# Thunder Ridge?



## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

Me and some friends rode Thunder ridge on Tuesday and were wondering what a "good" climber's average speed maybe going up the 13 mile climb.

All of us riding would be considered clydes (190 to 250 lbs (me)) so our speeds were pretty low. 5.9 for the 8 miles I did in one stretch to 9.7 for full 13 miles by the strongest rider there.

Anyone else have any averages?


BTW there is a overlook 5 miles up that you can park at if you have differnet level riders and you want to provide a rabbit for the strongest. We dropped our strongest off at the bottom another at 3.5 miles up and than the other two parked at the 5 mile up spot. It made for a little fun and competition. Not to mention allowing the weaker riders (me) to complete the full 13 miles in two different pulls.

We are hoping to go again in the next few weeks if anyone is interested in meeting us. The stronger rider is interested in doing the route 43 ride if anyone has some good detail on it.


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## VaughnA (Jun 3, 2003)

Lifelover said:


> Me and some friends rode Thunder ridge on Tuesday and were wondering what a "good" climber's average speed maybe going up the 13 mile climb.
> 
> All of us riding would be considered clydes (190 to 250 lbs (me)) so our speeds were pretty low. 5.9 for the 8 miles I did in one stretch to 9.7 for full 13 miles by the strongest rider there.
> 
> ...


I left the quote in since it's been a while. After posting about B2B I checked out your profile and saw this OLD thread. I'm from Lynchburg so we ride thunder ridge rather often as the local climbing test. The faster guys around here do the ride from the james river bridge to the gate which is the entrance to the apple orchard mtn radar base in right around an 50 minutes to an hour. My best is around 1:14 but I'm a 190 lb semi-clyde and don't climb well. Most recreational riders around here do it in 1:10-1:30 or so. The story is that the tour dupont riders did it in around 43 minutes! It ain't steep but it's long. Come down to the L'Burg area and ride sometime. We have a great 60+ mile loop from Lynchburg up the ridge and back down 43 one of the prettiest rides I've ever done.


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## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

VaughnA said:


> I left the quote in since it's been a while. After posting about B2B I checked out your profile and saw this OLD thread. I'm from Lynchburg so we ride thunder ridge rather often as the local climbing test. The faster guys around here do the ride from the james river bridge to the gate which is the entrance to the apple orchard mtn radar base in right around an 50 minutes to an hour. My best is around 1:14 but I'm a 190 lb semi-clyde and don't climb well. Most recreational riders around here do it in 1:10-1:30 or so. The story is that the tour dupont riders did it in around 43 minutes! It ain't steep but it's long. Come down to the L'Burg area and ride sometime. We have a great 60+ mile loop from Lynchburg up the ridge and back down 43 one of the prettiest rides I've ever done.


With B2B and The Seagull century coming I don't think I'll be back to the parkway until November or even spring. When I do plan a trip I'll drop you a PM.


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