I did some more exploring this morning, looking for a better commute. Really I was looking for a way to climb up the west bank of the Blackstone River. Today's adventure, err, I mean planned route which I think I will not repeat was up Cullen Hill Rd. According to Bike Route Toaster (which I learned about only today) the climb was 92ft in 0.38 miles.

To make matters worse, after all that work and a few more miles westbound a bridge over 146 on my planned route was closed and under repair.

Fortunately I didn't have to go back down to the river but the detour took me some bit out of the way. Fortunately too I'd allowed plenty of time for the meeting I had to attend.

Short cuts make for long delays...

I've been playing with Bike Route Toaster, comparing the two databases. One (Google?) shows Cullen Hill Rd as 135ft in .4mi, not 92ft. That's a big difference. It computes out to 337ft/mi. It is also more believable. I went up Cadillac Mt. last fall and that computes out to about 290ft/mi. This hill felt steeper. Of course I was riding a heavier bike and carrying some load. But I choose to believe the hill is steeper.