Its been many years but probably one that's more memorable are riding Palomar Mtn on my Fuji S12-S, geared for touring. Last time was way back 1980s when there were less motor vehicles and canyon Joe's on their crotch rockets. An excellent grind, guessing 5 to 6% grade.

Could only imagine the traffic these days but if I resided nearby, still irresistible and probably would fit it into as an ideal workout.

I read somewhere about a group doing Moeser down Arlington up Marin into Tilden then up South Park. It would not be my first choice...

Ha! Lots of surprise 'booger-bear's around the many bends in that area. Super fun rollers, short challenging vs mountains.

A few years back, fearless leader IAB took mister Osborne and me on a scouting route ride. One road was actually called Roller Coaster. For grins, I waited to watch IAB drop in a 'wicked pitch of a hole'. I counted maybe 15 seconds before spotting him in the distance for the next ascent.

I despise hills. I have always despised hills. Even when I was 20, weighed a buck twenty and was good at riding them, I despised them. Anything that got me out of 52-14 irritated me.

I have three climbs that I do remember conquering as an adult rather vividly. They pale in comparison to most that I see mentioned here.

Doubling Gap in Perry County, Pennsylvania. I rode it on an off-day in late summer to make a surprise visit to our Scout Troop when they were at Hidden Valley. I think I had a trunk rack on the Finest on that day.

Maryland route 77 making the climb up Mt.Catoctin as the initial shock of the Civil War Century. That was brutal on a loaded Miyata 210, and what persuaded me to sell it.

Also on that same bike, just north of Moab, Utah, parked just off of route 191 and rode up to Dead Horse State park on 313. Took almost two hours going up, and about 15 minutes coming back.

I forgot about Mineral King Road. Done this one 3-4 times, THE toughest climb that I know of. It's best done on an ATB or something with at least 32's on it. The road is so bad, and so windy, that the descent takes nearly as long as the climb. Even driving up the road in a car is pretty dangerous.

Video doesn't do the road justice, but will give you some idea. There are tons of brutal 12-18% grades over 21 miles, mostly the sections around 2000-5000 feet, it's truly a beast of a climb. I think it tops out over 8000 feet where the road ends. Some say it's tougher than the famous Eastern Sierra climbs like Onion Valley Road, etc.


This is what awaits you at the end of the road, some have compared it to Switzerland, though I have never been.

Thanks for reminding me of Eureka Canyon into the Santa Cruz mountains. I lived one year in Santa Cruz. Loved that climb. Like some cherished valley in Europe. One of my near-epic days started there, then I followed the ridge north, crossing the highway to San Jose (17?) then dropping into Big Basin Redwood State Park. Then I climbed back toward Ben Lomond but before dropping down to the town, I turned right and went up a bear of steep climb.

And Joaquin Miller in Oakland; my crazy years (doing work I knew I would pay the consequences for the rest of my life and riding the roller coaster that is post TBI. For sanity, I would ride up it on my beater fix gear, an ancient UO-8 in a 42-17, get to Skyline, turn around and do the just as crazy descent.

Crater Lake - did it with Cycle Oregon 2012 on my brand new road fix gear (with a dropout long enough to use any cog mad without messing with chain length). The big climbing days I brought 3 cogs. 17, 23 and 12. We went up the south entrance. The climb didn't impress me. For the rim, I took off the 17 and put the 12 on. (There's only 1 mile of the 23 that is sorta flat.) All good so far, Went over the first hill and as I came down I came upon a fork. Right option had a crowd of riders. Thinking sight seeing pull-off, I went left. Spectacular descent (like on my all-time list), at least until the road leveled out a bit and I was riding though a weird "meadow" of volcanic rocks, not shrubs. I'd just descended to almost Diamond lake, more than a 1000', and the ride was back up that hill.

In my racing days two climbs stood out. Smuggler's Notch; a climb I was built for and thrived on. And the climb out of Skowhegan, Maine 15 miles from the finish. The race split apart. I had moved up until I felt every rider ahead of me was solid. That hill was the hardest thing I have ever done, just trying to stay 2' back from the wheel in front of me in a long line of single file riders, all at their limit. Halfway up I was so desperate I looked over my shoulder to see how many places I could drop back and still be in it (assuming me pulling out didn't cause a permanent split which it probably would have). Next rider was 25' back. I knew instantly that the wheel I was on was going to beat him by 10 minutes and I had a choice. Hung on, was in survival mode the rest of the race, crested the final hill dead last, managed to pick off 5 riders and finished in the money (barely) and under the previous course record.

Ben

One of my favorite rides is up to Mt. Loft from Gorge Rd. including the Corkscrew climb used in the TDU, that climbs 3.5km's up to 15% at times. This total ride just over 4000 feet of climbing and awesome views










Always hard to capture steepness on camera. This is the corner an electric Pinarello caught fire "if you've been reading other threads?

I know the feeling. Never liked climbing. Don't like it now on my Ironman. After after swapping from the original 52/42 chainring and 13-24 freewheel to 50/39 and 13-25, I still don't look forward to conquering climbs. Enduring them, maybe.

But I don't mind so much on the Univega, even though it's heavier.

Best I can figure, what I dislike isn't just the slog but feeling out of my preferred rhythm. With only a 5 or 7 speed freewheel/cassette and double chainring geared for go-fast, it's harder to find the perfect gear to suit my preferred cadence and perceived effort.

But since switching my Univega from 7 to 8 speed cassette (from 13-28 to 12-32), and having the original 50/40/30 triple, it's easier to find a gear combo that suits my preferred cadence and perceived effort. I'm not going any faster, but not much slower than on the lighter weight road bike either. Rather than grunting uphill with a scowl and not enjoying it at all, I'm looking around a bit at the scenery.

I can finally see why some folks like those 9-12 speed cassettes. It's not that their 12-32 is any different than mine at the top and bottom. But it's easier to find just the right combo to suit their preferred cadence and effort.

They shoot horses, don't they?

My favorite hill climb is in Albuquerque, NM. It's from the Casino up to the mountains. It starts at over 5,000 and goes up to more than 6,000 in a few miles (~5 miles). There's a nice wide bike lane on both sides of the road. The rarified air is only a problem the first few times you ride it, then you acclimate. It's not so steep and it's not so long as to be masochistic but it is a tough but nice climb.

I have a few pics and the grade profile but it's too late right now.

in Middletown, MD is adjacent to the Skycroft Conference center where my church held its annual men's retreat. For three consecutive years, I biked the 60 miles from home to the retreat and attempted the climb up to Skycroft from MD-Alt-40. Maybe 1.5-2 mile climb, but steep as heck in parts. I'm not sure of the road name, but it climbs well beyond anything that I've seen anywhere else. Three attempts, three times I fell over and had to walk a portion of the remainder up. Just brutal. And I really thought that I could do it on years 2 and 3. No dice.

How about a top ten?

(10) Mt St. Helens Plains of Abraham via Ape Canyon
Allan on the trail up to the Plains of Abraham, Mt. St. Helens by NBend, on Flickr

(9) Washington Pass, Wa. Ride it westbound from Winthrop and enjoy the view of Liberty Bell as you approach the final climb to the top of the pass.
P1020653 by NBend, on Flickr

(8) Mt Baker in summer to Artist Point just for the views.
Deanna and Bruce climbing up to Artist Point, with Mt. Shuksan in the background by NBend, on Flickr

(7) Going to the Sun Road, Glacier N.P. Any ride with mountaindave is gonna be good
One of those rides you dream of by NBend, on Flickr

(6) Anywhere in Mt Rainier N.P. in the spring
Ty and his Mountain by NBend, on Flickr

(5) Mt Haleakala, Maui. Rented a bike in Paia and ride from Sea level to 10,000 ft. A unique, exotic and thrilling experience.
Its up there.. by NBend, on Flickr

(4) Mt Evans, Co. No too many places you can ride a paved road to 14,000 ft. Big Horn sheep grazing along side the road above timberline. An item checked off the bucket list
Mt Evans Summit by NBend, on Flickr

(3) Kings Ridge, Ca in the spring is drop dead gorgeous. The descent on Meyers Grade to the ocean is unforgettable.
Me on Meyers by NBend, on Flickr

(2) Durango, Co. Riding over two 10,000ft high passes on the way to Silverton with my son during the Iron Horse Classic.
Iron Horse Classic finishers by NBend, on Flickr

(1) Summiting Rainier with my Dad in 1976 :-)
Rainier Summit w/Dad 1976 by NBend, on Flickr

To each his own. My weakness is on the flats. I don't have any power. I fall behind everyone. I feel strong when climbing. On the flats, I'm fighting wind, as I probably have a big surface-area-to-mass ratio.

Tourer here, not a racer. I don't give a rats ass how long a climb takes.

I did for the longest time however decide that i would never walk up a hill. That doesn't mean i wouldn't stop, as stopping to smell the roses is as important in touring as remembering to bring that sandwich along.

So pretty much up until i got more into mountain biking while living in California i stuck to that rule, and never walked up a hill.

In terms of memorable climbs, I can think of a few:

I recall an 18 mile long very steep grade full doing unsupported touring on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I recall it taking quite a while, maybe three hours, then i recall is taking 15 minutes to cover the same mileage on the other side.

I recall long climbs in the Adirondacks on a Montreal to Philadelphia tour. The bob trailer i was towing started to oscillate and i almost went off the side of a mountain.

Riding up Mount Washington in San Jose, CA, all the way up to the Telescope thing at the top was grueling and amazing. So many hairpin turns.

On a Chicago to Philadelphia tour, coming through western PA, though not as vertically impressive as other places proved to by just annoying. Up and down, up and down. At one point I rounded a bend just to stare up at another climb that was between me and food and i just threw my bike into a ditch in the side of the road in disgust and sat down on the side of the road. I'd had enough. Somehow my riding partner who happened to be my father got me going again by just not saying a word, picking up my bike and starting to fix the lever i'd just bent. Have i mentioned that all of the best bike trips, climbs, etc include diversity? Once you learn to embrace it you'll have a much better time of it. In fact I'm trying to show my 9 year old that now. It's hard to explain to a kid that we're going to go on a long bike ride, and some of it is really going to such, but in the end it's all worth it and we're going to have a great time. I shall digress.

On another subject, in recently years when I visit California and I ride for example in the Santa Cruz mountains on a full squish MTB, a dropper post has been confidence inspiring for those insane decents. I suppose thats a topic for another forum though.

In any event, if I can continue riding and *****ing about steep hills into my 80's, i'll die a happy man.

I'm from Illinois, so any bump with a 5% grade that takes more than five minutes to climb is a hill to me.

​​​​​In 2013 I managed to climb a cumulative 9000 ft of hills over 95 miles on a 30 yr old Serotta in one morning in nearby Wisconsin: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/356683768

Or one 4000ft (5000 ft of climbing) mountain in Italy. My wife's family has a villa a block from the beach in Italy. The mountains aren't far, and I can go from sea level to 4000 ft in less than 15 miles.

Crystal clear air and 50 mile panoramas helped made that day the best while in Italy;



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​Fiumefreddo Bruzio

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This is the view from about 3700 ft above sea level looking north to Golfo di Policastro;​​​​​​








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I never said it was fast. IIRC I could read, not just see it read it, the rim label every pedal stoke. It was quite the slogg but I made it over the summit.