Originally Posted by
bruce19
Got some stats from fellow riders and the overall ride was close to 2900 ft.of elevation. The 1 mi. hill was an average 5.3% and the 2.3 mi. hill averaged about 5%. I have no idea what that all means. I just know that the 2.3 mi. hill came at about mile 38 and I was pretty tired. Even after that I was fine as long as I didn't try to stand to pedal. We averaged about 15 mph for the first 21 mi. (1 mi. hill included) but ended up at 14.3 mph for the entire ride. Truthfully at the 21 mi. point my gf and I decided to take it down a notch and that contributed to the drop as well as the hill to come. On the flats in the last couple miles I could still cruise at close to 20 mph but there was absolutely no standing going to happen.
2.3 miles at 5% is a decent climb. I wouldn't be standing much on that climb, I'd be trying to sit and spin most of the time. You mentioned that you have recently switched to a compact crank (I assume that means the usual 50/34) but stuck with your 12/25 cassette. If your cadence is low even when seated, it might be worth thinking about a cassette with a 27 or 28 sprocket. Not something I'd normally suggest (I'm a bore on the subject of preferring triples to widely-spaced ratios at the back) but it's a more economical route than a triple and the 10% lower gear might feel like a big difference.