Even worse, that elevation map is round trip...so it's a 75 ft climb over 10 miles (ouch). It is what it is. I wish I had a nice hill on the way but, alas, the topography surrounding my home does not provide one. Although there might as well be a nice hill when the Santa Ana winds are blowing strong.

Randy Newman said it best: "Santa Ana winds blowing hot from the north, And we were born to ride."

My current commute is in two parts.
Part 1, from my house to a MTA Park and Ride:


Part 2 from the bus stop the rest of the way to the office:

I looked on google maps after I posted this and discovered I have a climb of 110 feet over 5 miles on my way home.

I think us flatlanders need some new metric that takes the headwinds into account to determine difficulty. Something like the windchill.

34 total feet of climbing... since the phone doesnt have an altimeter.

I generally travel the same route, about 4 miles each way. 3 miles of it is flat, and the other 2 have an 80-foot change in elevation (the return trip is uphill, which is the reverse of what I'd prefer). But I'm so out of shape that any slop at all is a "hill" in my book....

Roughly 500-600ft out, 800-900ft back.

I got 384ft gain over 5.6mi to work in the morning (and a hot shower waiting for me); personal best time just a hair under 30min (don't laugh!)

On the way home it's mostly a roll downhill (except those two little blips on the elevation graph near home become sharp little hills to work hard up!), best time (rocking through all green lights) 20:54.

Someday I'll break 30min there, 20min back routinely!

It occurs to me, it would be an interesting computational challenge to try to reverse-engineer a specific route from an elevation map. With a sufficiently-detailed elevation profile, and sufficiently accurate 3D mapping data, there will always be a unique, correct answer, but how to efficiently find it?

With the exception of H.S.Clydesdale, how do you guys ride in all that air? Oof! I can't imagine pushing around all that gas

Personally, I aim to keep my torso in an aerodynamic teardrop profile. I've got the round up front covered, now I just gotta figure out how to get sharp in the back...

If you don't have the air around, you don't have to worry so much about aerodynamics.

Breathing is a different problem.

Pretty typical commute.
https://app.strava.com/activities/42241748

• 35.8mi
• 1,592ft

All that gas is usually moving itself around me.

That's the route to work (11.5 miles one way). I use the same route on the way back home. RWGPS says I gain 204 feet there and 586 on the way back. Basically a flat N-S valley ride and I get to do all the climbing I want on my days off if I go E or W. The bad news is that if it's windy (and it often is), it's almost always a headwind on the way home.

I refuse to subject myself to the ridicule of posting my small humps. High school was bad enough.

Years ago I worked for US West and they had a fancy research type facility in Boulder. For awhile I was going there several times a year, and would often stay for a couple of weeks.

They had this stair case in the lobby that I think would go up about 3 flights. On my first trip there, being accustomed to climbing stairs rather than taking elevators, I attempted to walk up the 3 flights. I don't think I've ever been so out of breath from taking stairs in my entire life. After that I learned to take the elevator and save the stairs for the 2nd week of my visit.

I used to give them crap when they'd run into difficulty solving some particular problem. I would tell them if the facility were located in a place with oxygen their brains would work a lot better.

A little mix of steep and gradual for me.

The ride from work to home.
That last bits tough after a long day...

Home __________________________________________________________ Work

Commute home is the same thing in reverse.

Yes, but the wind. I'll bet that's another issue.....

I have lived one mile high my entire life, and I still have moments when I feel like there is no oxygen going up stairs. I think there is a limit to what the body can compensate for, and Denver is about at that limit. I often have trouble giving blood because they cant get the blood out of me, it is too thick. That is with drinking plenty of water the day prior to donation.

That said, I'd like to do the opposite and visit the lowlands, see if I can kick it into overdrive. I have visited lower areas of the country, but I dont recall ever doing any sort of prolonged physical activity to get a handle on the effect.

Well,there's the big downhill from my driveway on to the street......then the big climb up the driveway to my shop.......I think that amounts to about 2' in 4 miles.....Not so bad in the morning,but I dread it at night after working all day.....