Comments on: Why I Hate Coming Home After Riding

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:16:30 +0000

Greg, on the way back from home tonight, I checked this hill out with my more accurate GPS (Garmin 60Csx) and here’s what I got.

I only counted the main hill.

starting altitude: 5,904
ending altitude: 6,512
Δ: +608 feet
climb distance: 1.26 miles (6,653 feet)
608/6653= 9.1%
(± 25 feet GPS accuracy)

That still seems kinda low to me especially since the USGS says Farthing has an average gradient of 10% and this road is definitely steeper. It’s hard to say though since the GPS on my bike isn’t as accurate and their output graphs are only useful for their approximate graphical representations. Also, I think the unit takes it’s elevation samples too far apart to be super meaningful. I can change the sample rate from 10 seconds down to 1 but then I can’t upload it to MotionBased. The hill is not anything like the relatively linear graph. It has two short, steep pitches that aren’t represented here.

I might drive it tonight with the dash cam so others can take a look and make a guess.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:57:59 +0000

Yeah, the altitude numbers seem off but only by about 200 feet. That hill is definitely not 6%, on a 6% gain, I could stay in the big ring and this thing is a 39×27 for sure. I’ll dig up the USGS data I had found for the street I live on which basically climbs the same hill but over a longer distance. Also, the graph above is misleading because of the rise/run exaggeration that the MotionBased site gives you. Unfortunately, there is no way to change that.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:40:54 +0000

500 ft in a mile and half. Isn’t that 500/8000=6%? Is the altimeter wrong?

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:50:36 +0000

its ok now. It told me it was available to buy, so I got worried. Thanks.

Oh ya, I wanted to tell you that I will probably be in Ohio the 2nd week in July til the 1st of August. I would love for you to meet the boys and re-meet Kiersten (last time you saw her she was 7 months). See if it would work into yours and Amy’s plans.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:36:00 +0000

Not sure kell, looks ok to me. Might have been a problem with your ISP.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:49:00 +0000

hey what happened to Kiersten’s site?

http://www.kierstenwilley.com it says it is no longer available