This was the day for which I have been hauling my grandmother gear (1:1) all the way across the USA. Today there were many category 2 hills, five category 1 hills and one beyond category. To refresh your memories, category 2 is the grade I went up the continental divide in Montana, but today I encountered hills that I would not have been able to go up without my lowest gear, and there was the one hill which I would not have been able to go much farther without a rest. For those who like numbers for these kind of grades, I call a 6-7% grade category 2 (requiring my second to lowest gear), and (estimating now) 10-12% for category 1 (my lowest gear) and maybe 15% for the steepest. The other thing to realize is that hills automatically are much steeper if encountered at the end of the day.
I did not bring my transit and plumb line with me to actually measure the grade but it is a rare day when I have had the wherewithall to hop off my bike to measure the grade in the middle of the steepest part. It is usually good enough to have cycled over it.
All in all, this day made the hills I found in Wisconsin seem tame. However, still nothing compares to the Bighorn Mountains. That said, I am wondering if my enthusiasm will endure several more (consecutive) days of steep, repeated hills. The logic of Babcock and Turner's route is obvious.
In a footnote to the last letter he wrote to his brother before striking off for Jefferson, Babcock wrote:
I hope you are not disappointed about the fact of our trip lasting into August, but when the trip is no record buster, and we can get no honor for fast riding, we might as well take it easy and see the country, especially when we are not on expense, we think it a good place to rest and recuperate.
This was written on August 6th and sent in the morning mail. They seem to be enjoying their celebrity status, and their free lodgings.
58 tough miles today and more in store.
Getting my climbing legs back.
Dennis