Well, yesterday, returning from a ride down Barbur and out on the Springwater Corridor to the Sellwood Bridge and back, I was faced with a quandry: low-angle return, or high-angle return. Normally, I’d ride back over the Hawthorne Bridge, get over to Broadway, and ride back up Barbur for a steady, but low-gradient rise out of the city. Instead, I chose to tackle one of my scariest challenges: Corbett Avenue. I hope to add a photo of this fearsome hill tomorrow, but for today, here’s a look at the hill via my gps software (the excellent Ascent program for the Mac):
[click on image to enlarge]
The Corbett hill is on the far right, where all the gradients are listed. It’s seldom less than 10%, and peaks out at just over 16%! Needless to say, it kicked my butt right good. But I’ll be back, after I’ve shed some more pounds and refined my hill climbing technique. Next year, it’ll just be a good section for cardio kick before I return home.
Here’s the view from the bottom of Corbett, looking up (southbound):
