bruce19

I've been riding 15-35 mi. rides all season and feeling stronger as the days go on. Yesterday I did a 45 mi. ride that had about 1300 ft of climbing according to Map My Ride. I did this solo and without a sense of urgency....just trying to keep a consistent pace while concentrating on spinning. The result was a 15.1 mph average. So, because I don't have a computer with altimeter function, I mapped it on Map Your Ride just to see what the elevations were. Once I got the ride mapped I realized I really don't have a frame of reference for elevations. The ride indicated that two of the "climbs" were at 2.1 and 2.2 %. That surprised me because these two climbs are known locally to be "of note." It seems to me that 2.1 and 2.2 % are not much. That certainly isn't the way they felt. If I do either at 7 mph I'm having a good day. Just wondering if anyone can offer some perspective on the climbs or the ride itself. FWIW, I'm 65 and about 10 lbs overweight at 187 lbs.

freedomrider1

Sounds to me you did a good job,on climbs of note i guess that all up to the climber,i mean around here they are few and far between. Now the wind thats another story.

CraigB

Got any buildings around with ADA-compliant handicapped access ramps? Those aren't allowed to be any steeper than 8.3%, and are almost never shallower, due to space constraints. That might give a frame of reference. And warning signs for steep grade descents on interstates are usually posted when hills get to around 7%, in my experience.

stapfam

Doubt that you would feel a 2.2% rise so unless you are a total flatlander- I would get one of those old fashioned maps out and look for the contour lines and work it out. Might be showing my upbringing there but before all these computer links to map my ride were about- we had to use old fashioned bits of paper to work out our routes. Come to think of it- I did a ride in 2007 and the route was marked by grid references as to where it went. Bit like the pics where you have to join the dots up but have to admit that the UK may be a bit backward in comparison to the rest of the Civilised world.

But a good upping in milage and you have found one advantage in going solo in you go at your speed. Doesn't help though when you get lost and you have left the map at home.

Doug.

berner

Bruce, I'm 72 and began cycling last year when the snow was gone from the ski slopes. My evolution is much like yours. I began with no plan or expectations and found I really enjoyed riding the bike and gradually rode longer distances. At first hills, even the small ones here in coastal R.I. were killers. As I got stronger, to my surprise, I found I like the challenge and now I look for them. It does not sound as if your hills are 2%. My guess is they are more toward 8 to 10%. There is one hill I do, fortunately short, that is about 15 % and that sucker is steep. My longest ride this year has been 71 miles at an easy pace with stops at beaches along Buzzards Bay to admire scenery. One day, maybe this year, if not then next year, I want to do a club century.

ericm979

Mapmyride often shows the grade as lower than it is. One reason is that they average over 1/2 mile, but even for climbs longer than that they often show lower than a simple calculation of rise/run does.

Retro Grouch 

If you start and finish at the same place for every up there has to be a corresponding down.

How come nobody ever says "I did a 45 mile ride today that had 1,300' of descending."?

BluesDawg

I find the elevation and grade readings on MapMyRide to be absolutely useless for the type of terrain where I ride. It may give good readings where the climbs are long, like out West, but the shorter, steep climbs here don't register correctly.

Try RideWithGPS.com for better readings.

stapfam

bruce19

FWIW, my LBS owner is a long-time cyclist who grew up on the climbs I described and he swears those climbs are 10% or more. The good news for me is that those 7 mph climbs were 4-5 mph climbs last April. My 15 mi. TT that was done at 14-15 mph in April is now a 17+ mph run. I will check out RideWithGPS.com. Thanks.

berner

My feeling is https://ridewithgps.com/ gives fairly accurate elevation gain but what I really like about it is that when mapping out a ride it updates very quickly. It connects to Garmin but I don't do any of that stuff.

MinnMan

Just repeating what others have said. MapMyRide is terribly inaccurate for climbing and grades, though it does have some other nice features.. ridewithgps is better, but not perfect. Repeated comparisons between ridewithgps (which uses the GPS waypoints on my Garmin Edge 500) and Garmin Connect (which uses the altimeter readings from the Edge) is that ridewithgps can exaggerate climbs in certain situations. The most typical is when the route goes over bridges. Ridewithgps will think that I went down into the gorge and climbed back the other side, whereas Garmin Connect will know that I stayed on the roadway.

Either way, forget MapMyRide for total climbing or grades. It's always the worst of the 3.

DGlenday

Yet another repeat: MapMyRide is notoriously inaccurate regarding elevation calculations.

Someone plotted the whole of the RAGBRAI 2011 ride on MapMyRide. It showed less than half of the actual elevation across the 500 mile ride.

rdtompki

I think all the mapping programs use the same or similar publically available elevation data. Devil being in the details the climbing data is highly dependent on what the particular application does with the raw elevation data. A climb that averages 2-3% can have significant sections that are considerably steeper. We do one climb that has 3000' of ascent in 10 miles, an average of approximately 6%, but there are long stretches of 10-11% and two nasty pitches that are 14-16%.

bruce19

The more I looked into it I also came to this conclusion. Both the climbs I initially mentioned have really steep sections then "level" out but still with mild elevation. So, on average the 1 mi. climb probably does average out at 2% or so.

david58

I like the MMR system since I don't have a smart phone or gps that transmits. The workout diary is a nice feature as I work to lose weight. But at some point there is going to have to be a package that doesn't require an expensive device on the bike and allows us to really map our rides accurately. I just want it NOW.