biggest problem is when it's hot. I take an extra water bottle and soak myself down liberally to keep from overheating, sometimes several times during the climb.
Finally, if it's really too much, just get off and push. That'll happen less and less often.
I wasn't in good biking shape before I started this, but that's rapidly changing. Dropping down in the morning is a blast, though.