Ya, grew up using contour maps with hiking, but my comment was directed at that website. Re contour maps, I've never bothered to try to get access to specific maps when planning trips in the past, and just used road maps. More of an interest of lack of interest to get into that detailed stuff, but have toured in hilly areas a fair amount so with the load I generally take, I know I'm OK with regular roads, so don't obsess about specific gradients.
Yep, if you'd read my original post here (no.4) you see that you and I are basically n the same page, and very happy to go with what can be inferred from decent road maps. I still plan trips that way, though I now might check google street views to get a sense of what a road might be (lane width, shoulder, etc.). Otherwise I take roads as I find them.
But the OP seemed very concerned about encountering steep climbs, so I figured contour maps might be of help to him.