# twin cities hills



## naawillis (Oct 6, 2004)

ive only ever really lived/done any real biking in the midwest. now, i may not be a smart man, but i know we dont have no mountains to speak of. i read posts about climbs and grades and avg speeds up this and that and i feel like i have no basis for comparison. does anyone know actual data on big climbs in the twin cities area? i would love to get out there and calibrate my sense of gradient. i climb the hill where grand, ramsey and summit all converge about 3x per week, and thats a doozy. i live close by there, so its always at the very end of the ride too. when i get to the top i start the warm down. ill usually run a 36x21 up it or maybe a 36x19 if i ate my wheaties. anyway, i checked out this thread, and now im sorta wondering where these climbs were. there are a couple other respectable hills on 63 (delaware) 32 (cliff rd) 31 (pilot knob) and sibley memorial hwy, all in the mendota hts/egan area. i use most of those for sprinting hills though. they're all pretty short. all you twin cities folks i expect you to chime in!


----------



## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

*Hills of note, I'll look up the grades on Delorme when I have more time.*

The TCBC Tears, Fears, and Gears route is a good sampling of hills in your area. It includes Ramsey Hill, Ohio across the river up the opposite bluff, the High Bridge, Hwy 13 out of Mendota, and Davern from 7th up to St. Paul Ave. You're likely familiar with all these since it sounds like the route circles your neighborhood. 

Other notables, all short
1) Highwood between Douglas Point Trail (hwy 61) and McKnight
2) Dale up from Concord by Fury Motors
3) The bike path from State Park Visitors Center up to the Historic Fort in Fort Snelling State Park
4) Dell, Eden Prairie Rd, and Spring up from Flying Cloud to Pioneer in Eden Prairie
5) St. Croix Trail about a mile south of Afton St. Park, going either direction
6) 2nd Street in Stillwater (the one they run the Great River Crit up)
7) St. Croix Trail south out of downtown Afton to 50th. (I've often wondered if this is the longest sustained climb in Minnesota)
8) My two neighborhood climbs are Bush Lake Road southbound by the Ski Jump and the shorty up from the old Bloomington Ferry Bridge bike river crossing. 
9) Old 18 south between Eagle Creek and Co Rd 42 isn't steep but it's longest by MN standards. 

Beyond that I'm having a hard time recalling others without getting a fair ways out from the Twin Cities. The Maiden Rock area on Hwy 35 in Wisconsin, the climb through New Prague (don't know the streets name), hwy 30 out of Chatfield westbound come to mind.

I'll run some of these through Delorme and see what it says about them when it's not my bedtime. Goodnight for now

Scot


----------



## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

*Delorme Results*

Ok I dropped a few notable regional hills into Delorme 
The results are somewhat subjective since I pick the start and end points, change the start and end points by a few yards you get different results.
Ramsey Hill 9.68%
Dale by Fury Motors 9.69%
Highwood up from Hwy 61 5.58%
Fort Snelling Trail from visitors center to fort 6.15% (this ones likely way off since I had to draw the trails path on the map. I likely wasn't that percise, but this is just for fun, right)
St. Croix Trail southbound out of Afton 5.12%
2nd Street Stillwater 8.40%
Bloomington Ferry 9.11% for all of 843 feet
Dell Road Eden Prairie 6.81 %
Eden Prairie Road 6.72%

BTW: I rode outdoors today wooooohooooooo

Scot


----------



## naawillis (Oct 6, 2004)

*great post*

thanks a lot. or i guess, thanks for lowering my cycling self-esteem.  knowing that ramsey is ~10% will seriously readjust my position when i'm reading posts about guys doing 1 and 2 mile 15% climbs. i just rode a century today, but it makes me want to get out and train. sheesh.


----------



## 4bykn (Jan 28, 2001)

You self-esteem need not be lower, remember that many of these "1 and 2 mile 15% climbs" are only estimates, and I'd guess are really not that steep, or maybe 15 is the peak pitch while the entire climb may average 10%. A 2 mile 15% climb???? Holy crap...that'd be tough.


----------



## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

*I've often heard Ramsey described as a 12% grade*

I'd never tried to measure it myself before now, but I've heard people talk about Ramsey as a 12% grade for years. In Delorne you click on the map for a start point then click again for an end point. As I recall I clicked the intersection of Ramsey and Grand for the start and Summit and Ramsey for the end. That likely includes a few yards of flat on each end, thus the sub 12% grade. I'd go ahead and take credit for a 12% climb. 

Scot


----------



## JaeBeam (Aug 23, 2004)

When I commute home, I have to climb that bastard of a hill that is Bloomington Ferry Bridge.

The "game" I play is to do it without getting up from my saddle. Thats only a 10% grade? 15% *yikes*


----------



## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

I saw some crazy people riding DOWN Ramsey hill... something I'm not enthusiastic about considering there is a light at the bottom.


----------



## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

*Look for me*

I'm out to 101 and back from the Bloomington side almost every weekday shortly after sun up. I haven't started yet this year, still on the rollers, but maybe Monday if the weather holds. 

Winter fattened guy on white Specialized. 

BTW: Delorme is still showing the old Ferry road as a road all the way over the river. Dosn't look like they've updated their maps to reflect that it's not a road anymore. I measured the road they show on the map. The new access raod may be steeper. I think they flattened a portion of the slope to put in the parking area, therfore the new hill is shorter and steeper. 


Scot


----------



## JaeBeam (Aug 23, 2004)

Hey! I've seen you Scott! Or, I've seen somebody on a white specialized pass me twice, going south on Normandale, but south of Old Shakopee road, before you hook up with Bloomington Ferry road.

I'm the 6'1"/196pound guy going torturously slow on a 1980's black steel framed road bike, wearing a camel back, and occasionally an orange blinky vest.

When I commute, I take 101 to Valley park. I ride in from SW Minneapolis (I live about 2 blocks from FilterSweep)


----------



## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

*Likely me*

I live at 95th and Normandale. I'm not on Normandale allot, I mostly use Hampshire and the park trails between my house and Auto Club Road. But hey it's the neighborhood, I'm around everywhere at one time or another. 

If you're using Normandale much you may want to consider slideing over to Nesbitt or into Hyland Park as an alternative. I'm assuming you're crossing 494 at Xerxes, however way you come south (still on Xexes maybe) you'll cross 90th. Go West on 90th (becomes 94th) to Nesbitt. Then take Nesbitt South. You'll end up on Hamphire. You may have looked at maps and seen the Hampshire deadends befor autoclub.....well not if you're on a bike. Keep your nose pointed south when you hit the deadend, you'll be on Auto Club in seconds. 

Scot


----------

