City Hills #1

The September issue of OutThere Monthly had an article 10 Spokane-Area Hills to Climb Before You Die.  These are all climbs of at least a mile long, on paved roads located in and out of the city.  This got me thinking about the shorter hills in town off my commute and other longer unpaved climbs I like to tackle.  Hills like Monroe and Post Streets, Downriver, Houston Road, Idaho Rd.  Paved and gravel.  The idea was to ride more of these hills on my way home and build some strength.  And document them with distance and grade.

Well that didn't last long, but I did manage to garmanize two short hills. The first is the winding path from the Sandifur Bridge by People's Park to the Centennial Trail.   You may check the stats at The Sandifur Bridge Hill.  It's a whopping .34 miles long with a 98' elevation gain.  I believe the grade topped out around 8%.  A good little climb.

the view from the bottom

from the top

I really need to ride this a couple times each whenever i ride by it.

The next one I usually ride by on my way home is the hill down to the Sans Souci West  modular home park, former site of the Natatorium Park.  For years, when I ride by it with Debbie I joke that we should bike down it.  I'm so funny.  She always says go for it.  She'll be waiting for me.

at Boone and Summit Blvd

I finally took the plunge the same day as the Sandifur hill above. See garmin at Sans Souci Hill.  Another whopper at .41 miles and 89' elevation gain.  This one, though, is steeper than Sandifur - if I remember right it tops out at 10% grade. A good workout.  I couldn't make it all the way to the bottom, as Sans Souci West is signed for residents only.

Edition # 2 of City Hills should appear within the next 12 months.  I took a ride down the trail from Browne's Addition (3rd Ave/Couer d'Alene St.) to the river a while back.  Did not ride it back up, though.  Next I need to ride Houston Rd again and save the garmin stats for it, and then post these hills.