awesome / painful climbs in your area

[ty-ro]

I've got to say that I did Haleakala (sp?) last spring and while it was warm and sunny down below, it turned to PacNW winter weather above the pay station. It was wild; an epic day on the bike I won't soon forget. Rode part of the way with a guy that looked just like Floyd Landis too. Seriously, with helmet and glasses, even Donnie Arnoult was blown away by the likeness.

Road to Hana was nice too. Damn, I miss Hawaii!

[Disturbed]

Ring up one of your most navigationally misdirected buddies from Deerfield. Push out the front door with potentially inadequate clothing, water, food, etc. Start riding. You will find the worst climb, guaranteed.

With one broken rear spoke too.

Just plot out some routes using this http://ridewithgps.com/routes/new# and then look at the ride profile. It's helped me find the hilliest [I made that word up just for you] climbs here in NC where I have no idea what's where.

[Z3c]

Mt. Lemmon; not really steep, it averages 5%, but at 24+ miles it just seems to never end.. It always seems like you could/should be going faster than you are but the duration gets in your head. Fantastic views, and a bike lane all the way up make it worth doing. The first time I rode to the top, I had a large bee jack with me for about a mile; sucks when you can't ride away from them, finally a gust of wind took it away. Next, I had a coyote snarling at me from a bluff about 10' above me.. Prior to having moved to Tucson, I had never climbed anything longer than about 2 miles so it was a mental and physical challenge for me to say the least. Took me about 2.5 hours.. Fun to have close by, having ridden to the top I now typically ride up for about an hour.. Descent is great!

[marten]

The first 'hill' around here is a service road to a waste dump 50 km's away Does this count?

[Bittersweet]

If you head down rt 5 from the center of Northampton it will be about 9 miles on your right. The ride over from 'hamp is flat along the river with decent shoulders and some nice views. The sign for the Mtn will probably be gone by then, but you will turn right at the first light as you head up into Holyoke. Head up the access road and duck the closed gate to your right that goes up to the gravel pit/abandoned ski area. After you gain about 400 feet of elevation from the gate you will see some transformers, and a wicked steep road on your left. That's the beginning of the climb.
The descent down is horrible, make sure you bring wheels that can withstand some serious heat from braking and withstand some slams into water bars on the way down. I hit 57mph down the road on my DH bike with 26x1.5's and full body armor. It was pretty scary. It wouldn't really be feasible to incorporate the climb into a decent loop, unless you want to ride through a bit of suburbia to get out to where the riding is oh so sweet. Give yourself a few hours to ride out from town and ride back. You might not feel like doing more than that.

Mickey: Good to know it's not just me that finds that climb awful. I stare at it from my house across the river in Granby. Never made it non-stop. Too narrow to really tack and dead straight. I'm too weak. Mt Holyoke makes you feel like a hero instead.

[dsb]

The 'Bald' ...

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5839
http://www.rapha.cc/six-gap-and-brass-town

[ides1056]

My favorites in Western MA have the added benefit of little to no traffic:
Monroe Hill: 1823' in 1.4 miles
Lindsey Hill: 1945' in 1.2
Whitcomb Summit: 2040' in 2.6
Black Brook Road: 1572' in 1.5
Upper East Hoosac St: 2102 in 2.5

[SteveP]

nothing bad local to here unless you talk to roman..

but the beast of the east is the mt washington hill climb'
i did it once and you couldnt pay me to do it again.

i used to set up a lot of bikes to do it..
lot of guys used a single speed.. something like 34-34 or such...
no reason or need to shift

tyler won several times using a 39-25
tim j won twice with a 39-32

i was in a 22-21 and wishing to be struck by lightning...

[Disturbed]

Anyone ever do the Kancamagus time trial or do they even have it anymore?

23 miles up hill in New Hampshire out of the Conway side. I raced it back in the stone age just because I didn't believe their was a climb in New England 23 miles long.

I'll just leave it at riding back down was fun. 250 lbs. + uphill for 23 miles = the sound of suckingness.

[DCT]

lotsa good climbs ladies and gentleman

any good climbs in florida?

[54ny77]

yes, they are towering:

any good climbs in florida?

[riceburner]

but the beast of the east is the mt washington hill climb'
i did it once and you couldnt pay me to do it again.

tyler won several times using a 39-25
tim j won twice with a 39-32

i was in a 22-21 and wishing to be struck by lightning...

Ah, Mt. Washington.....Ricerburner used a 22 in the front with a 11-32 mtb cassette on a vintage lugged Ted Wojcik road bike and barely finished.

[Eddie]

yes, they are towering:

Nice Cabo. I used to run a 45 Davis.

[Innominatus]

For the Floridians, there's always Sugarloaf Mountain near Orlando:



Three-fourths of a mile, and gains a little over 200 feet.
Gradient of the middle section's ~15%.

[RudAwkning]

Far, far too many within easy riding distance to list. Mt. Diablo will always be special to me, 10 miles and 3,000 ft of pure bliss. At the other end of the spectrum is the infamous Sierra Road, 3 miles and 1,800 ft.

DMD is right around the corner! I'll be doing the staff ride and supporting the Sunol stop :D

[RudAwkning]

Hey Vlad,

Ever join Paul on his NiftyTenFifty ride? Covers many of those you listed. 10,050' in 54 miles on the 1st Sunday in April.

Always the same weekend as the SFR Fleche! I don't know whether I'm happy or sad about that.

Did Centennial, South Park and Toyonnal/Lomas Contadas yesterday. That section to the stables on LC....still hurts.....never gets easier.

[Innominatus]

We don't have anything really steep where I live, unlike you East Coasters.

Mostly just long, winding canyons and plodding grades in the 4%-10% range, that eventually deposit you above treeline where the hail can blow at you sideways.

Here's the biggest, slowest, local plodder of a grade of all: The Full Evans, as seen from my doorstep:



From the brass Mile High marker on steps of the State Capitol (just out of sight at the lower left corner), one heads out west on 32nd to Golden, up and over Lookout, up to Mount Vernon, up to Evergreen Pkwy, over Squaw Pass and Juniper Pass, and then drops down to Echo Lake Lodge before heading up the toll road to the summit of Evans at 14,150' or so.

62 miles, 9800' of gain. Doesn't sound too bad on the basis of numbers, but this one dries me out for sure.


Edit: Come to think of it, we *do* have a steep one: Lick Skillet Road: 1 mile, 750' gain. Steepest county-maintained dirt road in the States.

[JackB]

Townes Pass in Death Valley. 11 miles 4300 feet of climbing with fucked up headwinds 30-40 mph. Otherwise it's just a really hard climb.

[Peter B]

Townes Pass in Death Valley. 11 miles 4300 feet of climbing with fucked up headwinds 30-40 mph. Otherwise it's just a really hard climb.

I seem to recall some wicked side winds too at the lower reaches last October. I was glad to be in the van for that leg...until we started our pull south down the Valley!

[Shawn G]

Hope this doesn't come across as obnoxious, but this is definitely the best climb near me...

Seriously though, the Mur de Gramont is an awesome little climb. Starts down just past the village square and is maybe 2km(??, maybe less, Jerk would know) in total. Ramps up pretty good at the start, then just keeps on coming. Steepest bit is maybe 250m long, but it's a real bitch--gradient's gotta be in the mid teens and cobbled. Put a foot down and it's over, then a flatish bit past the bar for a 100m or so then the final pitch to the Chapel (which is less steep than the previous part of the hill). A freakin' perfect selection maker if there is a group left at this point of the race. I'm a lucky man to have this near enough to ride to from the house.

Shawn G