Originally Posted by
njlonghorn
Ken (or anyone else who cares to reply),
I am a newly addicted hill-climber living in Bridgewater, Somerset County. I'm hoping for some advice on what hill(s) I should tackle next.
My hardest regular climbs in Bridgeater are Chimney Rock Road (south from the brook to Mountaintop Road) and Timberline Road (snaking northward from Washington Valley Road to the cul-de-sac). I'm not sure I've calculated them right, but I have both pegged as being climbs of 8-9% and 200-220 vertical feet.
At the beginning of the year I had to tack to get up either of these, but now I can do them straight up. This morning, I did both climbs in the same ride for the first time (using every bit of my 28/32 set-up!). I will continue to work on getting up these climbs with taller gears, but I'm also looking for the next I-can't-quite-do-it challenge.
I drive up Warrenville Road and Mt. Horeb Road with some regularity, but they both look to be a bit too much (especially considering the traffic and blind corners). Any advice on other safer options that are a slight upgrade from what I'm already doing?
Thanks in advance.
You should try the climb off Mountain Ave that starts with the rt 22 overpass. Take the first left at Middlebrook rd and then the first right up Washington Ave., which will bring you to Hillcrest. If you are coming from Washington Valley Rd. you would go down Vossellar and make a left on Brookside Drive then up Strangle this will bring you down it. There are parts on it that are 15%.
Also , you could try the Ravine Lake area off 202. Douglas to Mountaintop is one of the longer climbs I have found in this area. Douglas Rd is pretty torn up but the nice thing is there are hardly any cars on the ones I mentioned.