One of the hills we climb in the club is called Rolling Hills. It is not that long of a climb, but it is the steepest grade of the 99 hills we do. I use to establish my maximum heart rate each year by going up this hill because the steepest section was so difficult it took all I had to keep going. Even then I had to stand and lean forward to keep the front wheel from coming off the ground. I think a year ago my heart rate went up to 182. So I was hesitant today to take my new bike up the hill, because it has only a double chain ring but what the heck, why not give it at try.

The club ride first rode up Henry Coe, which is a long climb, then after decending we headed over to Rolling Hills. I had no problem making it up the hill and was surprised that my heart rate never got above 170. So that means the higher gearing of my new bike is more than offset by my conditioning and lower total weight. Here is a graph that shows the hill profile. The shaded portion is Rolling Hills and the red line is Bohman. Overall Bohman is a tougher climb because it goes on much longer, but you can see the grade on Rolling Hills is steeper.

Categories: Cycling Group Rides