Rangeview Drive

Distance: 1.9km

Avg Gradient: 5.9%

Metres Climbed: 114

Road Surface: Good

Strava: http://app.strava.com/segments/668507

This Climb is much harder than the raw stats make it look. It’s a decent connector from Stirling through to Uraidla or Carey Gully, but isn’t ever going to be a major part of your ride in it’s own right. Whichever way you go, the road descends one side of a valley, and climbs out of the other, but I’ll focus on the northerly ride. If you’re going south, the climb is straight and even and not very exciting. The Northward climb starts just past Spring Gully Road, as the road begins to point upwards.

 

You should have a decent amount of speed coming from the downhill, and you can use your momentum to your advantage, getting most of the way up the first rise. This climb is not even at all. After about 500m of climbing at 5-6%, the road dips down briefly, before jumping back into a steeper, nastier bit of climbing. For the next 700m, the road goes upwards at an average of about 9%, but varying between 4% and 12%. The constantly changing gradient makes it tricky to find any rhythm, but eventually it evens out again.

After that, the climb evens out again, and undulates for about 500m. You could be forgiven for thinking that you were finished. Chances are your legs wish you were finished. But you’re not. There’s one more climb before you’re done, 200m at about 13%.

 

Best to treat this as a power-climb in it’s own right. If you can gain some momentum through the undulations, this is pretty easy to power to the top of. If you can’t, you’re going to have a bad time.

Once you make it to the top of the power-hill, you’re done. From here, you can go on for a bit and then turn right towards Bridgewater down Carey Gully Road, or keep going until you hit Greenhill Road. You’re right near Deviation Road, or if you want some short, sharp climbing, go down Nicols Road.