What's the steepest hill on your commute?

rubertoe

WesternWay wrote:

Archway Hill on the way home. It might not be much but it is frequently enough.

I come down this on my way to work - tend to go up highgate hill on the ay home though for some reason.

not quite sure of the grade and length though of either.

optimisticbiker

rubertoe wrote:

WesternWay wrote:

Archway Hill on the way home. It might not be much but it is frequently enough.

I come down this on my way to work - tend to go up highgate hill on the ay home though for some reason.

not quite sure of the grade and length though of either.

I used to do West Hill then over the Heath... that was pretty nasty in the evening, but good fun coming down in the mornings...

Greyhound Hill in Hendon is pretty nasty, it steepens at the top, the last 50m are a killer...

condorman

Col de Sydenham - Sydenham Hill. Fun on fixed going from Forest Hill towards Sydenham.

Nik Cube

My usal commute is pretty flat bit my long way home catches the scorpion sting of the Magnificat - just for the fun of it

rubertoe

Just found out about Swains Lane

http://www.goinggoingbike.com/blog/the- ... ains-lane/

I will be detouring from the norm on moday to give this a try! - see if i can get up it in the big ring! :oops:

Sailorchick

Athelstan Road, Bitterne, Southampton. No idea of the % but the last bit is particularly steep. I see far more cyclists walk it than I see ride up it!

When I first starting commuting it was my mountain that I couldn't get up, now its fine.

vorsprung

motopatter wrote:

is there an OS or similar website that will let me know the gradient of a particular stretch of road?

www.bikehike.co.uk

Blandiblub

Ooh, relatively noob but deffo have a good couple of hills (I say good, I mean hills I can deffo feel in my legs!) on my 7 mile route.

In the morning, it's all downhill so good speed, etc. Coming back, it's a struggle but had no idea on gradients.

Used MapMyRide this morning to check - a couple of them hit 11%, so I'm quite proud I can do 'em! Just a case, hopefully, of getting fitter, more power, etc, so I find the same hills easier in future.

Paul E

Blackheath Hill is the worst for me and on the way home and right near where I live (I live on a road called ******** Hill) there is a short hill that's pretty steep that I can just power up instead of spinning.

rjsterry

Apparently the last bit of Latchmere Road is 14% - steeper than I thought.

roger_merriman

I have no hills on my commute, I have a few mild rises of 3 maybe 4 %

I'd be wary of taking GPS's and routing software at face value, in the same way they tell folk they did 99.9999 mph on the flat,.....

meanredspider

roger merriman wrote:

I have no hills on my commute, I have a few mild rises of 3 maybe 4 %

I'd be wary of taking GPS's and routing software at face value, in the same way they tell folk they did 99.9999 mph on the flat,.....

For sure - though, having measured my commute a couple of hundred times, I think i'm reasonably sure it's correct

motopatter

Total Ascent: 9 ft 0.1 m
Total Descent: 87 ft 233 ft
Start Elevation: 231 ft
End Elevation: 154 ft Elevation
Min Elevation: 154 ft Gradient
Max Elevation: 240 ft


whats the gradient then???? :?

roger_merriman

meanredspider wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

I have no hills on my commute, I have a few mild rises of 3 maybe 4 %

I'd be wary of taking GPS's and routing software at face value, in the same way they tell folk they did 99.9999 mph on the flat,.....

For sure - though, having measured my commute a couple of hundred times, I think i'm reasonably sure it's correct

I tend to use the ordnance survey at least for height. though the grade is often less, use than the surface and how it ramps up and down etc.

meanredspider

roger merriman wrote:

I tend to use the ordnance survey at least for height. though the grade is often less, use than the surface and how it ramps up and down etc.

Yup - I use OS to validate the data for at least the key peaks and troughs.

motopatter

motopatter wrote:

Total Ascent: 9 ft 0.1 m
Total Descent: 87 ft 233 ft
Start Elevation: 231 ft
End Elevation: 154 ft Elevation
Min Elevation: 154 ft Gradient
Max Elevation: 240 ft


whats the gradient then???? :?

Total Ascent: 0 m 0.0 km
Total Descent: 27 m 74 m
Start Elevation: 74 m
End Elevation: 47 m Elevation
Min Elevation: 47 m Gradient
Max Elevation: 74 m
Back

Distance: 0.39 km

so 27 / 390 = 0.06923077
and 1 / 0.06923077 = 14.4444588 = 1 in 14 (1m elevation in 14m distance) ????

did I get it approximately right?

short and sweet mutha of a hill

DrDavros

I recently came across someone whose commutes this. Every day. (Those are metres, BTW).

That's except on the days he goes a longer way round to get a few more ascents in . . .



That's a 56km round trip and a smidgen under 1000m of ascent. And the gradient between 4 and 5 km out is +15%. Locally, we call it "the wall".

Chapeau.

rebs

My route is so pan flat and boring. Steepest part for me would be Lea Bridge Road approaching Clapham roundabout. I do my Gilbert impression passing all the wobbllers every day.... what?

Living the dream... yeah baby....

uphillstruggle

Have several short rises but on the way in I have 3.5 miles at around 3% and on the return 2 miles at average of 5%.

Tend to enjoy them now and take them for what they are- good training- but if it catches you at the wrong time/ weather conditions they can be grim!

The 40 mile round trip is definitely paying dividends though.

supertwisted

Well i've now completely dispensed with the granny ring for both legs of my commute, which is an acheivement i'm quite pleased with. Can really feel the muscle mass building in my legs now.

I'm finding i'm breathing very steadily (could easily have a conversation for instance) at a pace that previously would have had me out of breath so should prob make an effort to step up my pace a bit.

(i'm still slow and crap though).

motopatter

supertwisted wrote:

Well i've now completely dispensed with the granny ring for both legs of my commute, which is an acheivement i'm quite pleased with. Can really feel the muscle mass building in my legs now.

I'm finding i'm breathing very steadily (could easily have a conversation for instance) at a pace that previously would have had me out of breath so should prob make an effort to step up my pace a bit.

(i'm still slow and crap though).

I am still very sweaty when I get to work (I sweat like a rapist anyway) but I have noticed my top speed is up and for longer on most of the ride. My commute is short so I try and pedal it hard all the way