Yeah, I have been commuting from Collinsville to Edwardsville 3 days a week starting just last week. Its been grate so far, just very exhausting.... and my legs feel like jello. I wish I lived closer to Carbondale just for all the off road trails, that is where I started out riding years ago and I just recently switch to road riding seeing as we don't have many good off road trails here (or non that I have found or heard about).

40 percent? Not a chance. 6 or 8 percent is enough for semi trucks to need run-offs. 40 percent. Google earth us a picture :P

And get different gearing. You'll be fine on 48x18 and do much better. Get yo spin up.

This.

Oh and this doesn't hurt to remember:

'It never gets easier, you just go faster.' - Greg LeMond

I will get pics of them tomorrow when I ride. The one I'm pretty sure I'm not exaggerating. The other I definitely believe I am, the steep one is really short, but so steep, while the not so steep one I just super long and at the last 2 miles of my whole trip so I am already wore out making it feel worse that it really is.
I have ridden the long (not so steep one) once, but I wasn't tired.

Over all, thanks for all the advice. I mainly just wanted to know if anyone else ever walked up extreme hills at say the end of their ride and if it was even considered remotely acceptable. I'm just going to keep giving it my all and I'll eventually be able to do it.

edit: am I also not under standing grade right? would a 25% grade approximately a 20 degree angle between completely flat and the actually hill? and a 40% be closer to a 35 degree angle?

No, I have never walked a hill. Also, I've never ridden anything steeper than 12% on an SSFG. And that's the truth.

never walked a hill, 46/17. went up one of the steepest hills around where i live after eating a large ice cream cone for free, just because i am the man.

There is no law against walking a hill, regardless of what all these htfu guys imply.

You say you just started and you intend to lose weight. It will take time.

Keep at it and get as far as you can each ride. Eventually you may be able to get all the way up without walking. If not, there is no law against walking a hill...

Forgive me father for I have sinned. Today I told a total lie on an internet forum.

In all seriousness, where is your heart rate when you're riding? (gneerally speaking, not when you're bashing up a steep hill) For me, if my gearing is too high my heart rate doesn't go up very high (I'm in good shape) so I've changed my gearing all the way down to 44x18 but I still cruise at 18mph and recently topped out at 26mph.

If you want to lose pounds, focus on where your heart rate is.

http://www.wordans.us/wordansfiles/i...jpg?1303186501

You guys that say HTFU are dum. :) (just kidding)

Powering 240lbs up a long hill is virtually impossible. We only have about 8-12" of sprint power or HTFU Power. The way to get big guys up hills it so spin, spin, spin.

The #1 mistake that new riders make is riding a gear that is too large and carrying a cadence that is too low.

Some of you guys still don't get it. When roadies would use a fixed gear in the winter for training, they installed a low gear and worked on cadence and pedal stroke. Not churning some huge gear around town.

If you want to look bad-ass...try cruising down the road a 120-140 RPM with a pedal stroke that is smooth as butter. You will be the envy of both FG riders and roadies. Seriously. I've had guys tell me, "Man, I wish I could spin over 120 RPM. It's just not in me to do it."

You're right. It's one thing to have a badass looking bike, it's another to look like a badass riding it. I get compliments on my spin; and nobody laughs at my low gearing.

Ride clipless and you'll basically do anything you can to avoid walking. Anybody ever try criss-crossing a road to get a better incline on a road that was too steep?

All the time.

But Emi Brown rides a 52x16 and he's soooooooo cool.

http://gmap-pedometer.com/

+

http://veloroutes.org/tools/

My pita hill is 8-10% for about a half mile.

Learning how to spin takes time. You have to start at a reasonable gear, get comfortable with that, and then upgrade to a gear which gives you LESS gear-inches.

People associate going faster with pushing harder on the pedals. This is incorrect.

Decrease your gear-inches: You won't be any slower. It seems backwards but it's true.

T

I agree, 100 percent.

As everyone has said, get a lower gear and spin faster. Also criss cross up the hill. I have had to walk up a hill once, and it was the most shameful experience. I felt like a tool walking my fixed gear up the hill, and I vowed to myself to never again let that happen.

48-18 is the perfect ratio to start with. thats what I ride and I have to go up cat-4 and 5 hills everyday from and to school,work,and commuting. I commute about 25-30 miles a day. right now im doing 48-17 because im in training mode. but riding SS/fixed is all about spinning. so try a lower gear ratio, you'll be spinning and it will seem like your not getting nowhere but keep at it and in a couple months you'll get to cruise at 20mph. not only that since you a little heavy-dont take this personal- spinning will get you to do more aerobic workouts which will-if your trying to lose weight- help you burn more calories and lose more weight. :thumb::thumb::thumb:

Keep at it.

I'll be impressed when those guys make videos mashing uphill. Bombing downhill? "Hey, check it out, I too am affected by gravity."

Sigged.

Lose weight man. Watch what you eat. I went from 230->195 and hills got a TON easier.

How are you doing the conversion?
100% grade means every unit travelled horizontally you travel 100% of that unit vertically, ie. 45degrees.

Do you mean to say you actually underestimated the slope and that it's actually 35 degrees = 70% grade
?!

Ride, ride, ride.

Ride as much as you can, walk when you can't. When I got into fixed road riding, there were hills that I walked up that I now fly up sitting.

The trick it ride, ride, ride.

As a reference, when I got my first geared road bike I weighed ~220, when I got my fixed gear I weighed ~180, right now I weigh ~160.

Edit to add: I ride a 44/16, usually. If it's a particularly long, flattish ride, I might do a 46/16.