Descent: 0 feet (0 m)
Description:
Starting from Hwy 9 (the flat section before the climbing begins),
Tollgate begins with its worst grades, at 16-17% for 200 yards. Then
it flattens out for a while, and then climbs a little more at a more
modest 12-14%. Beyond this profile, Tollgate continues as a
dead-end, but Saratoga Heights will take you to Pierce Road in
another half mile.
Altimeter altitude
(Altitude linearly interpolated from altimeter
samples, and smoothed with a 0.04mi gaussian.)
![](tollgate_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.)
![](tollgate_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.)
![](tollgate_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.)
![](tollgate_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 8% 580 start - Highway 9
0.02 16% 590 "speed limit 25" sign
0.08 17% 650 21196 Tollgate
0.12 16% 680 end of steep section -- flattens out
0.17 7% 700 gentle grade, rolling now
0.30 0% 750 21359 Tollgate
0.41 14% 780 just started climbing again
0.48 14% 840 "limited sight distance - 20 MPH" sign
0.52 0% 850 Saratoga Heights
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Lucas's
cycling gradiometer page.