When I visited LA (car trip) back in the day I was amazed how hilly SoCal was. On west coast it seems like the hills are right next to the coast whereas eastern seaboard cities are flatter. On a Blue Ridge Parkway tour the climbs were very long & I once pushed for about 20 minutes just to relax. & OTOH there's a couple of local steep hills that can be pedaled up OK but are scary to ride down 'cause they end at major intersections--so I just sit on the top tube w/one foot dragging the ground & brake hard all the way down.