Is your commute a hill climb or a flat time trial? or both?
 

On my ride in to work today I was climbing the usual hill that sits halfway along my commute (the hill on the Barnet hwy, past Kask Bros, to North Burnaby for the locals) and I was wondering what the elevation gain is on my ride. So when I got here to work I found this web site that will give you the elevation of any spot on earth Google Maps Find Altitude so I found the high point of the hill on my commute and found it to be 450ft. Now I start my commute at 45 feet and end at sea level. Over the course of the 28 kms there are many ups and downs, hill climbs and fast descents with no actual flat spot. Was curious if there are any people who have a flat, get in the tuck and hammer, commute or some who have nothing but hills like me?

When I have more time I am going to map out the total elevation gains on my commute using that web site.

Cheers,

Dave

My only "hill" is the AF bridge - aside from that the commute is totally flat.

I've recently taken to XC riding in Watershed Park on the weekends, just for the hills & change of scenery. I feel stupid for ignoring such an awesome backyard for so many years.

I live in an area with rolling terrain. Some parts of my commute involve riding up gentle grades, no crazy steep hills. I ride SS/FG so I need to stand up on the pedals every time I ride up the hill. Some of our off road MUPS which pass through river valleys have few steep climbs.

16 km, hilly - office elevation, 700 ft, house 1400; lots of rolling hills and gravel roads between.

Dude if you have a smart phone, download Strava. It will tell you the elevation gain. If you don't, you can access it inline and create your route. For me, my commute is me time. I don't hammer it out. I'm only going to work. Besdies my bike is somewhere around 40 lbs...i won't be setting any PRs on it.

Thanks I unfortunately have a Blackberry Z10 ( I think it is just me and the PResident of Ethiopia that still use BB). No app for me but I will sign up online and create the route. Would definately beat the old school way. And you nailed it on the "commute is me time"..... 2 1/2 hours a day of me time here.

Cheers,

Dave

Mine looks like this: Bike Ride Profile | Afternoon Ride near Amarillo | Times and Records | Strava :)

I havnt used any other similar program, but I like strava a lot, and find it makes my cycling more fun overall. I enjoy knowing all the elevation/speed/distance/ect. info for my rides. Its neat to be able to look at data, and actually see your improvements, or see how much that really windy day effected your ride time.

Mine is nearly all hills. It is a V shape, first half-downhill, second half-uphill. 7 miles to work, 9 to get home.

Just checked yours out and that is exactly the information that I like to track and monitor. Signing up right now

Cheers

Right on. If you can get yourself a way to track actual ride data, (a smart phone, or gps device) strava gives you quite a bit of information to consider, and has a few really neat features.

There are similar programs that are available for BB, Im not sure how up-to-date the phone has to be to run them though.

The one I do have for my BlackBerry is Sportrate which tracks through GPS. Will have to pay for the upgrade to upload to conputer but probably worth it.

Dave

7 mile commute, house at 600ft work at sea level. 4 miles of moderate rolling hills, a mile long 10% grade, 2 miles of flat.

Neither. Route differs every day and I don't ride it faster than needed. Makes it easier to be fresher at work when I get there. If I want to push hard I can do that in the weekend.

One of the fun (?) aspects of bike commuting in Colorado Springs is the presence of small steep hills that can be circumvented by riding an extra block or two out of the way. Do I feel like a more direct route with more elevation changes today? Or do I ride an extra quarter mile and try to smooth out the climbs? I'm always exploring alternative streets which adds to the variety.

My commute has a few relatively flat stretches but is mostly hilly. I used a GPS app on my phone (Cyclemeter) for a while that is supposed to show elevation gain, but I found it to be incredibly inconsistent. Over the same route, it would show elevation gains ranging from 500-2,500 feet each way.

Mine looks like a V ... slightly higher at home than at work.

Mine is a mixed bag of wide open rural flats interspersed with moderate hills...17 miles of pedaling bliss. :)

Here's a profile from Google Earth Pro... My ending elevation is 4 feet lower than my starting elevation... so I coast for most of it. ;)

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=407778

Usually takes me 65 minutes or so, although I strive for the hour. :D

I have choices.

My direct route, which I use only in inclement weather, is 4.5 miles and dead flat. The average is 25 feet per mile, but most of that is on the bridge over the river.

My long loop is 16.25 miles flat. It starts by heading over five miles in the wrong direction, picks up the Erie Canalway, overshoots work, then doubles back in city streets. In the three-seasons a 13-mile cut of this route is my favorite route coming home. There are a couple of baby rollers in that first five miles, but nothing I can't handle in the 39-23, even with the panniers on. But that's part of what gets cut on the way home.

My hills, parks, cemetery route is 9.5 miles travelling along a line of hills at the city's southern border. To give you an idea, the first park is called Cobbs Hill Park, and the second park is called Highland Park. Pinnacle Hill lies between the two. The cemetery is where my fabled 10% cobbled climb comes in. Continues up around that corner.

http://www.brucew.com/images/vsalon/...ay-2-sepia.jpg

Dragging the panniers up these (generally into the wind as well) is why my commuters have triples.

My 25km/15mi route in the morning has 206m/630ft total climbs.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=407781

One route I do on my mtn bike is 11.6 miles with 910 feet of elevation gain over the first 5 miles on gravel. Then down 900 feet or so on asphalt.

Mine -- at least the most direct road route that I generally take -- isn't flat, but I wouldn't call it "hilly" either. Just a gradual climb on the way in to work, and a speedier trip back home. Still, I do watch my speedometer and check my elapsed time every so often to see how it compares to the drive I would otherwise take. I'm slowly closing the gap. :)

Mostly rolling, with no real extended flat sections. Around 400 feet of gain / loss each way as my home and work are pretty close to the same elevation.

Some of the hills I can spin through while others I have to get off the saddle to conquer.

For me it's overall downhill in the morning and uphill in the evening. I can take the bulk of the hill either on Main or on Hazel or on single track depending which way I go.

My route contains a bridge that has bike lanes going both directions on both sides and also has ramps to bike underpasses on either end. This gives conniptions to Strava on my phone, as it tries to map its little snippets of good data and bad data onto the dozens of segments there. I suspect a true GPS on the handlebars would do better.

Flat, except where it goes up and down.

Try ridewithgps.com; it's free to open an account. Other websites will do as well. Map your route, and it will instantly tell you the elevation gain.