Originally Posted by
Carbon Unit
Yes, a lot depends on how you manage the climb. A flat road can kick your butt if you are doing intervals and a hill can be some what easy if you ride slowly in an easy gear.
Once you're over 8%, every hill is a pretty decent effort. Fortunately, most hills don't last too long at that incline. But I find that even at 5%, I have to put up a reasonable effort to stay moving - if I take it truly easy, I'll be going nearly nowhere.