Descent: 20 feet (6 m)
Description:
Joaquin Road is a short but steep road near the top of the paved
section of Alpine Road (east of Skyline). It climbs about 250 feet in
1/3 of a mile. The first few meters are gentle, but most of the
climbing hovers between 14% and 18%, with one short stretch hitting
20%.
Altimeter altitude
(Altitude linearly interpolated from altimeter
samples, and smoothed with a 0.04mi gaussian.)
![](joaquin_aalt.gif)
Each horizontal line is 100 feet. Each vertical
line is 0.2 miles. Gradiometer grade
(Grade linearly interpolated from gradiometer
samples, and smoothed with a 0.04mi gaussian.)
![](joaquin_ggrade.gif)
Each horizontal line is 2% grade. Each vertical
line is 0.2 miles. Altimeter grade
(Grade linearly interpolated from altimeter
samples, and smoothed with a 0.20mi gaussian.)
![](joaquin_agrade.gif)
Each horizontal line is 2% grade. Each vertical
line is 0.2 miles. Comparison of grades
(Green grade is from the gradiometer, magenta grade
is from the altimeter, and white is where they
overlap.)
![](joaquin_cgrade.gif)
Each horizontal line is 2% grade. Each vertical
line is 0.2 miles.
Overall (averaging my first 20 hills),
the gradiometer grade averages 0.63 (% grade)
higher than the altimeter grade, with a standard
deviation of 4.5 (% grade per road).
This error may be due to:
-
Uneven sampling -- I take more samples when the
hill gets steep.
-
Calibration error (of the gradiometer or
altimeter).
In the end, though, I think that each individual
sample is accurate to within about 2% for that
instantaneous segment of road. My results may
not always agree with my altimeter, but they are
generally repeatable within 1%. I think that
I just need to take more samples to generate
more accurate graphs.
Raw Data:
Dist Grade Alti. Location
---- ----- ------ --------
0.00 0% 1130 start - alpine Road
0.01 12% 1130
0.03 16% 1140
0.05 15% 1160
0.07 14% 1180 30 Joaquin - left turn
0.09 12% 1190
0.11 17% 1210
0.12 17% 1220 right turn
0.13 16% 1230
0.15 15% 1240 50 Joaquin
0.18 15% 1260
0.20 16% 1280 60 Joaquin
0.22 20% 1300
0.23 17% 1310
0.25 11% 1320 75 Joaquin
0.26 17% 1330 right turn
0.28 16% 1340
0.30 15% 1360
0.32 16% 1380
0.33 15% 1380
0.34 9% 1390
0.36 0% 1400
0.37 -13% 1390
0.38 0% 1380
Back to
Lucas's
cycling gradiometer page.