http://www.blog.ultracycle.net Ultra Cycling Distance and Difficulty Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:46:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en What is Percent Grade The term “grade” comes from civil engineering and is the most common method of specifying the sloop of a hill.  By definition, grade is defined as: It is not the angle of the hill, which is measured in degrees.  A very steep section could be a 20% grade, which is about a [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/03/how-steep For those who live in the bay area and want to test their climbing skills on some of the local favorites, the 2010 Low Key Hill Climb schedule has been announced. These have had a large turn out and you can make up your own category. Many of the climbs that are planned [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/03/2010-low-key-hill-climb-series by Lane Parker After I failed to complete the Devil Mountain Double back in 2007 I decided that super long rides were not for me. So, the 300K (188 miles) seemed out of the question but I’ve been doing so well this year with distances up to 150 miles that I felt like the 300K [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/03/sfr-russian-river-300k-brevet http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/02/auburn-century-140-miles-17000-feet-of-climbing http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2009/10/white-rim-trail-in-a-day http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2009/10/mount-washington-race http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2009/10/white-mountain-double by Clyde Butt Prep After a 19 month absence from riding in California Triple Crown series events, I’m glad I chose to do this one. A long term period of unemployment forced me into survival mode – I simply could not justify or pay for the events. Praise God, I landed safely at Brocade last month (08/10/2009), [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2009/09/knoxville-fall-classic-double-century-09192009 by Franz Kelsch I have ridden the Furnace Creek 508 twice and crewed on the Hoodoo 500 once and thought I would give some perspective of the two. In summary I feel those interested in doing such a long event might consider the Hoodoo 500 instead of the Furnace Creek 508 for the following reasons. [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2009/09/furnace-creek-or-hoodo-500 by Russ Stevens I want to say thank you to everyone who sent words of encouragement over the past few days. They have really helped me get through this week and help me gain the perspective that a DNF after 350 miles in <22 hours is more of an accomplishment than a failure. There are [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2009/09/hoodoo-500-ride-report-2009