Originally Posted by puddin' legs
0-25 feet/mile = flat
25-75 feet/mile = rolling
75-150 feet/mile = hilly
150+ feet/mile = mountainous
150ft in a mile? I'd say it's a moderate/short climb, but nothing that resembles a mountain or mountain road climbing. Mountains are mountains (snow topped peaks in the summer, climbs measured in multiple miles/kilometers), hills are hills (some are really tough and pretty long..in succession, they can make a ride quite a lung burner) , and flat is flat (in a headwind, flats are hard as well).
He's talking about the
total accumulated elevation gain over the
total mileage for the ride. Of course, when the denominator is small, it's not much, but over 100 miles, 150 feet per each mile starts to tax you pretty hard.
Edit: johnny99 is near me and I know the terrain he rides. While they are not snow-capped in winter, the climbs around here generally do run into multiple miles with some fairly steep sections and I don't think anyone would call them merely "hilly".