Coachhouse Dr/Woodland Way is for sadists...

Ok, so I do a lot of hills riding... ride to work into the city then back to home to the hills etc.

A few months ago instead of riding up Norton Summit Rd home I thought I'd give Coachhouse Dr/Woodland Way a crack for the first time.

OMG... it is a total sufferfest! I've never felt so tortured in my life! Absolutely shattered by the end.

So I was pretty hesitatent to give Corkscrew Rd a crack after 80kms on the Ride for Pain this weekend because I'd built it up to be like Coachhouse Dr/Woodland Way in my mind. Once I'd done it, honestly I didn't think it was too bad at all!

So I'd like to know what you'd rate as the 3 hardest climbs you done around Adelaide!

Is Coachhouse Dr/Woodland Way THAT bad lol?!

Tags: climbing

1 member likes this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Justin V on April 30, 2012 at 21:51

Compact 11-28. Get up almost anything. I'm not that pro to notice the larger gaps in the bigger end of the cassette.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Patrick O'Kane on April 30, 2012 at 23:04

Saddlebags Rd at Kangarilla is a biatch, steep with a crappy surface, nice descent afterwards but you certainly have to earn it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ricky on May 1, 2012 at 0:38

I used to run 39 x 23 as my lowest gear and only got up Coachouse/Woodland without stopping once out of 4 attempts. The worst was when I stopped in a driveway on the right. Got going again and only made it to the next driveway. Other testers are Nicols Rd and Parish Hill Rd both running off Greenhill Rd near Uraidla, Checkers, Stentiford, Potter Rd at Clarendon and Greenhills Rd between Maccy and Meadows. Ive not stopped on any other hills so I rate Coachouse/Woodland as the toughest Ive ridden in Adl. I havent tried Bangor of Kensington or Coach yet.

The hardest Ive ever ridden is the 18km Grand Colombier in the Jura mtns in France. I was only doing 7km/h with 34 x 27 on a rough surface with one of the km having a avg gradient 17% with a max of 22% By comparison Coachhouse/Woodlandis 23% max.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by daniel f on May 1, 2012 at 0:50

I'm riding the Alpe D'Huez, Ventoux and Glandon in July this year!

None of those are steeper than 12%... just really long grinds at 7-12%.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laurens Bloem on May 1, 2012 at 14:33

Never did Glandon, but Alpe d'Huez and Ventoux are great! The trick is to get in the right heart rate zone and then keep it up for over an hour.
Enjoy your trip!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sam Young on May 1, 2012 at 2:07

Parish Hill is another killer, but at least it's short!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Katrina on May 1, 2012 at 16:36

We rode up Potter/Potters? Rd at Claredon for the first time recently and found it fairly tough. I don't know how it compares to some of these others but I find Haywood Drive a killer too, though it's relatively short and sweet.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laurens Bloem on May 1, 2012 at 14:31

It doesn't look that impressive, but this has taken me a few attempts to climb without getting off the bike for a breather:
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?saddr=Morgan+Rd&daddr=Morgan+Rd&...
Morgan Road.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by rossmg on May 1, 2012 at 19:23

I've got my best top speed going down Morgan Rd - never been up, the ride back to the Stirling/Crafers area though has really pretty *up* hill road(s) though ;-)