Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

First true climb kicked my butt.

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

First true climb kicked my butt.

Old 07-26-12, 01:21 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: NY
Posts: 645
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 12 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
First true climb kicked my butt.

So last weekend I visited New Paltz, NY and had a try at the climb up to Mohonk Mountain. It's approx 4.4 miles most of which i believe is 8% or more. I don't have a fancypants computer that will allow me to post up data but that was what was reading on my computer.

Wow was that hard! I know I suck because I have only ridden maybe twice in the last two months due to a new family addition being born June 2nd. I always thought 1000 feet every 10 miles was a lot, but this was like 1000 feet in four miles. Kicked my butt.

Would this be considered a hard climb?
Farby is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 01:27 PM
  #2  
Speechless
 
RollCNY's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Central NY
Posts: 8,842

Bikes: Felt Brougham, Lotus Prestige, Cinelli Xperience,

Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 163 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 39 Times in 16 Posts
Congrats on new addition.

I was also in New Paltz last weekend, and drove that route heading home. I kept telling my wife I wanted to ride it, because it looks like a great climb. I don't think that it is an 8% grade overall, only in spots, and is more likely a 4-5%. Still a nice climb. Coming from the Finger Lakes, it looked like a hard climb to me.
RollCNY is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 01:34 PM
  #3  
Hump, what hump?
 
horatio's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: SC midlands
Posts: 1,937

Bikes: See signature

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 337 Post(s)
Liked 227 Times in 145 Posts
If you plug it into MapMyRide it should give you an approximate percentage and a UCI category rating. There's a climb in Greenville, SC that kicks my butt. It's about 1000 ft in 3.2 miles and rated Category 3. I can't imagine what a HC climb would be like!
__________________
2010 AB T1X ** 2010 Cannondale SIX-5 ** 1993 Cannondale RS900 ** 1988 Bottecchia Team Record ** 1989 Bianchi Brava ** 1988 Nishiki Olympic ** 1987 Centurion Ironman Expert(2) ** 1985 DeRosa Professional SLX ** 1982 Colnago Super ** 1982 Basso Gap ** 198? Ciocc Competition SL ** 19?? Roberts Audax ** 198? Brian Rourke ** 1982 Mercian Olympic ** 1970 Raleigh Professional MK I ** 1952 Raleigh Sports


horatio is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 01:37 PM
  #4  
VFL For Life
 
Velo Vol's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 51,047

Bikes: Velo Volmobile

Mentioned: 780 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 28434 Post(s)
Liked 1,832 Times in 1,300 Posts
Originally Posted by Farby
Kicked my butt.

Would this be considered a hard climb?
Apparently.
Velo Vol is online now  
Old 07-26-12, 01:53 PM
  #5  
Come on you Spurs!
 
renton's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 653

Bikes: Trek 2.1, BMC Roadracer SL01

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Here are the climbs in that area.. they look hard enough.

https://app.strava.com/segments/explo...p_type/terrain
renton is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 02:24 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
 
DevinL's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Posts: 262

Bikes: Cannondale CAAD10 '12 SRAM RIVAL

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
8% grade is definitely no joke.
DevinL is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 02:32 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Northern California
Posts: 10,879
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 104 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts
4 miles @ 8% average grade is a vigorous climb. 5% average, not so much.
johnny99 is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 02:46 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 2,745

Bikes: S-Works Roubaix SL2^H4, Secteur Sport, TriCross, Kaffenback, Lurcher 29er

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by johnny99
4 miles @ 8% average grade is a vigorous climb. 5% average, not so much.
Whether it's vigorous or not depends on what you put into it. You can turn yourself inside-out on any 5% climb of decent length if you try.
svtmike is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 02:52 PM
  #9  
Two-Wheeled Aficionado
 
ColinL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Wichita
Posts: 4,903

Bikes: Santa Cruz Blur TR, Cannondale Quick CX dropbar conversion & others

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts
I just got back from a week in Colorado and did my first true climbs. I was in Frisco and rode the casual stuff in the valley between Dillon and Breckenridge. I'm not gonna lie... I didn't dare attempt Hoosier Pass. Two problems with it: no shoulder most of the time, and intermittent monsoon rain. I'm a flatlander and I'm not taking my chances descending an alpine climb in the rain.

The first 24 hours was brutal since Frisco is 9,000 feet and Wichita is 1,500. After 48 hours I felt better, and by the end of the trip I was relatively but not totally fine.

The climbs I did do were manageable with proper pacing. They were not 8% for 4.4 miles, which I'm pretty sure is Cat1 or HC if you are not exaggerating, but I did several shorter cat 2 and 3.

I used a 50/34 and 11-26 drivetrain. I actually had an 11-32 cassette but found to my displeasure that my bike has a Rival short cage, not medium as the build sheet from CC says it should have. However, it was a family vacation and my 62 y-o father in law needed the 11-32 more than me, and it worked great on his Apex-equipped bike.
ColinL is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 02:52 PM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 216
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times in 3 Posts
That is a serious climb. We go up to mohonk quite a bit and our old Camry nearly crapped out! There are also a lot of sharp turns that kill your momentum.

Stunning views, though...
JCNeumann is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 02:59 PM
  #11  
Portland Fred
 
banerjek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 11,548

Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 232 Post(s)
Liked 53 Times in 35 Posts
Originally Posted by svtmike
Whether it's vigorous or not depends on what you put into it. You can turn yourself inside-out on any 5% climb of decent length if you try.
Same goes for the flats.

The issue with hills is you eventually reach a grade where you can't maintain a reasonable cadence with the gearing you have. Plus you can never let up. You can ride harder for awhile, but eventually your muscles burn up.
banerjek is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:01 PM
  #12  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,456
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 50 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
5-8% is a respectable moderately-hard climb, but at 1000feet of elevation, wouldn't be considered a major climb due to the overall shorter length.Where I am in Norcal, near Palo Alto, that would be considered a small (but real) climb as done in isolation.

Line up a few of those en route so you're getting 4000+ feet of climbing, now we're talking respectably tough climbing.
hhnngg1 is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:07 PM
  #13  
Two-Wheeled Aficionado
 
ColinL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Wichita
Posts: 4,903

Bikes: Santa Cruz Blur TR, Cannondale Quick CX dropbar conversion & others

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts
I've noticed that a lot of casual riders coast frequently-- anywhere from 10-40% of the time on flat ground. You can't do that when climbing. You have to be conditioned to pedal something very near 100% of the time, which is something best learned when climbing or by pacing riders faster than you are.

I was doing half-mile 8% climbs around 7mph. It was manageable for me, and I'm nowhere near awesome. My wife was right behind me.
ColinL is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:21 PM
  #14  
Senior Member
 
mkadam68's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Eastern Tennessee.
Posts: 3,694

Bikes: 2012 MotorHouse road bike. No. You can't get one.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Liked 9 Times in 6 Posts
Originally Posted by horatio
If you plug it into MapMyRide it should give you an approximate percentage and a UCI category rating. There's a climb in Greenville, SC that kicks my butt. It's about 1000 ft in 3.2 miles and rated Category 3. I can't imagine what a HC climb would be like!
Just a quick FYI: the UCI does not rate climbs. Climb rankings are always at the discretion of the particular race promoter and what they put into their "race bible". In fact, the same climb can have different rankings dependent upon when/where in the stage/race it occurs.

MapyMyRide does at least have a consistent formula for ranking climbs, but it has nothing to do with UCI or Pro-Tour races.
mkadam68 is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:35 PM
  #15  
Live to ride ride to live
 
Carbon Unit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 4,896

Bikes: Calfee Tetra Pro

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by svtmike
Whether it's vigorous or not depends on what you put into it. You can turn yourself inside-out on any 5% climb of decent length if you try.
Yes, a lot depends on how you manage the climb. A flat road can kick your butt if you are doing intervals and a hill can be some what easy if you ride slowly in an easy gear.
Carbon Unit is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:41 PM
  #16  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,456
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 50 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by Carbon Unit
Yes, a lot depends on how you manage the climb. A flat road can kick your butt if you are doing intervals and a hill can be some what easy if you ride slowly in an easy gear.

Once you're over 8%, every hill is a pretty decent effort. Fortunately, most hills don't last too long at that incline. But I find that even at 5%, I have to put up a reasonable effort to stay moving - if I take it truly easy, I'll be going nearly nowhere.
hhnngg1 is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:49 PM
  #17  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 2,745

Bikes: S-Works Roubaix SL2^H4, Secteur Sport, TriCross, Kaffenback, Lurcher 29er

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by hhnngg1
Once you're over 8%, every hill is a pretty decent effort. Fortunately, most hills don't last too long at that incline. But I find that even at 5%, I have to put up a reasonable effort to stay moving - if I take it truly easy, I'll be going nearly nowhere.
This is Bike Forums. Any hill with an average grade < 20% can be tackled by any rider (except the embarrassingly weak) with a standard double and an 11-21.
svtmike is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:52 PM
  #18  
Senior Member
 
caloso's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
Posts: 40,865

Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur

Mentioned: 68 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2952 Post(s)
Liked 3,106 Times in 1,417 Posts
Originally Posted by ColinL
I've noticed that a lot of casual riders coast frequently-- anywhere from 10-40% of the time on flat ground. You can't do that when climbing. You have to be conditioned to pedal something very near 100% of the time, which is something best learned when climbing or by pacing riders faster than you are.

I was doing half-mile 8% climbs around 7mph. It was manageable for me, and I'm nowhere near awesome. My wife was right behind me.
That's a good point. I seem to remember a thread by a newbie who described his pedaling like a pelican flying: flap flap flap coooooaaaaasssssttttt.

It's also another argument in favor of riding a fixed gear in the off season. Not just up hills, but also on long flat rides. You literally have to keep pedaling for the entire ride and that trains your legs to keep turning over.
caloso is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 03:53 PM
  #19  
Live to ride ride to live
 
Carbon Unit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 4,896

Bikes: Calfee Tetra Pro

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by hhnngg1
Once you're over 8%, every hill is a pretty decent effort. Fortunately, most hills don't last too long at that incline. But I find that even at 5%, I have to put up a reasonable effort to stay moving - if I take it truly easy, I'll be going nearly nowhere.
Agreed. I do a lot of hill climbing. If the hill is not very long, I can climb some very steep grades but if we are talking about a 2 or 3 mile hill, then even a gradual climb kicks my butt.
Carbon Unit is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 04:01 PM
  #20  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: NY
Posts: 645
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 12 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by banerjek
Same goes for the flats.

The issue with hills is you eventually reach a grade where you can't maintain a reasonable cadence with the gearing you have. Plus you can never let up. You can ride harder for awhile, but eventually your muscles burn up.
Exactly what happened to me. I was fine for a little bit but then my legs just felt like like lead weights. I know I could have done better had I ate right, slept well the night before and had some more time in the saddle with the weeks leading up to it. I'm not saying I could have made it up without stopping but I know I could have been stronger. Trying to climb it in 39-25 just wasn't happening. At least a passing motorist asked if I was ok when stopped pouring a bottle over my head on the side of the road. Haha.
Farby is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 04:11 PM
  #21  
Senior Member
 
ChrisM2097's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Milpitas, CA
Posts: 981

Bikes: 2007 Specialized Rockhopper Disc; Trek 7.5 FX

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I just looked up the area, and mapped it on www.mapmyride.com

If you climbed "Mountain Rest Rd.", it's 2.5 miles averaging 7.5% grade. That's a pretty good climb.

My best to date is an elevation gain of 1,840' in 8.6 miles averaging only 6mph. Average is only 4.1%, but there's lots of 10%-13% to make up for the somewhat flat spots, and even a few short 16% inclines.

https://app.strava.com/activities/10369166#181954438

Not too bad for a big, fat guy, though.
ChrisM2097 is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 04:21 PM
  #22  
Portland Fred
 
banerjek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 11,548

Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 232 Post(s)
Liked 53 Times in 35 Posts
Originally Posted by Farby
Trying to climb it in 39-25 just wasn't happening. At least a passing motorist asked if I was ok when stopped pouring a bottle over my head on the side of the road. Haha.
While it takes a certain amount of conditioning to climb grades like that at all, it's possible that you were just going too fast or that your climbing technique needs some work.

Alarms should be going off anytime someone asks you if you're OK -- that's how others tell you that you're not OK.
banerjek is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 04:44 PM
  #23  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,456
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 50 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
8% is challenging on 39-25 but eminently doable by most. Just go slower.

I find that even on prolonged climbs, that gearing is sufficient for nearly everything. You do suffer on late-stage crazy steep stuff (Bohlman/On Orbit in Norcal at the end, 21+% in the final stretch!) but it's still doable as long as you keep the cadence real, real slow.
hhnngg1 is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 04:49 PM
  #24  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Golden, CO
Posts: 912
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Your chosen gearing, not the climb, kicked your butt.
Kind of Blued is offline  
Old 07-26-12, 04:54 PM
  #25  
Senior Member
 
ChrisM2097's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Milpitas, CA
Posts: 981

Bikes: 2007 Specialized Rockhopper Disc; Trek 7.5 FX

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by hhnngg1
8% is challenging on 39-25 but eminently doable by most. Just go slower.

I find that even on prolonged climbs, that gearing is sufficient for nearly everything. You do suffer on late-stage crazy steep stuff (Bohlman/On Orbit in Norcal at the end, 21+% in the final stretch!) but it's still doable as long as you keep the cadence real, real slow.
It took me a while to figure that out. I was on a ride a few weeks ago with a friend that had to get off the bike and walk for a bit. It was a tough climb for him at 6%, and he was cramping bad. I figured I'd stay on the bike and pace him from behind (and stop and take photos here and there, then catch up again). For a good period of time, I was in the 48x12 combo and moving at a slow walking speed. Cadence was probably around 20 rpm? I was actually surprised how easy it was.
ChrisM2097 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.