BTW your 400 ft/mile hill is a 7.5% grade for 1.25 miles ... which isn't overly steep. If that's the biggest hill you had, your route wasn't particularly taxing.

Also we usually talk in % grade, or 1:4 or 1:8 and ratios like that, rather than 400ft/mile.


Not on the west coast of North America, but Rowan and I did a mountain climbing challenge in Australia where the climbs were about 25 - 40 km long with average grades around 6-8% and steep sections of up to 18%.

You may encounter climbs like that in the mountains of the west, and if you're hauling 80-90 lbs of gear around, you may want ample gearing.