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The first US-based climb added to Zwift’s Climb Portal, Old La Honda is a popular benchmark climb for Bay Area locals due to its low traffic, steady grade, and shady clusters of majestic redwoods.

Here’s the “official” IRL segment, which is a bit shorter than Zwift’s:

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Barry Mann
Barry Mann
2 months ago

My local climb, will be cool to sample it in the portals rainbow colors! I’LL Try to beat my PR 26:27

Dan Connelly
1 month ago

Classic page of Old La Honda (which also used the term “benchmark climb”, which Lucas got from me, having used it on the Western Wheelers climb page, as well as Low-Key Hillclimbs, back in the day): https://graphics.stanford.edu/~lucasp/grade/oldlahonda.html

Lucas measured the gradient using a hand-made gradiometer, which he used to take gradient samples every 10 meters or so.

Moi
Moi
5 days ago

Nice climb,short and to do with power above ftp

Andreas
Andreas
5 days ago

recommendations for what this climb would go well together with for a longer session? =)

Dan Connelly
4 days ago
Reply to  Andreas

I just rode it yesterday. If you turn right at the bottom of the descent, marked “Mt. Ventoux”, you ride to the Marina, and from there you can climb as far as you like, either up the Ventoux climb part or full way, or just the Petit KOM portion. Side note: this climb would really fill a nice niche in Watopia: similar altitude gain as Epic but with far more consistent gradient. There’s a 17% section near the bottom which I don’t think is present IRL, maybe they got that from this page, ignoring the “inside of switchback” comment? https://graphics.stanford.edu/~lucasp/grade/oldlahonda.html.… Read more »

Dan Connelly
4 days ago
Reply to  Dan Connelly

Alternately Zwift could have a climb from the southern coast connect to the Epic KOM climb at an appropriate place: anywhere along the climb (excluding radio tower) would work: from the pass there would be a short descent to the Epic road. Alternately one could then climb the Epic road, turn left to the pass, then descend the new climb to the coast.

MATHEW M ROSE
MATHEW M ROSE(@matrose617)
4 days ago

The profile looks fairly consistent and it looks, at least from the gradient, to be something that will ride a lot like Col d’Aspin, only shorter.

Stephen Thau
Stephen Thau
3 days ago

I used to live near OLH and have climbed it dozens if not hundreds of times. Did the Zwift version this morning — remarkably accurate. I knew exactly where I was even without any scenery. My time was also what I would have expected IRL with similar effort. I’m still curious why the segment on Zwift is 3.5 miles when it’s 3.1 IRL?

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