Who here considers themselves climbers? And what do you consider light? What climbs have you conquered? Speak!

We're all climbers... some of us slower than others.

That is true. I guess by your name you play the oboe. I play the oboe.

No real climbs in South Georgia. 210lbs would suck up any significant climb.

I climb a local hill about twice a week. It's not very steep, about 1000ft high over a 3 mile distance. I am by no means fast (it does not help being 5' 7'' and 170 lb), but its the aspect of cycling that I enjoy the most.

I love/hate climbing. They can be such a challenge and I push myself hard on them so that they're usually very uncomfortable. It's a contest with myself to see how high a gear I can push seated or how fast I can spin up it. But I love it when I get to the top knowing I did it faster than last time and on the way down....it's exhilerating and I'm ready for the next one. It's a sick form of punishment with me that I enjoy. BTW....I weigh around 144lbs and am about 5'8".

hmmmmmmmmm....I am 125 lbs. and 5'9. That of course is due to the fact that I am only fourteen. My inseam length is 34 inches,one of the longest in my family. Is that long?

bingo. I'm a big desiel going up climbs. Love climbing, hate, Hate, HATE going downhill...

No doubt. I climb a lot, which by at least part of the definition, makes me a climber. But I'm 5'10" 175lb which doesn't make me a very fast climber. Getting better at it. Paraphrasing from "What About Bob?", "I'm a climber! I climb! I'm climbing! I'm a climber!". I don't really care if I'm the best, or even good at it; I enjoy it, and that's good enough for me. Like zakk, I'm not wild about descents, but sometimes they can be fun. Flats = boring.

hmmm...I am not all that crazyt about descents, either. There was one big hill in New York, was about two miles long. It was somewhat curvy, and really steep at the bottom, with a stoplight at the bottom also. Going down that thing at 50 mph is really quite exhilarating, but when you come to within 50 feet of the stop and you look down and see 50 it's sorta scary, you say darn, and hope your tubes don't blow.

Only 2 miles? Try a 20-mile descent. It's not so much the speed, or the stopping that bothers me on descents, but the mental fatigue (and some physical fatigue: I'm susceptible to Tennis Elbow which can be brought on by the action of braking hard or frequently). Gotta watch the ruts, gravel, cars, other cyclists, etc. etc.. Going up there are a lot fewer issues. Just keep moving

Man I love/hate to climb...I dream of being a good climber as a go up...one day I feel I will get there but at 215 lbs it just isn't there yet. Still I look for the hills and go up them.

I would much rather climb. Occasionally I spend time in sout GA (Valdosta) and I hate riding the endless flats. The wind is always on my mind as well. I started doing shorter time trial like rides so that I could have goals.

and that is my least favorite decent, coupled with my favorite climb.

btw, my club is doing a grind ride up Mt. Hamilton in a few weeks, if you're interested.

Not to get on too much of a tangent, but have you ever tried the Quimby Road approach, rather than the "regular route" (Alum Rock)? Quimby is pretty stiff, but good climb. Drops you on to Mt. Hamilton Road just before the entrance to Grant park. The descent is not a lot better (it's steeper) but the road actually seems to be in marginally better shape than Mt. Hamilton Road. Something to try sometime.

Can't say I consider myself a climber. However I did survive a few big passes in the Cascades pulling a trailer while touring...in the snow...uphill both ways. Seriously, I'm not kidding about that.

I don't know if I consider myself a "climber", although I do a lot of climbing and enjoy it. I'm almost 6'3" and 165 lbs, I consider that fairly light for my height, but would consider under 140 lbs light for an elite climber.
Climbs I've conquered:
All 6 in the Everest Challenge Stage Race (Eastern Sierras)
Mosquito Flats- 22 mile climb up to 10,250', avg grade 5%
South Lake- 20.5 mile climb up to 9,850', avg grade 6%
Ancient Bristlecone Forest- 21 mile climb up to 10,100', avg grade 6% (last 3 miles avg 10% )
3 other climbs around 8 miles each

Mt Baldy via GMR and GRR- ~27 miles
Mt Baldy via Mt Baldy Rd- 13.5 miles @ 8%
Palomar Mt via South Grade
Onyx Summit- ~20 miles up to 8,700'
Oak Glen- 5 miles at 6.7%
Just about any steep hill over 1 mile in Orange County

Plus a bunch of climbs under 5 miles and all the ones that escape me at the moment

I consider myself a climber. Not because I'm good at it--I'm too new to cycling to really be good at anything. But because I find that I like climbing and I guage my progress by what I can climb. I find it hard to push myself on flat ground. Push 30% harder, get 10% more speed. Compare with a steep hill. Push 10% harder, get 10% more speed. And climbing opens doors to lots of scenic areas.

My eventual goal is Mt. Baldy, in the Los Angeles area, going along the entire length of Mt. Baldy Rd. The way things are going, I hope to accomplish the climb in 2006. I'm a bit under 5'8", and I haven't weighed myself recently, but I'm probably around 140 pounds.

I don't consider myself a good climber but I have ridden up (i.e. conquered) some hills.
In the bay area I've ridden Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Diablo and Mt. Tam. In socal, GMR, Mt. Baldy, Hwy 39.
The biggest hill that I've ridden is Haleakala in Maui. Sea level to 10,000 ft.

If your goal is to climb Baldy, then I suggest you do Palomar Mt, since you are in San Diego. The climb up Mt Baldy Rd is tougher, although pretty similar to the South Grade climb up Palomar. The main difference would be that the last 3.5 miles to the ski lifts on Baldy are much steeper than anything on Palomar. I would also suggest the Glendora Moutain Road route up to Mt Baldy, IMO it's a lot more fun and scenic, but twice the distance.

Yup, plan on doing Palomar and GMR sometime, too. The thing is, when I first started cycling and thought about goals, the first thing that came to mind is Baldy since my parents live three blocks from the Claremont end of Mt. Baldy Rd. Had no clue at the time how it might compare with other climbs. Just knew it was right there behind my parents' house.

Last time I rode up Mt Baldy (admittedly going by way of Upland to give myself a bit of warm-up), I turned around about a mile past the tunnels. I figure that over Thanksgiving, I'll probably aim to get to Baldy Village, and perhaps to where the switchbacks start. And maybe do GMR.

That section past the tunnels (known as the Hogsback) is the nastiest section until the switcbacks. If you make over the Hogsback, you might as well stick it out until at least the village, there's even a short downhill to help recover. Over the summer, I did Baldy from the corner of Mills Rd and Mt Baldy Rd at least once a week, and it never it got any easier. I'm planning on doing a century over Thanksgiving weekend that starts in Anaheim Hills and goes to the Mt Baldy Ski Lifts and back. On our last attempt of this ride, we pussed out just before the switchbacks, it was 104 degrees outside. GMR is a really fun climb .

how do you know when to stop?

When you reach the top, of course. Or when you just can't take anymore.