# elevation gain of city bridges



## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Google has added a nifty feature to its directions- elevation profiles! :thumbsup: 

My commute involves some annoying (in a good way of course) hills. Three bridges, three overpasses. Overall it says I'm climbing almost 300' for the entire one-way commute. 

Can this be right? Feels like a lot more. I can't seem to find the elevation gain of the east river bridges anywhere though- % grades sure, but not in feet.

I must be Googling wrong or something. Found one guy's Garmin stats for a run from the lower east side to Williamsburg, and it said over 1,000 feet of gain. Hmmm.


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## marc7654 (Jun 24, 2014)

Try putting the route in Strava or Ride With GPS . That should get you a decently accurate elevation profile.

I get about 300' in my short 4 mile commute each way here in south central Indiana.  Recently did a couple of 25 mile rides in Kansas that only gave us 200' but the 20 mph headwind makes up for the lack of elevation work.


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## Corenfa (Jun 9, 2014)

Looking at the Williamsburg Bridge on Strava it looks like this:

Strava Segment | Williamsburg Bridge - Eastbound

It tracks feet gained but shows average 0% which is clearly off. In general, NYC is pretty flat though, so depending upon your total distance and what other bridges you might be hitting, 300' might be right. A climb to an overpass usually isn't that much total elevation gain. It gets there quickly though, so the grade is generally pretty steep, but only about 20-25' of gain in general at most.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Wow then I have a skewed concept of what "elevation" is! Seems like my commute has loads of climbing.......although, 300' is the equivalent of 30 stories.....maybe that is about right.....dunno.


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## Corenfa (Jun 9, 2014)

I have a friend who rides from Inwood to midtown and back (about 20 round miles) and gets in about 700' in that time. 300' might be right, but I don't know what distances you're covering. If you were to head out this way, you can get 3,000' of climbing in a 20 mile commute easily. :-0
It's all relative. When I lived out in DC, a hilly ride would have me doing 1,000' in 40 miles. Here in Seattle, a 40 mile ride usually puts me above 3,500'. One adapts quickly though.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Your view does seem a bit out of kilter. Bridges and overpasses don't really count as "hills" out in the world of actual hills and mountains.



> Three bridges, three overpasses. Overall it says I'm climbing almost 300' for the entire one-way commute. Can this be right? Feels like a lot more.


Well this is about math, not "feelings." Six "climbs", total of 300 feet, would be 50 feet average. Think about those overpasses. Do you climb up to the 5th floor of nearby buildings? Not likely. One or more of the bridges are probably higher (the Brooklyn Bridge is about 275 feet above the water, but you don't start at sea level, most likely).

So 300 feet total could be about right. It may be a little more, because I suspect the googleMaps database doesn't catch the elevation of every 2-level road structure, but only the nearby ground level.

A Garmin or similar gps unit with an alitmeter would get you more accuracy. But it would still be a very flat ride by any standard but a barrier island.


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## MisterMike (Aug 12, 2004)

My guess is all the apps use very similar SRTM datasets to convert lat/lng values to elevation. Those datasets may or may not actually register small man made objects such as bridges. At least they are relatively small from the perspective of when the space shuttle conducted all its measurements. So if the bridge is over some gorge it's likely you will get full credit for the elevation change below the bridge. Cha-ching. I can't be certain this is the case for all bridges but I notice it on my elevation corrected results.

Barometric devices will not suffer this, however if you run their outputs (like gpx) through any app to correct them you will likely reintroduce the effect.


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## bmach (Apr 13, 2011)

Go and look up the bridges you cross and see what the clearance is, that will give you an idea as to the elavation gain is. The bridges over the cape cod canel are 135 feet. Yes it is not exact and there are other factors but it gives you an idea.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Personally, I'd say this is the bottom line: if the elevation gain of a ride I do is a few hundred feet, it's not worth counting. The ride is called "flat" - end of description. My commute takes me over a bridge, and up and down some flood-control structures, and up some gentle long slopes as I move away from the river. I've never bothered to measure the total climbing, but it's probably in the neighborhood of your 300 feet. It's a flat ride. I usually do it on a fixed-gear bike.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Oh well. On the mtb it does feel like a lot more, but on the skinny tires, the hills aren't as bad. Rode the skinny tires this morning and I can see why these climbs barely register as "climbs!" And here I was all impressed with the hill work I'm getting


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## Corenfa (Jun 9, 2014)

Christine said:


> Oh well. On the mtb it does feel like a lot more, but on the skinny tires, the hills aren't as bad. Rode the skinny tires this morning and I can see why these climbs barely register as "climbs!" And here I was all impressed with the hill work I'm getting


Ha. That's okay. We've all been there at one point or another. Just let us know when you get that crazy bug where you actually start chasing big climbs and you can't get enough of it! (And big climbs are anything over 1000' of elevation in a single climb. 2,000' is awesome. 5,000' is epic).


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Our "big" climb is one John likes to do upstate- takes me an hour and 20min to ride up a trail that's 1.3 miles long. Yeah, that's right- 1mph. And there are sections I walk. It's pathetic but it's not the couch in any case! But that section is pretty much all uphill in the dirt.


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## Corenfa (Jun 9, 2014)

Christine said:


> Our "big" climb is one John likes to do upstate- takes me an hour and 20min to ride up a trail that's 1.3 miles long. Yeah, that's right- 1mph. And there are sections I walk. It's pathetic but it's not the couch in any case! But that section is pretty much all uphill in the dirt.


That's a great start though and you should be commended for doing it. Even knowing it's going to be hard, you get out there and do it. Rock on!


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Sadly, we've BEEN doing it for quite some time now.......just a couple of times a year but it would be nice to gain a bit of speed......someday I'll break 1hr 15


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## Corenfa (Jun 9, 2014)

Is that on a MTB or a Road Bike?
Regardless, that's how it starts - working hard, working hard, working hard, then next thing you know, you've shaved off time. You're still working hard, you're just getting to the top faster. 

BTW - I like doing dirt/fire roads on a road bike, even with climbs. It's a totally different challenge than a MTB. You have to stay seated on some seriously steep climbs or the rear wheel loses traction. You've got to keep your balance forward though, or you can lift your front wheel off the ground.

Fun!


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Corenfa said:


> Is that on a MTB or a Road Bike?
> Regardless, that's how it starts - working hard, working hard, working hard, then next thing you know, you've shaved off time. You're still working hard, you're just getting to the top faster.
> 
> BTW - I like doing dirt/fire roads on a road bike, even with climbs. It's a totally different challenge than a MTB. You have to stay seated on some seriously steep climbs or the rear wheel loses traction. You've got to keep your balance forward though, or you can lift your front wheel off the ground.
> ...


The long climb is on mtbs. We get to the top of that section, then follow a trail (bit more climbing, not much, mostly level) to the scenic overlook, take a break and have a snack, then bushwhack through a forest to the paved park road.

Ride to the campground, bathroom break, then 30min of loose, rocky downhill to the paved residential streets. Snack/drink break at the gas station, then another 1/4 mile paved road back to the car. Total time 4hrs; total *ride* time around 3hrs 15min.

Can't see doing the DH part on road bikes! :lol: As it was, this morning, the usual rough spots in the streets were sketchy on the skinny tires. Had to re-think all my lines! But the smooth sections were blissfully fast and quiet. Actually passed a few people on the bridge climbs. :thumbsup:


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Just for the heck of it, I took the Garmin on my morning commute yesterday, taking my most common route with a relatively low bridge over the Connecticut River. A whopping 85 feet of climbing in 5.8 miles, even flatter than I supposed. 

I did hit 26.7 mph at one point, which on my fixed gear works out to about 123 rpm, a nice little spin.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Now I'm wondering about the laps in Central Park. One big climb, with a handful of moderate ones thrown in. Must be something posted online about CP.....


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## Corenfa (Jun 9, 2014)

Do you use Strava? There are a few segments in CP. Strava gets a negative reputation, but it's only bad if you use it badly. Otherwise, it's a fantastic means of tracking progress and routes. The big hills in CP are still itty bitty hills in general. In comparison, the hill heading back to my house on my commute home is .8 miles with a gain of 450'. That's a hill. ;-)


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Christine said:


> Now I'm wondering about the laps in Central Park. One big climb, with a handful of moderate ones thrown in. Must be something posted online about CP.....


Central Park Outer Loop in New York, NY, United States | MapMyRun
Central Park Bike Map - New York City | NYC Bike Maps


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Thanks!! So what's the elevation gain........? I love how the profile has the "landmarks."

I used to train for the VT50 by riding loops around CP, but I don't work in the park anymore. I'm curious how it compares to my current commute. The repeated loops probably add up to a lot more climbing than the commute.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Christine said:


> Thanks!! So what's the elevation gain........?


274 feet per lap


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

So 274' per 6-mile lap vs 300-some feet in 16 miles. Bah, guess my current commute has nothing on my old one! 

Used to ride the 6 miles to work (in the park), do laps, then ride 6 miles home, so I was climbing twice as much, at least.


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