rate my route LOL

iampaulb

I want to get better at climbing, so i mapped this route: http://connect.garmin.com/course/1974484
what ya think? Any local riders ever done it before is it a killer?

Calpol

iampaulb wrote:

I want to get better at climbing, so i mapped this route: http://connect.garmin.com/course/1974484
what ya think? Any local riders ever done it before is it a killer?

It looks undulating/flat to me. It will only be a killer if you are extremely unfit or get run over by a lorry.

iampaulb

Calpol wrote:

iampaulb wrote:

I want to get better at climbing, so i mapped this route: http://connect.garmin.com/course/1974484
what ya think? Any local riders ever done it before is it a killer?

It looks undulating/flat to me. It will only be a killer if you are extremely unfit or get run over by a lorry.

its far from flat..well i guess compared to this: http://app.strava.com/rides/19029549#344021486 it is....but i struggle at climbs, so hoping this will improve them

Bobbinogs

I think that it is difficult for us to judge the route as we are all at different standards. Some folks might say that this route (15 miles with about 500 ft of climbing) is going to be easy...but it is all relative to what we do and the pace it is ridden.

It is a relatively short and flat route though... there was a discussion amongst us a few months ago and we generally agreed that "hilly" was roughly 1,000ft of climbing per 10 miles. From about 250ft to 750ft per 10 becomes "undulating", less than that and you are cycling in Norfolk.

If you want to improve on hills then your route is a good start but have a look around in this forum for other tips such as technique, hill reps and turbo work. Best tip from me...get used to suffering. The old adage, which is true IMO, goes along the lines of "hills don't get easier, you just get faster".

jibberjim

The climbs there are on a really nice a good road and fun to ride. No route is easy if you ride it hard, I've certainly seen a lot of guys get dropped on them on my rides so it's certainly a hill. Ride it hard, improve your times on the climbs and you'll get better.

jim453

Use strava. Set it up as a segment and you'll instantly see how others would fare.

Also, it's practically flat.

slowbike

My commute is about 450 feet in 11 miles - on the way it's pretty low grade slopes with just 1 sharp incline > 7% but it's very short ...
On the way back it's got one "hill" in it - it's ~8% gradient and used to be very tough - a year later and I've increased my overall speed and recovery on that "hill" - it's still tough if I ride it hard but I can labour up it at a more sedate pace these days ...

I still can't ride it in HR zone 1 or 2 ... that'll take some more practice!

None of the slopes are graded - ie no Cat4 or above climbs ... but I can do an extra loop that takes one in ... which I was aiming to do - done so once and not been back yet!

Rulebritania

I'm new to this cycling game, and have taken to Strava, knowing its in my pocket urges me on. I'm going on lots of routes round my area therefore those hill climbs are mounting up on the Strava site when I repeat them I'll see if I beat it.

tiredofwhiners

Knowing that area, there are no real hills out near Pirbright. None at all. Just undulations in roads.

The closest you'll get to something hard is this one which takes you up to the A31 (Hogs Back) but stay off the A31 road with a bike http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=454141

There's a 12.5% near Worldham and thats about as bad as it gets near Farnborough without going on farm tracks.

If you want hills, you have to go East to Dorking or South to Hindhead - the rest of the area is a pancake.

richh

Yeah that's a pretty flat route. I work about 50m from your start point (Southwood crescent) and have been on those road for lunchtime rides. A better/hillier route would be to head west/southwest to Fleet, up Beacon Hill then onwards past Crondall and the small villages southwest of there. Nicer scenery, quieter roads, and more hills.

iampaulb

richh wrote:

Yeah that's a pretty flat route. I work about 50m from your start point (Southwood crescent) and have been on those road for lunchtime rides. A better/hillier route would be to head west/southwest to Fleet, up Beacon Hill then onwards past Crondall and the small villages southwest of there. Nicer scenery, quieter roads, and more hills.

you got a route planned anywhere rich?
I know most of the route is flat, its more the end bit heading towards pirbright im thinking of going to the coast on
Monday so ill be up beacon hill! lol

richh

Not around there at the moment as I'm currently working on a project out of our office near Oxford but I do get back every now and again (next Monday for example).

As for routes, well it depends on what you want to do really. For me at lunchtime it's really only about fitness and so all I'm after is a simple route where I could blast around it for 45 mins or so. The fact that is wasn't the best scenary etc wasn't really a consideration, but here are a couple of suggestions:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107228551 includes Beacon Hill which is 90% of the total climb in the route.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97224774

For weekend rides, there's a whole host of routes you could do in and around Hampshire/Surrey. It really depends in how far you want to go and how many hills you want to climb/avoid. I lived near Southampton and used to drive up to Farnborough most days so I know that area better (i.e. Eastleigh/Alton/Petersfield) and whilst I've done routes around Dorking and Chichester etc I'm sure there are people more local to those areas that can recommend routes better than me.

Something like this could be an option though:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108306733

ps. ignore the timings etc in that one, it was a test ride for me doing 100 miles+ to see if I could do that distance with a fully loaded touring bike and with equivalent amount of climbing to the hardest day in a JOGLE I was preparing for last year. I wasn't looking for a quick time, rather it was just to see if I could lug all that weight round that distance and up that about of climbing. It worked out pretty well!

iampaulb

Cheers Rich i have saved them and modified them to start and finish at home! Ill let you know how i get on if i survive lol

heres me if you want to check out some of the routes i have planned for future rides http://connect.garmin.com/profile/iampaulb

iampaulb

FAO Rich - I went on one of your routes, but adapted it my own... http://app.strava.com/activities/20443007

10th up beacon hill in my age group and 34th overall - id say thats an improvement