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Steeeep climbs - Kanagawa?

pmh200111

Cruising
Aug 16, 2012
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Anyone know any steep climbs - needn't be that long - say 3km or or over in Kanagawa and with 15-25% gradients?
 
Probably anything-rindō in the mountains around Hadano. The old Tōkaidō at Hakone. Shōnandai probably not long enough for you.
 
There are plenty of steep passages on longer climbs, but 15% avg over 1km+ are rare, I think.
 
I agree with Gunjira.
With my limited knowledge I can't think of a 3km+ climb with 15%+ avg gradient.

The (in)famous Mikuni for example is like 6.5km long with max 18%, but avg is like "only" 10%.
The "Laputa" located somewhere on the west side of Wada is very steep (avg 19%, max 28%) but "only" 800m long.

[Edit]
...wait... most part of Mikuni is not even in Kanagawa...sorry!
 
Not sure why you would even want that steep for training on - if you gave some more insight in to why there are several professional coaches here that might give you some pointers on how to achieve what you are aiming for.
 
3 km with 15-25% is 450-750 m elevation gain. Since Kanagawa doesn't have a lot of mountains over 1000 m and passes usually avoid the tallest peak such numbers are hard to find.

You're more likely to find what you're seeking where there are taller mountains. Or you could switch to a heavy touring bike and fill the panniers with bricks :)
 
You're more likely to find what you're seeking where there are taller mountains. Or you could switch to a heavy touring bike and fill the panniers with bricks :)

erm yeah .....of just ride in a harder gear maybe?
 
Anyone know any steep climbs - needn't be that long - say 3km or or over in Kanagawa and with 15-25% gradients?

But back to this - basically you don't need a gradient so steep it is very easy to find a 3km climb and then simulate a steeper gradient by riding it at a lower gear ratio and a lower cadence. Very similar to hill climb training on flats, basically a cadence of 85rph or lower in a heavy gear that allows LT and heart rate to build up.

However optimal cadence for climbing is over 85rpm however unless you are running a MTB setup there is no way you could maintain that on a gradient of 15-25%.
 
Giving this some more thought, probably the small roads and rindos branching off North from dochi michi are a good shot. Lots of 15%-25%ers, but most will turn into brushwood after 1.5km max. You can use strava to explore segments. More popular ones also come up on the race shape heat map (google), but steep short climbs are not popular enough for some reason, so they are often filtered out.

Daibosatsu toge really surprised me in a hurtful way last weekend, but that's out of Kanagawa.

Like Fareast said, it really depends what you want to do, but I can train and suffer sufficiently on what is out there in Kanagawa.
 
3 km with 15-25% is 450-750 m elevation gain. Since Kanagawa doesn't have a lot of mountains over 1000 m and passes usually avoid the tallest peak such numbers are hard to find.

You're more likely to find what you're seeking where there are taller mountains. Or you could switch to a heavy touring bike and fill the panniers with bricks :)

Thanks! Good idea. As for insight - I'm heading back to the UK (West Yorkshire) in summer and will be out with my bro - he's bound to drag me up all manner of steep climbs - the most infamous being "the Mytholm steeps" - which is I think 25% in parts but short.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/a...ritains-greatest-cycling-climbs.html?image=12

We might even attempt one of the 2 TDF stages being held there next year. I'm looking forward to the great scenery again.
 
Take a day out in Okutama. Climb Mitake, Nokogiri, and Kazahari-rindo. That'll prepare you for owt Yorkshire can come up wi'. Watch out for monkeys.

Aye, but does it prepare you for the road surfaces you will encounter and the drivers...spoilt here in Japan!

To the OP, I`ve driven up and down there a few times, but never biked it. As for steep gradients, they`re mainly on the corners/hairpins, so if you have the luxury of bending the line (no traffic coming), then it`s not so bad. Like Joewein said, I often do hill repeats on the mama chariot, and find that that replicates pretty closely steep gradients on the roadbike, in terms of low cadence/high pedal force and building core strength.
 
Laputa came to my mind as well, although I never rode it, just heard about it from Mr. Swift.

Even more extreme is the small road up from Takimoto, the lower station of the Mitake cable car to Mitake-San. The road to the cable car station branches off from road 411 from Ome to Okutama at Mitake station. (see Togebaka #17: http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.de/p/postivo-espresso-hall-of-fame-togebaka.html) It seems to end at the cable car station but it continues in the nearby forrest up the whole way to Mitake-San. It is used by small delivery cars to transport supplies to the stores, pensions and temples on top of Mitake-San: http://goo.gl/maps/1EBmj

Of course Wada Toge or Kazahari Rindo are also a good training ground if you look for steep slopes that you can ride with a racing bike without a tripple.
 
Well, Yorkshire was pretty tough. Almost 5000 metres in less than 75km on one ride. A bit of a shock to my system. I managed to do the "mytholm steeps" too - but only a masochist would go back there regularly!

That aside, I'm planning to go out to Otsuki and do the loop this week. Does is get cool at higher levels - any arm warmers, layers needed?
 
Well, Yorkshire was pretty tough. Almost 5000 metres in less than 75km on one ride. A bit of a shock to my system. I managed to do the "mytholm steeps" too - but only a masochist would go back there regularly!

That aside, I'm planning to go out to Otsuki and do the loop this week. Does is get cool at higher levels - any arm warmers, layers needed?
5000m in Yorkshire in less than 75km? Measured on a dodgy iPhone app by any chance? ;)
 
5000m in Yorkshire in less than 75km? Measured on a dodgy iPhone app by any chance? ;)

Agreed, an average gradient of 13% (5 km over 1/2 of 75 km) is highly unlikely. Mobile phone GPS apps like to overestimate climbing, as does RideWithGPS.
 
Not sure about the app - not mine - called bike brain - but sorry - 75 miles not km!!
Re the windbreaker - thanks for the advice.
 
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