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What would you class as a hilly commute?
Mine this morning was 800ft in 17 miles, which doesn't sound much, but seemed to hurt. and the profile on the Garmin looks harsh.
What's yours and do you class it as hilly?
100ft/mile is hilly IMO
my bike commute is 3500ft in 27 miles. each way.
I don't commute by bike very often.
I had this argument at work, a colleague thinks it's too hilly to ride a bike to work. My definition of a hill is that either: A) You can't see a house that is on the other side of it, or B) A human being can't jump high enough to see over it. If it doesn't meet those criteria, then it's a rise or a slope, but not a hill. My commute has a couple of rises that are nearly small hills, but not really. Otherwise it's flat, perhaps undulating would be a fair description.
To be hilly, I would suggest that you need to spend a significant portion of your time riding up or down hills. Perhaps 33%, not sure really.
Flat as from my perspective, for reference this is the flattest ride I used to be able to do
https://www.strava.com/activities/1233993493 at about 10m/km or 50ft/mile which is about the same as yours,
So yeah that is a flat ride unless it's all little micro pinch hills or something - the garmin profile could look harsh if it's all low level small bumps, my weekend ride looked harsh as it couldn't fit the entire hill on the elevation profile as we dropped about 400m in 2km
Commute in has 90 metres climbing in 21km but going home it's 260m as I live way up a hill. Don't class the ride home as hilly.
For me you need to get up beyond 30 metres climbing per kilometre before it's hilly but then living in the Pennines does skew your perception.
Yeah, looking at it on Garmin Connect rather than the Garmin screen certainly flattens it out.
Converting to metric, 250m in 27km is about what I do on a quick "flat" ride. We can call it "undulating" if you want though.
🙂
Let's do that.
~100 feet of elevation gain per mile is pretty hilly IMO.
If I ride directly home on the quiet route, it's just ~5.5. miles and ~300 feet climbing, but I rarely take the easy option these days unless work was really bad.
Usually, I'll take a slight detour to do a number of ~180 feet climbs, to make the ride home 1000+ feet of gain.
My direct route home is 2.7 miles and 340 feet of climbing. The direct route in is 2.8 miles and 190 feet of climbing, whilst the more interesting route in is 4.7 miles and 400 feet. 200' altitude difference between home and work. The south east isn't completely flat!
I asked pretty much this exact question a while ago - https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/would-what-you-class-as-a-flat-ride-ie-not-hilly/
My daily commute is now 21 miles and 1,100ft of climbing. 10 miles/450ft in and 11 miles/650ft home. Don't notice the one in but do notice the one home
I live in north London where most folk would class it to be flat, although I live in a hilly-for-London bit
this is the industry standard definition.100ft/mile is hilly IMO
My previous commute was 4.5 miles home and 1000ft climbing. My new ride home is 9 miles and 1000ft.
Completely opposite directions. I prefer my new ride home. There's also more alternative routes.
Mine this morning was 800ft in 17 miles
^ thats flat*
100ft/mile is hilly IMO
this is the industry standard definition.
^ thats hilly
anywhere in-between is undulating/rolling
My commute is pretty flat, 500-600ft over 10miles, a large proportion of that is along a river/canal, so the profile looks like this \____/. But it also means any ride in any direction other than following river is likely to involve hills at some point. Sea to the south of me, Dartmoor to the West, Exmoor to the North, Blackdowns to the East, no escape...
It's all relative though isn't it, which is also why it's pointless comparing average speeds with riders in different places unless you know the geography.
* unless the 800ft is a single climb, which still makes it 'a flat ride' but one with a hill in it.
My old commute home was 88ft of elevation over .4 of a mile with no descending.
Extremely hilly. Just not very long.
The commute in the morning required no pedalling.
this is the industry standard definition.
Didn't realise there was one.
Used to be about 900ft in 14 miles, so not really hilly apparently, short sharp shocks in one direction gentle slog in the other.
My commute is 20 miles each way 1000ft in 1200ft Home. I’d class it as rolling rather than hilly. Or a ‘sporting course’ in TT terms.
1500ft over 15 miles for me. It is hilly both by the "industry" definition and the feeling in my legs.
I wouldn't say it's "hilly", but I work in a building situated in a place with "Hill" in it's name. So I have to go up that hill to get to work. More hill than hilly.
9.5k/185m (6m/610ft) up and down here.
I forgot - my old one was 11k/1100ft climbing on the way to work, -1100 ft on the way home...
1700ft in 29 miles (round trip), feels hilly as I cycle in and out of a big River valley.
about 40km with about 700m of climb.
Each way.
I don't cycle to work that often.
Only 1.11 miles but 160 feet of climbing all crammed into the middle half - down hill on the way in and up hill on the way home. I don't usually ride though as the bike parking at work sucks and it's quicker to walk than get the bike out.
Much like DezB it's Hill rather than Hilly
500ft in 5.5k on my road running route to work. The final 1100 meters are one long hill getting steeper as it goes on. Basically from near sea level to the highest point in Brighton. I can still beat the cars queuing at the lights up the final drag though 🙂
My commute is 1194ft in 30.38miles, or 39.3ft per mile.
which sounds great, until you realise almost all of it is one climb.
apart from the one climb, it’s virtually flat.
i can get up it on my ebike, but only just.
i’m not under any illusions, I couldn’t get up it on a normal bike, its so steep it’s uncomfortable to walk.
Great when i get the opportunity to do it tho.
My commute is 10,000' over 20 miles, I do it in 1hr dead. Uphill both ways, I only consider it mildly lumpy.
What the hell is wrong with you all talking about elevation in feet?
266m in 17 miles is undulating, not hilly. I struggle to find rides flatter than that when I am trying, if I'm outside the Thames Valley or possibly East Anglia.
My commute is 10,000′ over 20 miles, I do it in 1hr dead. Uphill both ways, I only consider it mildly lumpy.
Ah, similar to mine but mine has snow, rain and a 90kph headwind in both directions.
“Basically from near sea level to the highest point in Brighton.”
Is that up at the race course?
Ah, similar to mine but mine has snow, rain and a 90kph headwind in both directions.
Like mine, except when I get to work, my manager slices me in two with a bread knife.
mine is 400 ft in 800 ft back [ 400 of that is the last 3 miles] over 20 miles each way
I cannot think of a flatter route round here than this. its not hilly I climb more to get up the top of the nearest true hill.
mine is 400 ft in 800 ft back [ 400 of that is the last 3 miles] over 20 miles each way
I cannot think of a flatter route round here than this. its not hilly I climb more to get up the top of the nearest true hill.
Well jell
Is that up at the race course?
The business park at the top of Woodingdean, It's over the hill from Saltdean down into Rottingdean then all the way up the Falmer road. The off road route is more enjoyable but the road route does give a good workout.
My commute is about 70ft/mile. I wouldn't say it's particularly hilly, it's not that either. It has a mix of longish drags and a few kicks here and there.