Greetings,
Had some conversation reguarding the hills around Unity and some surrounding towns.

Thought I would pose a question here seeing as you all are obviously the local experts.

Any idea what the climb into Unity, (via 2nd NH turnpike), would be "catagorized" as? It is about 5-6miles from the Unity line to the town center. I just dont know the grade though.

Anyone know the average grade on that climb?
Or, any comments on any other climbs in the area?

Where are the Cat 1 and HC climbs in Sullivan County? I would have to guess that Ascutney must be at least a Cat-1....


Thanks, Sam

Hi Sammy.

Check Out the Sir-Climbs Alot loop: [url]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/local-loops/loop.php?loopID=225®ion=9&sport=1[/url].

The big climb at ~ mile 95 is the 2nd NH Turnpike climb you refer to leaving Claremont. This climb is really a series of separate climbs over 4.26 miles. Starts with a 1.56 mile 2.9% grade climb to the first summit, then short quick descent to foot of main climb which is 1.69 miles at 7.6% grade, drops down a fast 75+- vertical feet, then climbs a final 0.86 miles at 4.6% to the highest point.

Sir Climbs Alot hits some of the hardest climbs around our area that are easily accessible on a loop, most of the main climbs are around a mile long but are very steep in places.

There are plenty of other climbs around but these ought to get you started.

There are also two other huge climbs in addition to these but they are up and back and require a fee, one is the Mt Ascutney toll road in Brownsville, VT and the other is the Mt Kearsarge toll road in Warner, NH. Most of these climbs have a separate loop and profile in Local Loops so check the individual climbs out for more detail. These 2 climbs are probably HC classifications given their length and average grade. Not sure really on the classifications but I can gaurantee you that climbing any of the hills mentioned are an accomplishment and some of them have times if you want to see how you compare.

Hope this helps.

Ryan

Hey Ryan, thanks for the info...that helps.
I have ridden these climbs and Ascutney, (ouch). Good stuff...

I was just curious how the climbs in the area compare with some of the climbs in the tour. Yes, I have tour fever. Obviously they are not like the Pyranes or Alps but again, I was thinking they were perhaps some 2's and 3's.

I am a masochist at heart, but that "sir-climbs-alot" just looks rediculous. I need some serious base to commit to that ride. Maybe some day.


Cheers, Sam

Sammy
The other hill event we usually do over Labor Day Weekend is the 4 Gap ride in Vermont. You can check that out on Google, not sure if we have it on our local loop page. We usually have 8-12 guys for that day of adventure. If we do it this year it'll be posted here.
Dan

I could tell the Tour has you in it's grasp.

Ok here is an article I came across that lays it all out for you: [url]http://www.faqs.org/faqs/bicycles-faq/part1/section-22.html[/url]

It is important to note, as the person who wrote the article did, that the Pros climb these mountains with incredible speed, the last climb of stage 16 (Cat 1) was done yesterday with an average speed of 18 mph!

A lot of calculations and mystery goes into classifying the Tour stages so to give comparison a shot is very challenging. We don't have anything that big around here short of Mt Washington but what we lack in height we can make up for in steepness. Rarely if ever do any of the Tour mtns exceed 10%. Ascutney is only 2257 vertical feet (~688 m) over 3.7 miles (~ 6 km) which according to the scale would barely be a Category 2 climb but considering the max average grade on a tour hill is 9% and Ascutney is 11.55% that makes it at least a Cat 1 climb in my eyes if not a HC (Kearsarge is easier).

In comparison the Col de la Colombi?re - 7.5 km climb to 8.5 % - Category 1 (last climb of stage 17).

In other comparisons, the Mt Washington auto road climb which is considered to be the "TOUGHEST HILL CLIMB RACE IN THE WORLD!" is 7.6 miles (12.2 km) with an average 11.8% grade that finishes with 50 meters of 22% grade for a total elevation gain of about 4700 feet (1435 m). This hill climb by Tour standards also is not over 5000 feet but the avarage grade crushes Tour grades.

If you are really gagga for comparisons, check out the new NortheastCycling.com Hillclimb Browser: [url]http://www.northeastcycling.com/gpx_loader.html[/url]

You can compare climbs and see how Mt Washington crushes the Tour's infamous Alpe d'Huez

Ryan

[b:db6a0b612c]Both the 4 and 6 gaps are in Local Loops.[/b:db6a0b612c]

[b:db6a0b612c]4 Gap[/b:db6a0b612c] - [url]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/local-loops/loop.php?loopID=312®ion=20&sport=1[/url]

[b:db6a0b612c]6 Gap[/b:db6a0b612c] - [url]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/local-loops/loop.php?loopID=267®ion=20&sport=1[/url]

:D , awesome info, such detail, and links! Much appreciated.

Yes, Ascutney is a hum-dinger due to the steepness. Those gap rides look awesome as do a lot of the loops. This is such a cool resource you guys are putting together here. I will surely do some of the routes and, Dan, thanks for the info/heads up on the gap ride. I would like to make it if it pans out.

I reside in CT and do most of my riding there. I visit Sullivan often and have been riding/exploring mostly the dirt roads and some good road loops too. It seems to me, everytime I plan a loop in NH it ends up being 3-4hrs when I planned on 2, (love it though).