Running to Cycling

Original post

stimp

Archived post

31 July 2004, 16:30 UTC #1

Hello, everyone. I'm new to the forum and a 'returning' cyclist. I just had a few questions (for now):

1. Does anyone know of a simple method of estimating the gradient of a hill? This is purely for interest. There is a particular hill that I climb on a regular basis that bogs me down to barely over 13km/h - in a 40-26! It would be an ego boost if it was a monster gradient, although I'm sure it's probably around 2%. 😄

2. I know, know: it all depends... But is there a very ROUGH correlation between running pace (minutes per mile) and flat road cycling speed (km/h)? I'm not a fast runner, but I feel that I'm not cycling at my (albeit modest) potential. I can run fairly comfortably at 8-minute pace, but I find it difficult to maintain 30km/h for extended periods of time, even on flat roads with light winds. Perhaps it's a case of reaching the limits of my legs before my heart/lungs?

3. Going along with no. 2, I've seen 'calculators' that estimate vo2 max values from 5km run times. With my blazing time of 40 minutes, mine is in the very low 40s. That makes sense, because I think that:
A) anyone, unless they've got physical problems, should be able to run 8-minute pace;
B) the average vo2 max for a 30-something adult male is around 40-45.
Is there a calculator that does this with, say, a 10km time trial on the bike?

Thanks

keydates

Archived post

31 July 2004, 21:21 UTC #2

gradient = rise/run. If you have a speedometer, you can find the "run." Very rough estimate for "rise" is to count the number of houses/stories on hill, assume that each story is 8-10 feet high. Make sure the top of one story does not seem to either go over the hill, and that it doesn't overlap the bottom of the next house. Hard to explain and obviously not very accurate.

Link coming, maybe.

JCK

Archived post

2 August 2004, 04:38 UTC #3

I would look at a USGS Topographic map, which gives contours, usually at 10 or 20 foot increments. Count the number of contours you cross, multiply by the contour interval and thats the elevation you climbed. Use you odometer or the map to measure the horizontal distance. Then, Slope = elevation gain / horizontal distance.

If you don't have a topographic map, "google" it and there are several online, interactive sources. I like:

http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm -just enter the zip code for where your hill lives, and you'll get a map of the area.

Paper maps are usually readily avaiable in sporting good stores, check the Yellow Pages.

dazzle96

Archived post

2 August 2004, 09:05 UTC #4

keydates said:
gradient = rise/run. If you have a speedometer, you can find the "run." Very rough estimate for "rise" is to count the number of houses/stories on hill, assume that each story is 8-10 feet high. Make sure the top of one story does not seem to either go over the hill, and that it doesn't overlap the bottom of the next house. Hard to explain and obviously not very accurate.
Link coming, maybe.

You can (not whilst riding) count the number of bricks in a wall it takes for the wall to drop a complete course.
A brick is three times longer than it is high, so if it takes five bricks, then it's 1 in 15.
Of course if there's no walls you're goosed!

sparkywowo

Archived post

2 August 2004, 16:20 UTC #5

There is a device you can get at the hardware store called a "pitch and angle locator". It is like a carpenter's level, but has a dial and pointer.

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