My brother forwarded me a link to this blog about steep hills. My favorite picture is of the cyclists all climbing up Eldred Street in Los Angeles. No one’s going straight up it! I half expected to see mention of the Westernport Wall from Savageman Tri but, alas, apparently that one only tops out around 25% grade, while those worthy of mention on the deputy dog blog all exceed 30%. I mean, > 30%? Imagine!
Well…there is a short stretch on the Turkey Creek bridle trail on Umstead that must be that steep because it’s ridiculous. Just before you get to it, you go down a short steepie, hang a 90 degree right turn and then the trail ramps straight up towards the sky (or tree canopy, depending the time of year). I’ve found that if I’m riding the cross bike, I must absolutely gear WAY down in advance of the hill or I’m gonna be getting off and walking. No exceptions. But no worries, once you get up the super steep section, it flattens out to maybe 15-20% for a while, kicks up a bit again, then back down to maybe 10% and when you think you’ve reached the top, you keep going up at maybe 3-5%. Hard to say exactly, since by then my reference point of what’s flat is skewed but it continues to feel hard so it must still be going uphill at a notable grade.
Turkey Creek may have some tough parts, but compared to the paved hills shown on the deputy dog blog, we got nothin’ ’round here like that. Maybe we should be glad!
The picture of the cyclist going up Canton Ave in Pittsburgh is from a race here called the Dirty Dozen, usually held every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They basically find the 12 steepest hills in Pittsburgh and everyone races up them! The guy in the picture wins every year! It’s insane. But I’m thinking of trying it this year (not as a race mind you, just to try to get up the hills without falling off my bike backwards
Pittsburgh is definitely hilly!
Regardless, great job with your IM training. I’ve been enjoying reading all about it!
Found this link to the Dirty Dozen
http://www.dannychew.com/dd.html