Just how steep is 12%??
 

I have a ride this Saturday in Mineral Wells. I have heard stories of Cherry Pie Hill which I have been told is 2/3 of a mile at 12%. Okay...I can handle 2/3 of a mile. But I'm not entirely sure how steep 12% is. Sounds steep. I'm a hill slug...so it may take me longer to get up this hill then it will to do the 50 miles. They give you a pin if you finish the hill....

I'm screwed. I'm fairly certain of that.

If you have a triple, you'll be fine. Jess pulled over 12% on Sugarloaf Mtn a few weeks ago, and this is her first full season riding. I think you'll be ok. Just pace yourself, and start off in an easy gear rather than chasing the gears down as you climb.

that's very steep by almost anyone's standards. not impossible - but it will be a hard climb for sure.

5280 feet in a mile X .667 = 3521 feet travelled.
3521 feet travelled X .12 = 422 feet of rise

In layman's terms that means you will climb 1-1/2 football fields of elevation in 2/3 of a mile. Hope ya got a triple!!!

you can do it, but if you're not used to it it's going to hurt a lot. Prepare to zig zag, hill slug :D

wow, that's in texas (looked it up) i didn't think texas had much in the way of climbs.

It really depends on your ability, your body weight and what you are used to.

I ride up 18% inclines in 39-19. I ride up short stretches of 12% in the big ring.

Dang...I'm totally screwed. I'm 198 on a good day. (Sorry to shatter any images you may have of "the princess") And I suck. What I'm used to is what most Texan's are used to FLAT! Well...we have rolling hills but this just sounds painful. :cry:

Oh...and I am familiar with the zig AND the zag. My tripple is greased and ready.

ahh, 12% with a triple will be cake. Don't sweat it

12% is fairly steep if most of your rides are flat, but unless you are seriously overweight, 0.6 mile is hardly anything. Some of my rides have several 0.5 mile 15% pitches in the middle of a 10 mile climb.

12%, huh? That's quite steep in my book. But then, I've been cycling for only 3 months. I'm uncomfortable with more than ~8%, but I'm working on it. Hopefully, you can find a pace that's not so hard that you burn out, but not so slowly that your cadence bogs down. Have fun!

Just started riding this summer and I also suck at climbing and I have 12% about 0.7 mile climb on my ride - I do it on the smallest gear with average speed ~6 m/h and it is not bad at all. Just do not push to hard in the beginning of the climb. Good luck and enjoy!

Pace yourself, pace yourself, pace yourself!!!!

That is complete key. Don't try to chase the group, do what you can do. When I did my first climbing experience I was hurting all over. But I was thankful to have a triple, before I knew it I was going about 6 mph (talk about max heart rate!) and I was cranking along at the easiest gear I could. But I did it and I just paced my way through the whole thing. And relax. Don't put a death grip on your bar, also try to keep on the upper parts of your bar to try to keep your self up right and relaxed. Oh BTW


HAVE FUN! :D

Hey, I from TX too! In Cypress, northwest of Houston. Flat as a pancake around here. I have to go a little north to see anything more than an overpass. 12% sounds pretty steep to me too, but I think you will be able to make it. In the BP MS150 when it goes through Bastrop St. Park it can get a little steep also but my wife made it up with her triple just fine. Just pace yourself and the 2/3 of a mile will be over before you know it. Good luck!

Just if anybodies wondering, I noticed nobody really posted how percent grade is calculated:

%grade = Number of feet rise / 100 feet
ie: 12% grade = 12 foot rise for every 100 feet

+1 This is really the best advice. If you're working hard early on, then drop a gear if you can. Just try to get up at a reasonable cadence. Don't try to compensate by spinning like mad. The real goal is to not be fried at the top so you can ride a reasonable pace for the rest of the day.

I think 12% is difficult, and I'm reasonably fit. I hit a .2 mile hill at 12% last week and when up in 39/23. I was standing up the whole way and definitely feeling some pain. I was wishing I had my triple by the top, too.

As a little perspective, the Mt Washington Hill Climb averages 12%. Riders who can average 6mph up that hill (over 7 miles) are considered pretty strong. No amount of momentum is going to get you up a 0.6 mile hill at 12%, so if you can hold onto 4 or 5 mph, I'd say that's pretty good. (It'll be over in 8-9 minutes.)

Don't forget to eat and drink before you get to the climb. The extra energy wil help.

There was a very similar climb (13-14%) on the Santa Fe Century, people said that 60 to 70% of the riders walked all or part of it. They had a band there, rest stop at the bottom (should have been at top). So the folks walking were having a fun time (so many of them), and those who rode it were feeling good, everybody won. Have fun either way, it's just a ride, make it fun.

I can't get up a 4.5% grade without going into my granny gear, so 12% would probably see me walking. I'm heavy though, so you might not have as much of an issue. I don't suppose you can try it out beforehand?

This street is about 11-12%. It doesn't look like much at first, but look at the building foundations to see how much it's really sloping.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/200...camorehill.jpg

For the average rider it's steep. For racers its a matter of going faster up it. Like I remember last year at a Stage Race some damn canadian attacked going up a 14-15% grade doing something around 20-22 mph (serious :eek: ), needless to say my legs were lactic acidy for like a 3 or 4 days after...Ride more and 12% will get easier, buts it's still hard.

If you plan to encounter 10-12-13% hills regularly and have a double, maybe swap the 39 chainring for a 38 and get a 12-27 cassette? Strong riders should be OK with 12% up and out of the saddle for a short distance in a gear like 38-27...

:) I was going to say, it's not the grade that will kill you, but the speed you have to go up it!

Eating and extra drinking before a hill generally make me want to toss my cookies... The OP's hill is only a kilometer long so I imagine they'll be fine. :)

This is pretty steep...

Here in Ohio the "toughest" hill is only 0.5 miles at 13% average grade.

Now i'm a big guy. Two hundred and thirty pounds big. I ride up that silly thing with a 53/39 and 12-26 cassette. I average about 5mph up it.

So my conclusion is that the hill you are talking about is completely doable by most people that can ride a bike, are lighter than me, and have a triple.