# How steep?



## FourMinuteSmiler (21 Aug 2009)

Hi all, first post so forgive me if this is a stupid question.

I keep reading about 8% and 10% hills. I understand what this means, but is there some mapping website where I can find out the gradient of a given hill?

And is there a more relevant section of this site where I should be asking this question?

Cheers.


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## SimonRoberts0204 (21 Aug 2009)

Here's just fine for this question!

I use google earth, and use the plot path function (in metres) and compare the length of path against the altitude gain (shown centre-bottom of screen) to work out the percentage.

It goes as (vertical metres/horizontal metres)x100.

Hope this helps,

Simon


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## purplepolly (21 Aug 2009)

I use this

http://www.heywhatsthat.com/profiler.html

stick your starting point in the find box and then click on the map to draw lines where you're going.


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## FourMinuteSmiler (21 Aug 2009)

Well what do you know, isn't the internet a wonderful thing!

Thanks PP & SR, checked both methods and they match (give or take a few metres for my lazy plotting!)

The only disappointment is that the hill that always kills me isn't as step as I'd thought. Oh well.


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## bonj2 (21 Aug 2009)

streetmap.co.uk, one chevron is >10% and two chevrons together is >20%, so if it hasn't got a chevron you know it's less than 10%.


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## Cubist (22 Aug 2009)

Go to Mapmyride.com Plot your route using the "start mapping" function, and check the box marked "show elevation". The entire route will be shown on a graph with gradient for each section. As a tip, type your postcode into the "Jump to" box, and you won't have to scroll across the entire globe to start.!


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## jimboalee (22 Aug 2009)

bonj said:


> streetmap.co.uk, one chevron is >10% and two chevrons together is >20%, so if it hasn't got a chevron you know it's less than 10%.



That is Ordnance Survey mapping and better than 'Get-a-map'.

On OS, one chevron is >14% ( 1 in 7 ). Two chevrons is what you said, >20% ( 1 in 5 ).

When I see ONE chevron, I look for another route.

There is a scaler at the bottom of the frame, so you can put a ruler up to the scaler and then the contours on the map.

It just so happens that when I ask for 1:25000 on my Sony Vaio 15" laptop, 500 m on the scaler is 5cm on the ruler.
Jammy, or what?


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## bonj2 (22 Aug 2009)

jimboalee said:


> That is Ordnance Survey mapping and better than 'Get-a-map'.
> 
> On OS, one chevron is >14% ( 1 in 7 ). Two chevrons is what you said, >20% ( 1 in 5 ).
> 
> ...



oh 14% is it! ah, i see - that makes me feel a lot better about one of the hills on my commute which i've thought is bloody steep for 10%. I can now console myself that it's probably more like 12-13%


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## ColinJ (22 Aug 2009)

jimboalee said:


> On OS, one chevron is >14% ( 1 in 7 ). Two chevrons is what you said, >20% ( 1 in 5 ).
> 
> When I see ONE chevron, I look for another route.


If I see that my route _doesn't_ include any chevrons, I look for another route.  Not difficult round here...







If I see that my route includes double chevrons, I make sure that I'm riding my Basso with its 30/28 bottom gear!


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## jimboalee (22 Aug 2009)

ColinJ said:


> If I see that my route _doesn't_ include any chevrons, I look for another route.  Not difficult round here...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I have to ride to Thor's Cave near Wetton for a double chevron.
90 km away. 
You're so lucky.


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (22 Aug 2009)

church lane is surely more than a double chevron, isn't it?


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## rusky (22 Aug 2009)

That explains why my legs hurt at the top of the hill, it's 15%!


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## bonj2 (22 Aug 2009)

shauncollier said:


> church lane is surely more than a double chevron, isn't it?



nothing's "more" than a double chevron, the only thing more than a double chevron is multiple double chevrons, which means it's more than 1 in 5 for a considerable distance.


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## bonj2 (22 Aug 2009)

ColinJ said:


> If I see that my route _doesn't_ include any chevrons, I look for another route.  Not difficult round here...
> 
> If I see that my route includes double chevrons, I make sure that I'm riding my Basso with its 30/28 bottom gear!



nice  i have pretty much the same policies


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## Sam Kennedy (22 Aug 2009)

I'm not sure if this has already been mentioned (I didn't read all the replies), but if you go on bikehike.co.uk, you can plot out your route, then check the box saying "Show Elevation Data", then in top right you can switch between 'Gradient' and 'Elevation'.

Obviously, you will want to see the Gradient


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (22 Aug 2009)

hi bonj,

do you know church lane in hebden bridge? i've been up it only a few times and it's much steeper, or so it seems, than the other roads marked with a double chevron. maybe colinj will know better as he lives there.


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (22 Aug 2009)

hi sam,

i use bikehike as well. do you know how to read the gradients properly? eg, if it goes from -15% to +5%, does this mean that section is 20%. i've looked in the help section on bikehike but it wasn't much help


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## bonj2 (22 Aug 2009)

shauncollier said:


> hi bonj,
> 
> do you know church lane in hebden bridge? i've been up it only a few times and it's much steeper, or so it seems, than the other roads marked with a double chevron. maybe colinj will know better as he lives there.



No i don't know it personally, ColinJ probably does as he lives there like you say.
Double chevron is "anything ABOVE 20%", so it could be anything from 20% up to low 30s percent. Basically your 1 in 5s, 1 in 4s and (more rare) 1 in 3s.

So a 1 in 5 would have a double chevron, but a 1 in 3 would also only have a double chevron.


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (22 Aug 2009)

ahh,

didn't spot ABOVE on os. i stand corrected.
colinj will know this. church lane is infamous round our way.


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## jimboalee (22 Aug 2009)

A simple inclinometer.

The tape measure is 65mm wide. The tape is extracted to 650mm.

The spirit level is a cheap one from Poundland ( a Spiritlevel Shaped Object ).

The device is set to 10%.... Doesn't look a lot, does it?


The whole thing can be carried to your local hill, and when you get to the steep bit, stop and do some measuring.

Later at home, do the maths and find out the gradient FOR REAL, not what is on some map or website.


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## bonj2 (22 Aug 2009)

that's great but doesn't the tape measure bend?


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## ColinJ (22 Aug 2009)

shauncollier said:


> do you know church lane in hebden bridge? i've been up it only a few times and it's much steeper, or so it seems, than the other roads marked with a double chevron. maybe colinj will know better as he lives there.


Oh yes! It starts in Church Lane but a lot of people refer to the higher part as 'Mytholm Steeps'. The steepest part is 1:4 or 25% for about 100 metres. The first part of the climb from the church to the top of the 25% section rises about 125 m in 700 m so it _averages_ about 18%. It slackens off above that to 10% for about another 650 m; that actually feels easy after what has gone before!

I've posted this link many times before but here it is again - a Slideshow showing the climb from Church Lane to Mytholm Steeps and on towards Blackshaw Head. 

*NB* I loaded the photos in the wrong order - click the Pause button (bottom left), scroll to the last picture in the slideshow, click on it, click Options (top right) and check the Play Backwards box, then click the Play button (bottom left).


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (23 Aug 2009)

bugger it. i'm going to do it tomorrow. going to tea shop in hebden after. wonder if i can get up it in one go on a brompton.


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## ColinJ (23 Aug 2009)

shauncollier said:


> bugger it. i'm going to do it tomorrow. going to tea shop in hebden after. wonder if i can get up it in one go on a brompton.


Good luck with it Shaun! Watch it though - rain is forecast and it is very easy for your back wheel to slide out on the 25% ramp when the road is wet. I've had a few clipless pedal moments up there in the past!

If you are a real glutton for punishment, have a go at Horsehold too! You can see it on the little map I posted above. Go over the canel by the Co-op in Market Street, and turn right straight onto the climb. It only goes up to a few farms and bridleways but you get some great views from up there. Watch out on the descent!


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## ColinJ (23 Aug 2009)

So Shaun - how did you get on?


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (23 Aug 2009)

watched grand prix instead. then took daughter on driving lesson. going tomorrow tho


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (24 Aug 2009)

did it today colinj. managed to cycle the brommie 2/3's of the first part, i.e., to where the last hairpin is after last terraced house. then cycled 1/3 of the remainder. i don't think there is a gear low enough for me to haul my ass on the brommie all the way to the top without pushing. took some piccies. cycled gingerly back down and had cheshire cheese baked spud with a coffee in the tea shop. rode home. it rained really really hard all the time i was out. now the sun's out. typical.


the ride is here 

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=17148


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (24 Aug 2009)

out of curiosity, has anyone on here managed to clear church lane on a push bike? mmm might be possible on a mtb in granny.


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (24 Aug 2009)

here is the proof


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## ColinJ (24 Aug 2009)

Well done on getting as far as you did on a Brompton!



shauncollier said:


> out of curiosity, has anyone on here managed to clear church lane on a push bike? mmm might be possible on a mtb in granny.


I've tackled it 6 times on road bikes and the current score is 3:3! I can get up it okay on my MTB with its 22/32 bottom gear.

'Pain in the Pennines' went up it and a lot of people did succeed in getting up it, though many didn't.

The Milk Race was sent up it at least once. I was chatting to a local who walked up the hill to the steep bit to watch the carnage. Apparently either the riders hadn't been warned of the severity of the climb, or low enough gears weren't available to them. At any rate, the best riders got up it then a few toppled sideways still attached to their bikes by clips and toestraps. After that, everybody had to get off and walk!


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## jimboalee (25 Aug 2009)

A distant memory ran through my head last night.

There was ( since been demolished ) a car park at 'The Swan' shopping centre at Yardley, Birmingham; that had a spiral Up Ramp which was 1:4.

Each storey was about a 20 ft rise and the spiral at its minimum diameter was about 25 ft. There were six storeys.

I heared that one of the reasons that car park was demolished was a lot of modern foreign cars ( CSOs ) didn't have a tight enough turning circle compared with Brit cars from the sixties.

I never rode up it myself, but it was a legend amongst Brummies who would ride one lap of the 25 mile 'Outer Circle' before riding to the top deck of the Swan Car Park.


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## ColinJ (25 Aug 2009)

[Just found on BikeRadar] 

This is how to ride a steep climb! 

(Keep an eye on the on-screen graphics for the percentage gradients)


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## aJohnson (25 Aug 2009)

ColinJ said:


> [Just found on BikeRadar]
> 
> This is how to ride a steep climb!
> 
> (Keep an eye on the on-screen graphics for the percentage gradients)



Wow, I'd die trying to climb that.


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