Originally Posted by
BlazingPedals
The Wall is one of those signature-type hills that ride organizers seem to always need to include; you know, to prove... something, I don't know what. It's 400 feet, which is tall by Michigan standards. But the worst thing about it is the 3-5% lead-up for two miles before you even see the steep part. I've seen strong riders come around the curve, see the real hill, look down and see that they're already in 1st gear, then get off and walk the last half-mile to the main climb.
None of our local hills are Higher than 800ft above sea level and most do start from around sea level. Off road and the easy climb onto the hills is up Long Man as in my thumbnail in my previous post. Once up there it is good mountain biking. But road hills are almost as bad when you don't have 22/32 gearing. They are a challenge and when I got Boreas with a compact crank--I started on the 8% slopes- then the 10-12% and then the 15%ers. Think if I had done the steep ones right from the start- I would have gone back to mountain biking. Or at least on the bike. Gearing was 34/27 and just looking for a bit lower now so got the Tiagra 12/30 cassette. Favourite bike for long rides on this terrain is the TCR-C----with a triple and 12/25 cassette.
But locally we have a hill like your wall leading up to Beachy Head. 3 to 5% for a long time and then a short 10%. Then 3 to5 for 1/2 mile and the final climb again at 10% I always make certain I have a tailwind "IF" I do this climb as it is open and exposed and boring. The only good bit is the steep bits.