Originally Posted by ehcoplex

Many of the roads around me originated with farm trails (sheep, goat, cow...) well pre-dating motorized transport/DOT specs, etc. Often it ain't so much the overall elevation change as it is the grade. A quarter or half mile climb at 10-13%....ooooof! And the problem is that the descents on so many of the hills on my routes are equally short and steep (usually with a bad/sandy road surface and a hard bend or stop sign at the bottom..) which diminishes the reward of having made the climb! The newer designed roads in the West seem a bit more forgiving to me, in spite of greater elevation changes. But I actually love the challenge of the terrain here. A bucket-list trip is to do some touring in the Pyrenees someday...

& I agree re: "mountains"- I get a laugh when I hear folks around here refer to themselves as 'mountain people' and down-staters as 'flat-landers'. Uh, ever seen the Alps, or the Rockies, or the Sierra Nevadas? The Catskills are hills. Big hills, often steep, and beautiful, but..... hills. ;-)