12/29/23 11:31 AM

Holy crap. Climbed up it (virtually) this morning. Even indoors that was an incredible climb. Such good perspective on just how insane the world tour races are....to have to do that at race pace after a whole day of racing...unreal.

12/29/23 1:42 PM

If you have access to it try the Mortirolo. I did it twice and will never do it again.

12/29/23 3:29 PM

Try Mt. Washington - nearly as long and half again as steep. Let's not talk about the weather (real world).

12/30/23 7:10 AM

Well, we have whiteface in northern NY that has a profile very similar to Alpe d'Huez but without all the switchbacks. I want to ride it but they make you stop and pay a toll part of the way up...don't have a problem with paying the toll but I don't want to have to stop. First world problems, I guess.

12/30/23 10:01 AM

toll for non motorized vehicles?

12/30/23 10:26 AM

Yes, annoying. It didn't used to be that way but NYS will find any excuse for a tax, fee, or bill.

12/30/23 3:07 PM

Boy, that is a bunch of bullshit to be sure!

1/3/24 7:22 AM

I haven't ridden it in a number of years, but VA used to charge a toll for bicycles to ride on Skyline Drive. It is considered part of a state park.

EDIT: I just searched online and the entry fee for a single person or bicyclist to visit Skyline Drive (part of Shenandoah National Park) is now $15. 😳

Per Person
$15.00
Entry for walk-up or bicycling visitors, when 16 years of age or older (children under 16 are admitted for free). Includes entering the Park by all means other than a private, non-commercial vehicle. A family traveling together shall pay no more than the vehicle fee.


It is good for 1 week. Skyline Dr is 105 miles long. I knew a few folks who used to ride a century on Skyline and hole up in a cheap motel at one end and then ride back the next day.

Last edited by LeeW on 1/4/24 7:25 AM; edited 1 time in total

1/3/24 4:59 PM

On a visit to my brother in Switzerland about 20 years back, he pointed to the summit of Mt Rigi, which can be seen from his house, and commented that he'd ridden up it and had real problems keeping his front wheel grounded on the steepest sections. This piqued my interest, and I had a crack at it the next fine day. He wasn't kidding - my altimeter bike computer recorded a maximum gradient of 28% somewhere on the way up, and there were two successive kilometres towards the top that averaged over 14%. Here's a plot of the output from my bike computer - the small figures above each kilometre marking indicate the average gradient over that kilometre. And I apparently went up the less steep side - I climbed it from Arth on the eastern side, but the ascent from Vitznau on the western side has the same amount of elevation gain over about three kilometres less distance.
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ABLVV86K4oWISayV7X5FavLzvSaFYT_rTY21TfMQ2NQaH0s0LlMmh3sQEPj8GRK7ky-NcmcCDZJuQu1DqGfl1wZCQZRTEQs0e66Xcl2rexqxUsw6EqYyejkD=w1200?source=screenshot.guru"> <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ABLVV86K4oWISayV7X5FavLzvSaFYT_rTY21TfMQ2NQaH0s0LlMmh3sQEPj8GRK7ky-NcmcCDZJuQu1DqGfl1wZCQZRTEQs0e66Xcl2rexqxUsw6EqYyejkD=w1200-h900-p-k" /> </a>

1/4/24 7:56 AM

On Mt Washington there's a stretch of dirt road that reaches 18% (5 mile grade) where my front wheel would always lift, so I shifted forward, and then my rear wheel would spin. Always managed to keep moving. Then on D2R2 there's Achambo Rd., dirt @27%. There your wheel would lift, complicated by the facts that you may not be riding entirely smoothly, leading to the handlebars swinging, plus the surface is rutted. My buddy Mike had the misfortune of putting his wheel down in a rut, causing him to topple over. When he remounted, he walked back a few yards to make sure that he "rode" the whole course (honest Mainer).

1/4/24 9:03 AM

Lol, you wind up using more energy for body English to keep moving than legs sometimes...

1/4/24 10:00 AM

I'm remembering trouble keeping my front wheel down on Hurricane Mountain Road north of North Conway, NH.

1/4/24 11:19 AM

There, too!

1/5/24 6:59 AM

Ooof! My front wheel lifted on the Fillmore Street hill in San Francisco which hits 24.5%. That hill was part of the pro bike race course when that was around.

1/5/24 12:22 PM

I find mostly the super steeps to be short, so I stand and get it done. I hate when they are at the top of even an avg 6-7% though....

I used to love back in Joisey taking fellow riders for 1st time for these with no mention. They thought I was sucking eggs leading up to, but then I'd get out of the saddle and blow by them @ those.

Buy we had fun doing that sheit to each other...

1/5/24 8:02 PM

Senior lifetime NP pass is a bargain, but yeah, there's a toll. The BRP is free and a better experience.

1/5/24 8:04 PM

quote:

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I used to love back in Joisey taking fellow riders for 1st time for these with no mention.

---

1/6/24 7:54 AM

Haven't heard about Sandiway in many years. Wonder if he is still in Tucson, with the University? Anyone heard from him?

1/6/24 10:49 AM

It's been a few years, but we jawed a bunch when he decided to get a MC, he knew I always had at least one. He got a dual purpose BMW F650 as I recall.

1/6/24 11:24 AM

I actually just messaged him last night on FaceBorg, I'm considering a mid-winter training trip to get out of the pain cave and Tucson kept coming up a prime destination.

He's still at uni and raising his son to be a world-class table tennis player from what I can see.

1/6/24 2:00 PM

Rob, please extend a happy new year wish from all here. I think I can speak for TTF in this regard. ;)

1/7/24 1:19 AM

Sandiway posts a lot on Facebook. I've followed him for a long time.