2009 Stories + Reports on USA -- Bike Roberts

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Ken Roberts - - Bicycling

what's here

Beyond Hillier Than + Hillier Than Thou - steep NJ (09jun)

Beyond "Hillier Than"

June 2009

what's here

summaries | maps
risks + dangers
sections: maps + cue sheets for Beyond Hillier Than
+ Hillier Than Hillier
other route sequences : HTH More + Montana Ronda

intro

After climbing the steep hills of Hillier Than Hiller and HTH More last summer, I learned about two more steep hills not so far away. So I added those to make a bigger sequence of steep climbs to try. I chose one of the longest days of the year, with a very favorable weather forecast, even started riding before dawn, and I made it thru climbing all of them.

It was interesting and pretty and satisfying, much of it on quiet roads. It's not just that this riding has lots of climbing it it, but lots of steep climbing, over 12% grade. I haven't heard of any other place in the world where I can do this much climbing over 12% grade, on public asphalt roads, without repeating any uphill section (though it does repeat some downhills).

I'm not sure I'll do the whole Beyond Hillier Than sequence again in one day, but I feel like I'll want to ride a large portion of it again. I've described several interesting sequences of steep climbs ranging from around 6500 vertical feet to 15400 vertical feet -- see summaries and more info + maps.

summaries of some possible sequences of climbs

Montana Ronda -- around 6475 vertical feet of climbing, including around 2370 vertical feet in sections at steepness averaging 12% grade or more.
Hillier Than Hillier -- around 10650 vertical feet of climbing, including around 4000 vertical feet in sections at steepness averaging 12% grade or more - [ maps + details ]
HTH More (East) -- around 13500 vertical feet of climbing, including around 5150 vertical feet in sections at steepness averaging 12% grade or more - [ maps + details ]
HTH More (West to the River) -- around 12600 vertical feet of climbing (with something like 5000 feet in sections averaging 12% grade) - [ maps + details ]
Beyond Hillier Than -- around 15400 vertical feet of climbing, including around 6000 vertical feet in sections at steepness averaging 12% grade or more - [ maps + details ]

maps

northern Hunterdon county and southern Warren county contain all the roads of the climbs and for most likely possible transitions between climbs.

overview: this Map shows generally where this area of New Jersey is, and a rough view of the sections.

digital maps: see below under sections: maps + cue sheets

printed maps: Highly recommended while out riding to have printed maps (detailed enough to show every road) that cover those areas -- in case (likely) there are mistakes in the directions I'm presenting below, in case a road is closed for storm damage or construction, and for planning transitions between climbs. I have maps for both of these New Jersey counties: Warren and Hunterdon.

risks + dangers

Riding these hills and the possible transitions between them is exposed all the usual risks and dangers of riding a bicycle out on the public roads - (see this discussion for some strategies for handling these risks, and a partial listing of the dangers.)

hills much much steeper

By "very steep" in this report I usually mean that a hill has a substantial section steeper than 12% grade. By "extremely steep" I usually mean that a hill has a substantial section steeper than 15% grade.

These degrees of steepness are much steeper than the hills most athletic bicyclists normally ride up or down. For many athletic bicyclists, a 12% grade for a substantial section of a hill is steeper than any hill they've ever ridden up or down. Riding down or up a 15% grade is nearly beyond imagination.

uphills

Some special risks while climbing up a very steep hill include:

falling because unable to get foot loose from its pedal when decide to stop pedaling because the hill is too steep.
falling because lose balance when "tacking" or weaving from side to side.
colliding with a motor vehicle because of making an unexpected "tacking" or weaving move sideways across the slope of the road.
falling because of losing traction on bad road surface (e.g. wet or loose).

Straining muscles or tendons or joints is another risk. Some riders think that riding up a very steep hill is just like a moderate hill except you use lower gears. Maybe that's true for a pro bike racer, but it's not true for me, and on some of these climbs it's not true for almost any athletic bike rider.

You might think that you'll simply stop when it feels too hard to keep pedaling. Some problems with just relying on that strategy are (a) you might not perceive how hard it's getting for your muscles + tendons, because your mind is distracted by other things, like staying in balance, or hearing a car approaching behind; or (b) you're afraid to stop because you'll fall while trying it; or (c) you were succeeding by "tacking" or weaving, but now you hear a car behind you, so now you feel like you have to aim straight up the hill until the car passes you -- but the car just keeps going slow and doesn't pass.

I think it's smarter to first climb lots of less-big less-steep hills to train muscles and perceptions and balance -- try some of the hills (closer to home?) of lower steepness % grade on this list.

downhills

Although this report about hills is mainly about climbing up the hills, often the fastest way to connect between two climbs is to go down a very steep or extremely steep hill (typically the next or previous hill in the sequence for climbing).

There are special dangers of:

hitting an unexpected obstacle because of being unable to control speed or slow down in time -- especially consider the possibility of an animal such as a deer or dog suddenly coming into the roadway.
falling due to unexpected bad roadway surface (e.g. fallen log, gravel, wet or icy pavement, wet leaves, etc.)
falling forward over the handlebar due to inappropriate rider position on bicycle.
falling due to one or both wheels skidding while braking (usually due to inappropriate technique used by rider).
inadequate slowing or stopping force from the braking system.
mechanical failure of a part of the braking system or other equipment.
rider panicking in the unfamiliar situation.

animals: People have died hitting a deer while going fast down a hill. On the day I first rode this sequence of hills, I saw three deer moving unexpectely on or alongside the roads. I watched one deer run in front of an SUV going down a hill, and as I rode thru I saw pieces broken off the front of the SUV scattered on the road. (On some other days riding around this area, I saw no deer at all, but even if it does not happen often, the downside is very serious.)

Going down these very very steep hills, the techniques used by the rider are different, the rider's strategy often should be different, and the stress on equipment can be greater.

The place to learn these techniques and strategies and to test equipment is not while going down one of these hills. Rather start learning and testing on a smaller hill with a long gentle run-out at its bottom, on a low-traffic road with good visibility ahead and good visibility off to both sides - (perhaps could be the bottom section of a bigger steeper hill).

avoiding the steeper downhills?

The "possible transitions" between each pair of routes described below usually include a suggestion for a possible way to ride to the start of the next climb which could avoid going down a "very steep" or "extremely steep" hill.

I don't find most of these "very" or "extremely" steep hills much fun to go down, so generally I have nothing against avoiding them.

The problem is that many of these alternate transitions for this hill sequence add lots of distance. Often this additional distance is on pleasant or pretty roads -- but it adds lots of time to the day's riding. So it gets pretty tempting to save that time by taking a more direct way by going down a very steep hill -- that's what I usually did when I rode the sequence (on a day with excellent weather and road conditions).

Therefore before attempting this sequence, I think it's better to wait until you're sure your techniques and strategies and equipment are ready to handle very steep downhills, rather than count on using clever transitions to avoid most of the steeper downhills.

walk? Another option for some hills might to walk down the steeper section - (but this might be difficult on some specialized bicycling shoes, especially if the road gets wet).

sections: maps + cue sheets for Beyond Hillier Than

sections: maps + cue sheets for Hillier Than Hillier

other route sequences

HTH More (East)

HTH More West to the River

Montana Ronda

This is a shorter sequence that includes climbs only on Montana hill - (nothing on Musconetcong or Pohatcong mountains).

more details see Montana Ronda June 2008

sections with maps + cue sheets:

It's this:

E) Top of Montana hill to Fiddlers to Montana Rd (by New Village) - [ map on Bikely | cue sheet ]

but without the final descent.

plus some connection from the top of the Montana Rd climb to the bottom of the Halfway House Rd

(various possible routes, which might optionally include climbing up Millbrook Rd)

plus the hills of the later section of this:

D) Iron Bridge Rd to Halfway House Rd - [ map on Bikely | cue sheet ]

starting from around route 57 - (not the top of Iron Bridge)

with the hills done in a different sequence: first Halfway House Rd, then Coleman Hill Rd.

Total: around 6475 vertical feet of climbing over 41 miles distance, including around 2370 vertical feet in sections at steepness averaging 12% grade or more.

(1975 meters of climbing over 66 km of distance, including 720 meters of sections at 12% grade.)

what's here

Beyond "Hillier Than"

what's here

see also

intro

summaries of some possible sequences of climbs

maps

risks + dangers

hills much much steeper

uphills

downhills

avoiding the steeper downhills?

sections: maps + cue sheets for Beyond Hillier Than

sections: maps + cue sheets for Hillier Than Hillier

other route sequences

HTH More (East)

HTH More West to the River

Montana Ronda

more . . .

see also