gds said:
jj said:Quoted message said:>
Whoa, that's a long hill. That'll probably do the trick.
Try to work in some steep ones evry now and again.But everybody's different. For me, the hardest part of the
ride by far is the false flat run-up to the base of
the climb.Wow. My Topo program, which may be slightly over-estimating the grade says
it's an average of grade 7, with only two places about 8 and 12 miles where
it goes down to a 2 or 3 briefly. From 2800 feet to 8,246 feet in about 22
miles. That's gotta take at least 3-4 hours or more. I'd think twice about
driving a car up that road, lol.I'm pretty sure it averages ~5%. But as with most averages there are
sections that arelesss and some that are more. It is a really nice ride
as you go from the desert floor to Northern type forest all in those 25
miles.
It is a great auto road and they have just cometed a mult year project
to widen and add bike lanes. Lots of folks here ride it (at least part
of it) regularly. ~8 mph going up and >30 mph coming down at least for
me. I do regularly get passed by stronger riders that must be much
closer t 10-11 mph on the way up.
Yeah, cool. Like I said my Topo program tends to overestimate. I looked at
it in http://virtualearth.msn.com where it gives a pretty clear picture
down to 150yds. Sounds like you have a great cycling resource there!
jj