How Slow Do You Go?

Today at the end of a 35 mile ride I went up a couple of hills I had only climbed once before. I had to talk my riding partner into going up them again. Last time he had to walk and did not want to repeat that again. A local cycling web site claims the first hill leading to the "wall" is 1/2 mile and 12%. After a couple miles of uphill grade is the wall at 7/10 mile and an average grade of 12.2%, with a peak of 15%. My partner measured it at 22% in several areas today. So.........I can tell you I was certainly not spinning. I had to stand a couple times. My cadence was in the low 40's and I was setting the pavement on fire flying along at about 4mph.
The Fargo Street Hillclimg I wrote about once before is a 33% grade and has the reputation of being the steepest hill in Los Angeles. I had to tack back and forth to make it up that one and there was no way I could check my speed but I can tell you there were several times I was at a dead stop. I hpoe some day I have the endurance/strength to crest those hills at 50-60rpm, but that may be shooting a bit high.
Bone

bone said:

I Hope some day I have the endurance/strength to crest those hills at 50-60rpm, but that may be shooting a bit high.

Bone

Ya see... this is what I'm getting at.

My home is EXTREMELY hilly, and while any one climb rarely approaches 1 mile, there are many steep 12-20% grades in any route - with the exception of sticking strictly to the valley floors.

I built my bike's gearing around this fact.

I'm a spinner who feels uncomfortable with any cadence less than about 70 RPM - and really groove at around 105 - so my triple crank 17 gear inch low gear allows me to climb walls without blowing out the knees.

Lowest speed is still faster than walking! (I hover around 4mph on my most brutal (wonderful?) hills.

bone said:

Today at the end of a 35 mile ride I went up a couple of hills I had only climbed once before. I had to talk my riding partner into going up them again. Last time he had to walk and did not want to repeat that again. A local cycling web site claims the first hill leading to the "wall" is 1/2 mile and 12%. After a couple miles of uphill grade is the wall at 7/10 mile and an average grade of 12.2%, with a peak of 15%. My partner measured it at 22% in several areas today. So.........I can tell you I was certainly not spinning. I had to stand a couple times. My cadence was in the low 40's and I was setting the pavement on fire flying along at about 4mph.
The Fargo Street Hillclimg I wrote about once before is a 33% grade and has the reputation of being the steepest hill in Los Angeles. I had to tack back and forth to make it up that one and there was no way I could check my speed but I can tell you there were several times I was at a dead stop. I hpoe some day I have the endurance/strength to crest those hills at 50-60rpm, but that may be shooting a bit high.
Bone

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n=3772748&e=384609&s=25&size=m&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

this is the only fargo street i could find in los angeles. it is a climb, although it is very short and not more than 15%. the baxter street climb looks hard.

use topozone.com to get a map of the fargo street you are talking about, and post the link here.

coolworx said:

On your steepest, longest climbs, how slow?
Do you spin?
Do you stand?

MPH or KPH. I speak both.

i have gone as slow as 6mph up real steep hills, when i was pushing it. thats about 18% for 1/2mile. if i am on a recovery ride, i dip down to 4mph some times, although i try to avoid those hills on such rides.

there is a 22% hill in my area that rises 60 feet and i can sprint up it at and average of 16mph. big torque.

Here's the "geography":
http://www11.brinkster.com/coolworx/map1.html

coolworx said:

Here's the "geography":
http://www11.brinkster.com/coolworx/map1.html

2-2.5 mph is my slowest, alternating sitting and standing, in 30/25 gear.

I drop down to 5 mph often on hills, especially near the end of the ride. I have no idea what the grade is but I do know I'm spinning at about 40 rpm.

I do an ~11mi, close to 4,ooo ft climb (99.5% all uphill), at an average grade of 6% at a speed of 8-10mph at 70-90rpms.

tanggoman said:

I do an ~11mi, close to 4,ooo ft climb (99.5% all uphill), at an average grade of 6% at a speed of 8-10mph at 70-90rpms.

i just set my heart rate monitor zones if it beeps, i slow down or speed up depending on how high it is 180\190 (Tz) bpm more often than not though its beeping above 190 though. pity there aint away to stop it at traffic lights though.

.4 mile climb, 9% average grade, 24% grade at the steapest point, i do this one 20 miles into a group ride after already doing 2 climbs at 7% for more than half a mile each....

this one however normally runs me down to around 8mph in 39x25 gear

on a 5 mile climb (i am thinking of a specific one) average grade is 9%, however it gets over 20% in some spots. im not a very good climber so my cadence drops during these spots and i have to stand up. usually i try to stay seated, i think it uses more leg muscle and less body wieght. anyways usually on this climb i will get in a good rythm on a low gear and just keep pedaling

tanggoman said:

I do an ~11mi, close to 4,ooo ft climb (99.5% all uphill), at an average grade of 6% at a speed of 8-10mph at 70-90rpms.

I'm assuming most of that is in your lowest gear.
Which would put your lowest gear at about 40 gear-inches.

Hmmm... with a 90-RPM cadence and about 28 gear inches you could climb those hills over and over and over (at the same speed) while keeping the old kneecaps attached in the longterm.

This thread was sort of a trojan horse, in the sense, what I really want to talk about is effective gear inches matched with high RPM's as a wiser approach compared with the crankmeisters who scoff at triples.

There is a 300m climb with 22% near where I live. It's closed to traffic.

Until a few years ago, it was in pavement but they've removed the pavement and done an asphalte surface, unfortunately.

I always loved "stumbling" up that paved hill and thinking of the "Mur de Gramont", a very famous climb in Belgium which is ridden in quite a few spring classics.

Pushing a 39x23, I normally get up there at around 4-6 m/h