This image is the road to Rocky Butte, an extinct cinder cone volcano that is a mile from my house. The road winds up the hill for over a mile. The bike ride down is incredible, but the climb up is a painstakingly arduous task. Since starting my bike-loving life in Portland, I have embarked on a quest to find the perfect hill. I have a few qualifications that this hill must meet:
1. There must not be too much traffic. There is this one hill that I get to ride every morning into downtown Portland. In order to get to the bottom, I must traverse 7 stop lights. When the stop lights are all synced up, it's green green green. Many times I hit the hill on a red light, and then have to fly down a block, only to hit another red light, and so on. At these times, I am usually traveling much faster than the cars that are in the lanes with me, which can be problematic. Also, a girl was hit by a semi turning right at one of these intersections. Not the ideal hill!
2. The road must be paved and smooth. There is another hill that I get to take to work everyday. The road is an old neighborhood road that is cracking and is filled with rocks. My bike bumps and bops the entire way down. I am always afraid that I am going to pop a tire or have my lights and pannier fly off my bike.
3. No stop signs to interrupt the glee. There are quite a few perfect hills that are ruined with a stop sign in the middle of them. Stop signs on hills cause me to have to wear out my brake pads way too much than I would like. Also, I am always tempted not to stop and continue on my merry way, except that I have encountered quite a few close calls.
4. The effort must not outweigh the payoff. The road to Rocky Butte (pictured above) is an intense uphill climb. Some hills in Portland are so taxing that I start to hear my heartbeat in my ears (anyone else know that feeling?) That is not how I want to start my descent! I enjoy putting in mild to medium effort to get up a hill, but if I haven't chosen "hill climbing" as my exercise for the day, then I don't want to feel like I am going to pass out before I get to fly down the hill.
5. While riding down the hill, I must have the impulse to say "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" This one is self-explanatory.
I have experienced many hills that come very close to being the perfect hill. I even have one that currently has the top spot. It is a neighborhood road near Laurelhurst Park. The road is Ankeny. There is a moderate climb for about 7 blocks before the hill. The hill slopes down and curves gently as is descends. It is not as high as I would like it to be, but it certainly makes me say "wheeeeee!"
