# Devils' kitchen



## Trek_5200

Anyone familiar with this climb in the Catskills? Was wondering how it compares to already done rides in Rockland such as Little Tor, Ash, Clausland Mountain and Bear. I see it gets up to 22% grade at some point, but hard to see from the RideWithGPS map how long this high grade is. Strava shows it as Category 2 same as Bear Mountain, so other than shorter and steeper, it's hard to get a sense.


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## greg12666

I have never ridden it on a bike only in a car. I have ridden Bear mtn and I can't see how I compares. Bear mtn climb seems much easier. Cars struggle on parts of the Devils Kitchen road.


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## CHT

I've ridden both many times (Devil's Kitchen was only at the tail end of a race), and they really don't compare. Bear Mountain (Perkins) is a joke compared to Devil's kitchen. It's much shorter, but not anywhere near as steep. I've never felt like I ran out of gears with Bear Mountain. On Devil's Kitchen you run out of gears in the first 100 meters. When you approach it literally looks like a wall of asphalt. I've also ridden Haleakala, Greylock, etc., and I would say that for sheer steepness, nothing compares. If you search on You Tube you can see some of the pros struggling up Devil's. They would not struggle up Bear.


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## NJBiker72

Where in the Catskill's is it? Always looking to find new places to torture myself. Going to be up in the Catskill's in November, maybe close enough.


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## CHT

NJBiker72 said:


> Where in the Catskill's is it? Always looking to find new places to torture myself. Going to be up in the Catskill's in November, maybe close enough.


It's Platte Cove Road in the Catskills. 
Platte Clove - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The road is mentioned in this Wikipedia link. The climb, as well as riding in the area, is highly recommended. Another road with a significant and painful climb is Airport Road. If you search the routes for the Tour of the Catskills road race from prior years, both of these climbs are part of the race. Airport Road is usually Sunday, Stage 3 and Devil's Kitchen is near the end of Stage 2 on Saturday. This year the format is different.


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## mtrac

Strava Segment | Platte Clove Rd Climb


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## NJBiker72

mtrac said:


> Strava Segment | Platte Clove Rd Climb


Pretty far from where we will be. 93 miles by bike. One way. Not happening on the family vaca. Well probably not. I have time to figure out a way.


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## joeyb1000

It's hard to compare to other hills. It has several 20% sections -- all about 1/4 mile in length. I tried to use a 39/29 last year and still had to walk on two of them.


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## Trek_5200

Well I signed up for the Gran Fondo Catskill ride which includes devil's kitchen. thanks for the feedback all.


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## trener1

Just to chime in on what others have already said, Bear Mt while longer is nothing compared to Devils Kitchen, so be prepared to suffer.


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## Trek_5200

Yea, at this point you are stating the obvious. The climb maxes @ 22% Any other ride I've done in Rockland maxes @ 17% with the closest approximations I can find are maybe Ash followed by Clausland Mountain Road. While Bear is longer the fact is it's not all that steep staying for the most part @ 7 -8% elevation grade, and only small sections hitting 10% for very short periods. After doing Clausland repeatedly I think Devils Kitchen is doable, but will clearly be much harder.


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## Trek_5200

Did Bear again this past week. I have to agree it's not a difficult climb in the least, if one is in riding shape. 

Anyone doing Gran Fondo Catskills?


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## robdamanii

Here's my comment:

Ride something lower than 39/27, unless you like standing for 1.2 miles at 50 RPM.

I made it up on that gearing, but was completely wrecked for the rest of the ride. It's probably the most miserable climb I've ever ridden, and I absolutely LOVE to climb. All I can tell you is you MUST get into a rhythm to survive. I basically survived on "stand for 5 pedal strokes, sit for 5 pedal strokes."

GF Catskills actually looks pretty good. I've no interest in riding Gran Fondos anymore, but the prospect of Merckx being there almost tempted me.


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## Trek_5200

robdamanii said:


> Here's my comment:
> 
> Ride something lower than 39/27, unless you like standing for 1.2 miles at 50 RPM.
> 
> I made it up on that gearing, but was completely wrecked for the rest of the ride. It's probably the most miserable climb I've ever ridden, and I absolutely LOVE to climb. All I can tell you is you MUST get into a rhythm to survive. I basically survived on "stand for 5 pedal strokes, sit for 5 pedal strokes."
> 
> GF Catskills actually looks pretty good. I've no interest in riding Gran Fondos anymore, but the prospect of Merckx being there almost tempted me.


The European riders on standard cranks that wound up walking their bikes up on the Tour De Trump(Devil's Kitchen climb) back in the day were on 21 or 23 cogs, not 25's not 28's. At the time there was a perception amongst some of these riders that there were no hills in NY. Came from a semi-pro I spoke to who rode the event.


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## ghause

I did a Time Trial there when I was in high school (Tour deTrump) on my Ross Adventurer. The looks on the faces of the guys on multi-thousand dollar bikes at the top was priceless. "You rode up on _that?!_"

It is a hill that will have a Ford Escort's brakes smoking on the way down.


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## Trek_5200

ghause said:


> I did a Time Trial there when I was in high school (Tour deTrump) on my Ross Adventurer. The looks on the faces of the guys on multi-thousand dollar bikes at the top was priceless. "You rode up on _that?!_"
> 
> It is a hill that will have a Ford Escort's brakes smoking on the way down.


Why not? 90%(maybe more) of what makes a rider goes is his legs, not the bike he's on.


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## Trek_5200

Took a 2nd go at Devil's Kitchen. This time I didn't attempt to push myself and stayed in the 28 cog and 39 front(as opposed to shifting up one or two gears on some of the less steep sections. Wound up improving my time by a huge margin. I think the trick to doing this climb is not trying to race up it, and instead take a more measured approach. Seemed tons easier the second time around too(perhaps knowing the climb helped too). Totally recommend the challenge.


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## NJBiker72

Trek_5200 said:


> Took a 2nd go at Devil's Kitchen. This time I didn't attempt to push myself and stayed in the 28 cog and 39 front(as opposed to shifting up one or two gears on some of the less steep sections. Wound up improving my time by a huge margin. I think the trick to doing this climb is not trying to race up it, and instead take a more measured approach. Seemed tons easier the second time around too(perhaps knowing the climb helped too). Totally recommend the challenge.


I definitely want to look into it. Going to Cat skills for a week in November. Don't think I am close to it but might find a way.


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