Hills, hills, hills...

[booze and cake]

Agreed hills are always more fun that flat, but some of those profiles make me want to reach for another bit of cake and chose the car option

And I've seen countless talk over the years of the 100 greatest climbs book, thats just fattist. What about the 100 greatest descents book, us fatties need a niche?. As a cyclist I want very different things from a climb and a descent, so it seems obvious to me that cycling down the 100 greatest climbs may not be the 100 greatest descents, yet still nothing on the latter?

Ever since I've been watching the TDF on the tellybox I've wanted to do some of those epic Alpine 40km descents, how amazing must that be, I can't comprehend the joy of going downhill for that long, definitely on my bucket list.

kind regards, Booze & Cake, a gifted descender trapped in Londinium.

 

[briantrumpet]

What about the 100 greatest descents book, us fatties need a niche?. As a cyclist I want very different things from a climb and a descent, so it seems obvious to me that cycling down the 100 greatest climbs may not be the 100 greatest descents, yet still nothing on the latter?

Ever since I've been watching the TDF on the tellybox I've wanted to do some of those epic Alpine 40km descents, how amazing must that be, I can't comprehend the joy of going downhill for that long, definitely on my bucket list.

kind regards, Booze & Cake, a gifted descender trapped in Londinium.

How about this one for a decent descent - from Sestrière, heading south east...

 

[booze and cake]

Wow, yes that looks amazing, thanks I'm adding that to my dream to-do descent list. The bit about 12.5 miles in needing flattening out though, it really stands out like a fly in a beer, just wrong

 

[briantrumpet]

Wow, yes that looks amazing, thanks I'm adding that to my dream to-do descent list. The bit about 12.5 miles in needing flattening out though, it really stands out like a fly in a beer, just wrong

Not as long, but this is a fairly regular one of mine ... (you'll want to turn the volume down if you do watch it, as the wind noise is intrusive ... it was a gusty descent...)



And yes, it is serious fun.

 

[Brandane]

This is one of my local hills, and this is a slightly less steep but longer option.
Hills are just a fact of life around here, unless you want to take your life in your hands and mix it with the traffic on the frankly dangerous A78 .
Perhaps that is why cyclist numbers are extremely low in these parts; occasional visiting cycling clubs apart.
Having recently clicked over another digit on life's mileometer to 53, I just take my time climbing and get it done eventually. Cake stops are obligatory, before, during, and after; as are beer stops .

 

[jnrmczip]

Most of my commute is gradually uphill all the way home untill the last little section where I face a hill which is 0.3mi long and 6.1% steep now I'm no expert on hills but this one kills me after a long day at work. Good news is I'm getting better at it. And to be honest even driving up the hill in the car it drops 10 to 15 mph because of the incline. My best time up the hill has been 3.34 hoping to have it down to at least 3 by the end of summer

 

[mythste]

Most of my commute is gradually uphill all the way home untill the last little section where I face a hill which is 0.3mi long and 6.1% steep now I'm no expert on hills but this one kills me after a long day at work. Good news is I'm getting better at it. And to be honest even driving up the hill in the car it drops 10 to 15 mph because of the incline. My best time up the hill has been 3.34 hoping to have it down to at least 3 by the end of summer

I have one of these on my work-home leg and its on mile 15 of 17 - some days I can attack it and drop gears as im going up and use some momentum, other days im spinning before I even start it!

 

[briantrumpet]

Wow, yes that looks amazing, thanks I'm adding that to my dream to-do descent list. The bit about 12.5 miles in needing flattening out though, it really stands out like a fly in a beer, just wrong

I'll admit that I can't remember that lump - I have a suspicion that it might be where the mapping doesn't quite follow the road accurately, or it might be where there's a tunnel.

 

[Simontm]

I've just come back from Verbier which is 1,500m. Watching tour bikers going up it gave me a sweat and I was driving
Coming down this morning, I was behind a cyclist who was comfortable at 40mph on the twists and turns.

 

[Simontm]

Just looked up the road on mapometer. 4.9m at a total ascent of 2,645ft.

Think I'll do that next summer yeah right

 

[anothersam]

Signs you may be addicted to hills:
- You occasionally stop in the middle of one, ostensibly for a gulp of water, but really because you enjoy a cold start on an incline.
- You choose gearing apropriate to your pain threshold. Due to tolerances which have been pushed and pushed again over time, you don't actually know what your pain threshold is.
- You say it's OK to walk if necessary. But when you do meet a hill that forces you off the bike, you consider it the walk of shame (only applies to self, I hasten to add).
- You go up one again & again because you didn't quite get it right the last time.

 

[Karlt]

Most of my commute is gradually uphill all the way home untill the last little section where I face a hill which is 0.3mi long and 6.1% steep now I'm no expert on hills but this one kills me after a long day at work. Good news is I'm getting better at it. And to be honest even driving up the hill in the car it drops 10 to 15 mph because of the incline. My best time up the hill has been 3.34 hoping to have it down to at least 3 by the end of summer

I've got one like that on my homeward commute. It peaks at 14% though. Hurts. I wouldn't mind so much but the ride home by the quickest route starts with a 500' three mile drag.

 

[jnrmczip]

I've got one like that on my homeward commute. It peaks at 14% though. Hurts. I wouldn't mind so much but the ride home by the quickest route starts with a 500' three mile drag.

Today was nasty as it was so hot still managed to stay on the bike though and not give up and walk. Thinking back though I should have definitely just have thrown my rucksack away it really didn't help

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Today was nasty as it was so hot still managed to stay on the bike though and not give up and walk. Thinking back though I should have definitely just have thrown my rucksack away it really didn't help

Well, Fernhill road is quite steep, you are doing very well riding up it every day.
Fast traffic on it too, not a nice road.
I stay at the bottom of that hill
You could try softening the gradient by going round it, take Croftfoot road then turn left at the crossroads and left again. It is less steep that way but a bit longer.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Most of my commute is gradually uphill all the way home untill the last little section where I face a hill which is 0.3mi long and 6.1% steep now I'm no expert on hills but this one kills me after a long day at work. Good news is I'm getting better at it. And to be honest even driving up the hill in the car it drops 10 to 15 mph because of the incline. My best time up the hill has been 3.34 hoping to have it down to at least 3 by the end of summer

I have a similar commute home: about 19 miles with about 1650 feet climbing, the hills getting steeper and longer the closer I get to home, culminating in a hill about 1/3 mile long with average 10% grade. Since I started this variation on my commute home, my weight's dropped from 85kg to 78. Which, of course, makes riding up those hills even easier.