It’s a good hill. I think some of the hills near the training center are steaper. Alpe d’huez is basically sugarloaf for 9 miles:)
Did this race in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Won my age group in 2005. This was before I got a garmin GPS for my bike. Not sure what the grade is but I only consider it a moderate climb and I climb many hills as hard or harder every week during the season. This would be a blimp on the map for all the cyclist in the TDF. It would need to be much longer to get catagorized. Also during the time frame I did the race it was a 2 loop course that went up sugarloaf and the other the hills twice. Being from Northwest PA the hills didn’t bother me, it was always the hot temps. Its hard to go from training in average temps of 40 to 50 in October then race in 80 to 90 temps.
Considering going back this fall if IM Lake Placed goes well and can keep motivated to train a couple of more months.
Just mapped a climb near my house - 3,100 ft in 10.5 miles = about 5.6% grade. Thats near a climb the tour would do I hope ! After that section there’s a 1/2 mile descent before another 4 miles or so section with another 1,300 ft of climbing to the top of Mingus Mtn at 7,200 ft .
That climb hurts alot!!
I THINK I just mapped it…215 ft of elevation at 3/4 mile long = “about” 5.45% grade average ? Correct me if I am wrong : )
If that is true, and it looks pretty close, that isn’t much of a climb at all. I can do that on a 53/23 without standing up, and I am not exactly a great climber.
I THINK I just mapped it…215 ft of elevation at 3/4 mile long = “about” 5.45% grade average ? Correct me if I am wrong : )
Thats not alot by tour standards. Don’t think would even make a ranked climb. Thats a pretty normal sized climb where I live. I frequently encounter climbs at 4-6% for much longer then that. I"m sure the Alps and such are much longer and steeper overall.
Yep, that seems about right. Like i stated before, haveing rode up the hill many times between 2003 and 2006 i don’t consider it that hard.
I measured it back in 2006. It is around 11% grade with a 20 yd section of 17% with a total length of about 1/2 mile.
If your in Clermont, check out the hill off of Steve’sRd/hwy 27. There is a fairly new sub-division that has Wilma Lake in it. There is a road don’t know the name that has a sharper incline than Sugarloaf.
Rex
I’d give it an A- to B+.
That hill is the only experience I have with climbing. I was wondering, do the tour guys basically ride Sugarloaf for 2 miles…multiple times in a stage?
ProTour Riders would consider Sugarloaf a small bump in the road at best. I remember doing it during the Clermont Challenge- and the climb was over before it began- i.e. it’s very, very short and I don’t remember it being very steep- nothing like some posters are saying 15/17%. If it is that steep- it’s probably that steep for only a handful of feet, and nothing sustained. Some of the climbs in this years tour are north of 10 miles long.
Thanks, folks. I did GFT in 2005 (double loop) and '08. Planning to do GFT again this year. Just was curious how a hill like Sugarloaf would compare, that’s all.
Really was I was curious about was how fast these guys climb up these mountains, with the average grade equal to (or greater than) Sugarloaf, and how effing hard I have thought it was. The ease that they seem to climb is incredible.
Here is a photo I did this morning about half way up Sugarloaf. From where I am and the end of the road below is 3/4 of a mile. The 90 degree turn at the top of Sugarloaf is about another half mile behind me.
One of the things that makes Sugarloaf stand out is that people think that Florida is Panama City Beach flat. Being the highest point in peninsular Florida, Sugarloaf Mtn reminds people that Florida isn’t so flat.
Earlier today on Sugarloaf Mtn in Clermont FL. http://twitpic.com/2stuy0
I remember seeing Sugarloaf for the first time and being somewhat surprised to find a bump like that in Florida…but, in the context of other climbs, both here in NC or out west in the “real mountains”…it is not particularly challenging (and no, it wouldn’t begin to be a catagorized climb). 25-30 minute climbs that average 6% are common…
That said…hitting this little jewel at 100 miles on IM race day would suck, no doubt.
I measured it back in 2006. It is around 11% grade with a 20 yd section of 17% with a total length of about 1/2 mile.
If your in Clermont, check out the hill off of Steve’sRd/hwy 27. There is a fairly new sub-division that has Wilma Lake in it. There is a road don’t know the name that has a sharper incline than Sugarloaf.
Rex
+1 - around 11 - 12% grade for most of it.
He doesnt do that anymore? The GFT used to include 2x sugarloaf.
My experience as well. Just not expecting it. 2nd is its setting. It is sort of visually intimidating without and trees or ground cover to speak of it sticks out of the landscape like an obelisk.
I need to get over there and try it. My wife thought it was tough, but she doesn’t do anything more than a causeway over here on the coast. Hills are tough to come by in Florida!
I think ironmanrex has a pretty good handle on the climb. I measured the center section at about 15-20% grade with an inclinometer, but that’s only for 20-30 yards. It’s enough to bring you to a halt if you can’t easily put out over 300W though. IIRC it’s about 8-9% average grade for ~350ft total climbing. Technically it’s about 3/4 of a mile long, but the low slope start (3% or so) takes up quite a bit of that…and is just enough to slow you down to your bottom gear. Last time I went up it, it took me about 345W at 50-60rpm in a 40/23. It would take 450W in a 52/23 to do that, for about 4 minutes. I’d love to see anyone but a serious racer do that in the middle of a 12 hour racing day without really hurting themselves. I can do 400W for 4 minutes easy, but I sure wouldn’t want to do it on race day, especially with all the other hills in the course!
FYI I rode 3 loops of the course a couple of weeks back and the total climbing was around 4500ft. IIRC that’s almost as much as Lake Placid or Cour deAlene. The GFT is not for wussies.
What is the “Jenkins Jinx” & why is everyone around Clermont talking about it this week?
Is a tri or road bike set up preferable for this course? I’m considering entering next year and I can only train on the flat roads of South Florida.
Tri bike for sure, even with a disc if you have one. There’s lots of little climbs in 112 miles, but not enough to use a road bike over a tri bike. When I lived in FL I did that climb in a few times in training for GFT and rode it 3 times in a row and the third time was in a 39-23 seated. Not real fast but it is doable. I’m too big to be a good climber. Take a day or two during your build up to ride the course or parts of it. It’ll prepare you mentaly for that hill. It will not make or break your race, its a “blip” in 112 miles.
Hmmmm…I think I’ve heard of that before. Something to do with an automatic DNF whenever I enter a race? Something like that?
Personally I’d ride a tri setup for the GFT, no reason to ride a roadie setup. I ride a Hed3 and Renn disc, because I coast past people on the downhills that felt like every hill was a competition for the local Wednesday Night World Championships. Last year coming off of Green Mountain (on 561 behind Sugarloaf) I made nearly a half mile on 2 people because I pushed over the top and then hit a low aero tuck. Coasting at 40-45mph while your competition is sitting up and pushing is fun!