Has this ever happened to you on a ride?

[Volant]

Have you ever been on a ride and hit a point where you just wanted to get off the main route? You may not know where you're going to end up but you might discover some new terrain? There's a 'hilly' area near me that has a lot of back roads that I've always thought, hmmmm, if I go left there, that might turn out interesting. Or, that could be a nice short-cut, or long-cut, around that painful climb I'm not in shape for yet.
Well, I went for a little ride yesterday, and instead of going straight as usual, I took a left. Going straight meant a nice easy shallow decline for a several miles and then a long slow incline (between 3% and 5%) for about 6 miles back up to the top of this hill. I thought by going left, the road would take me around the 'hill' the other way and I thought I knew where I'd come out (on the downside of the hill near a nice flat stretch back to my starting point). I got it WAY wrong.
As soon as I made the turn, I started headed up. I didn't think this was so bad and maybe a little steeper incline for a short stint wouldn't be bad thing. But after 1 mile, it went from about a 6% grade to a 10-11%. My quads were asking my brain, "What were you thinking?!" Thank goodness it eased off pretty quickly and then, ahh, a decline. I thought, yep, this will take me right around the hill and I'll pick up the main road and have a nice flat ride back. I was smiling and enjoying the new scenery until the road suddenly turned into the hill. I'm thinking, ***? These things are steep! At 3.5 in, the incline on my computer is showing 17%! I'm out of the saddle, out of gears and my legs and lungs are about to explode. I now realize, this is a short-cut, but not around this thing. I think about stopping, as I'm just about doing a trackstand anyway, but that song from that kid's Christmas show hits my mind, "Put one foot in front of the other..." Not the same, but if I can just keep pushing down, and pulling up, I'll get through this. I'm not thinking about spinning nice circles as I was just a little while back on the flat road. I'm thinking, "I can't get enough oxygen, the pain, push harder, pull harder, oh my God am I out of shape, I should be at home watching NCAA basketball, sitting on my butt and eating Cheetos! No, it's just a little hill, c'mon now.... stay focused.... oh, the burn." I got a short, wicked, reprieve about a mile later with a white nuckle 10% decline and then it was back up, but only between 7% and 10% for a little over a mile. It's amazing how something really steep can make 7% not seem so bad. And, here I was trying to avoid 3%-5%!
Well, it crested at the top of the hill. Not where I thought I would end up when I turned left about 6 miles back. But, I've found a new, very challenging course to take some friends on the next time someone says they need some hill work.
I plotted the route when I got back home. I think the software averages the grades when it segments it. I looked at it and thought, "Jeez, it felt harder than it looks."
So, any of you ever venture off the main path and end up with something unexpected like this?

[Ray]

Man, I ride specifically in order to venture off the main path. I have a few standard-ish routes for my shorter rides, but even on those I usually have several options to choose from for shortcuts or long-cuts. On longer rides, I'll often take turns just to see where the hell it goes. I've been riding in this area so much for long enough that I almost can't fool myself anymore on a ride of less than about 60 miles, but on a metric through a century, I ALWAYS find places I've never been before. I don't do long rides much anymore, so there's less of that, but I always mix it up, even within the routes I know well. Riding the same route all the time would take all of the fun out of it for me.

And, yeah, I've found some KILLER climbs that way. Most of them I've gone back to later, others I never wanted to see again.

-Ray

[don'TreadOnMe]

100% w/Ray.
I love doing the "I'm going hard for x hours, don't know where I'm going...see ya later" rides.
(kinda funny that Ray and I live in the same part of PA w/tons of great riding)

Sounds like you had a good one, Volant!

[Volant]

Yeah, I found one last year that although only 1 mile long, is 20% grade up and 20% down. It makes for a great leg-builder in the spring. I had ridden by it for years, not knowing it existed, but as the sun was going down one night, my riding partner and I said, let's see if this get's across to route XX (which was a safer route to come back on with the sun setting). It did get us across, but, we had to walk it the first time.

Exploring can be fun and rewarding, the only thing I hate sometimes are loose dogs and people who don't appreciate cyclists in their parts of the woods.

[Kines]

Not me. Oh I've got plenty of spontaneity and sense of adventure and all, but if I'm ever curious about a route, I come back on a motorcycle. That way, I get fun time in on the GS without the risk of being some place I regret on a bicycle.

KN

[MattTuck]

This makes me think about my own cycling, and what I get out of it.

There are certainly times that I just take a turn to see where something goes and discover new roads.

But more often than not, I ride one of about 5 or 6 "standard" routes. I have to say, there is something special about riding a route that you know well. There are routes that cyclists in this area avoid because they are "boring".

Two routes that I absolutely love come to mind, one is the section of VT Rt. 5 from East Thetford to Norwich. I know this road so well, it is kind of sad... I know every house, every little rise, where the shoulder is good, where to avoid it, exactly what is coming up on the next bend.

Another ride is from Norwich to Thetford over some hills, and again, I know every detail. I know where the pavement is crappy, where to take a drink, where to worry about cars, exactly what to expect...

I don't know, maybe I'm just boring... but there is something special about those rides.

[WadePatton]

always checking out new routes. might find less cars, better paving, or less dogs. climbs are a bonus! congrats.

and cool on knowing where the sun it and how it affects safety.

[konstantkarma]

That "happens" to me all the time. I'll ride a new route or drive by a road I haven't noticed before, and I'll try to work out in my mind where it goes. I fact I get kind of obsessed about it. Then one day while out on a "short ride" I'll ride it without really knowing where I'll end up. Around here that can be painful! But it is always worth it. I don't have a GPS, but I've never really gotten lost. I did have to call my wife once to ask here where the H E L L I was. She looked it up on a map and got me back to a known route. Took me a while to live that down :). I love riding, and I love novelty.

[jasond]

I guess I'm a bit more of a creature of habit. I tend not to venture off the path too much so I don't stick myself on a road that is to narrow and filled with pot holes. I tend to ride the roads I drive since driving them gives me a good idea of what the conditions are. Also, on longer rides of 75+ I like to map out where I'll stop for food and water. I tend to like places that I don't have to go into like an ice cream stand that sells decent food works nicely.

If I want to hit a serious hill I drive myself out to Wachusett Mountain and ride the auto road, 3.3 miles up with a varying degree of grades. The steepest grade I've seen was 17% probably averages 10% to 12%. I try to ride that 4 or 5 times and then drive home from there.

But finding a new route with a gem of a hill is great, congrats on that.

J

[Ti Designs]

I have no sense of direction. I'm not talking about a bad sense of direction or about being a poor judge of distance, we're talking born without a sense of direction. If you get to an intersection and you don't recognize any road leading away from there, your brain tells you that you're lost. If I get to an intersection and I don't recognize any road, my brain just tells me that I'm awake. I can get lost on main roads, side roads, dirt roads, no roads, open fields, parking lots, shopping malls, large buildings, small buildings and my own house (no joke, I've owned the house for 10 years and I still can't close my eyes and picture the floor plan)

[mnoble485]

Sounds like a good time. Some of my "regular" rides started out as "wonder where this goes" What did you use to produce the graph?

Mike

[Volant]

Hi Mike, I plotted the route at www.mapmyride.com and then just cut-n-pasted the elevation profile for posting.