Elevation profiles for cycling in Wisconsin
On a bike, grade is everything. Draw a road or gravel ride anywhere in Wisconsin and see where it climbs, how steep and for how long, read from USGS 3DEP lidar.
Profile your ride
Tap out the route on the map and read the climbs. Free, no account.
Open Elevation Profile →Why elevation profiles matter for cycling
Cyclists feel grade more than almost anyone: the power needed to hold a speed rises steeply as the road tilts up. A profile shows where the climbs are, how long they last and how steep they get, so you can choose a route, gearing and pacing before you start.
- Route choice: compare two ways over the same hills.
- Effort: total climb and the steepest sustained section decide how hard the day is.
- Fueling: eat before the long climbs, not on them.
- Safety: know where the fast descents are before you reach them.
For every kind of riding
Road: farm-country loops and short, steep coulee climbs. Gravel:town roads in the Driftless Area and forest roads in the Northwoods, where grades change quickly. Touring and bikepacking: multi-day routes split into daily stages. Commuting: find the gentlest way across town.
How to create a cycling elevation profile
- Open Elevation Profile and find the start of the ride.
- Tap along the road, with more points on hairpins and bends.
- Finish the line and read the chart, total climb and descent.
A line can be up to 15.5 miles long, so profile a longer ride in sections, for example one per climb.
Understanding your cycling profile
Key figures for cyclists
- Total climb and descent in feet.
- Climb per mile: total climb divided by length, to compare rides of different lengths.
- Grade: elevation change over distance in percent. A 6% grade climbs 6 ft every 100 ft, or about 317 ft in a mile.
- High point: where it will be coldest on the descent.
Sizing up a climb
A climb’s difficulty comes from its length and its grade together. To size one up, draw a line from its foot to its top: the climb divided by the length gives the average grade, and the steepest part of the chart shows where it kicks up.
Reading the profile for pacing
Start long climbs at an effort you can hold to the top. Use the flats and descents to eat, drink and recover. On rolling terrain, the profile shows whether momentum will carry you over the next rise.
Wisconsin rides to profile
Driftless Area climbs
The roads of southwest Wisconsin climb out of one coulee onto a ridge and drop into the next, so a ride stacks up many short, steep climbs. The roads up to the bluffs along the Mississippi are among the steepest in the state. Draw each climb as its own line.
Glacial and lake-country rides
The farm roads of eastern and central Wisconsin are some of the flattest riding in the state, while the Kettle Moraine adds rolling climbs over glacial ridges. Roads on the Door Peninsula rise onto the Niagara Escarpment in short, sharp pitches.
Rail trails
Wisconsin’s state rail trails follow old railroad grades, so they climb gently even through hill country. A profile shows where a trail’s gentle grade ends and the roads that link it begin to climb.
Training with power and climbs
Planning target efforts
If you train with power, use the length and grade of a climb from the profile to decide what effort you can sustain to the top, based on climbs you have ridden before.
Structured training
Find a local climb whose grade and length match a target event and use it for repeats.
Looking back
After a ride, compare your recorded climb with the lidar profile of the same route. A big gap usually points to the bike computer’s altimeter, not the road.
Gearing
Gearing is about the steepest climbs you will meet, especially late in a long ride. Check the profile for steep sections and choose lower gears if you are unsure.
Ride time
Climbing slows everyone down, and the descent does not give it all back. Estimate ride time from rides you know with a similar climb per mile, not from flat-road speed.
Food and water
Plan to eat and refill before long climbs and at the top, and carry more on rides where the profile shows long climbs far from towns.
Safety
- Know where the long, fast descents are and check your brakes before them.
- Bring a layer for long descents; the wind chill builds quickly on the way down.
- Town roads and trails can hold snow and ice into spring, and some trails close for the season; the profile does not show road or trail status, so check before you go.
See the climbs before you clip in
Draw any ride in Wisconsin and read its profile in seconds. Free, no account.
Bike computers and apps
To replace the altitude in a recorded ride with lidar ground elevations, upload the GPX to Elevate a File (it needs a pass, asked for before the upload) and import the new file into your app. See adding elevation to GPX files.
Data quality for cycling
Ground elevations come from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) seamless bare-earth model, with elevations above NAVD 88. Source cells are 3.3 ft per pixel in the finest work units, with about 9.8 ft per pixel and 33 ft per pixel sources elsewhere. USGS elevation data is public domain. Lidar coverage and source dates vary across Wisconsin. Check your site against the USGS 3DEP work-unit index; an unavailable lookup means coverage is unknown. Because the model is the ground with no structures, a road bridge shows as a dip to the river below and a tunnel as the hill above it. Draw around them, or allow for them when you read the climb. More from the USGS 3D Elevation Program and Wisconsin elevation resources.
Frequently asked questions
How much climb makes a century ride hard?
It depends on the rider, the grades and the weather, so there is no single number. Profile rides you already know and use them as a scale: a new route with clearly more climb per mile than your usual rides will be a harder day.
How do I know what gearing I need?
Look for the steepest sustained section of the route on the profile, not the average. If you struggle on a familiar climb of similar grade and length, choose lower gears for the new one. A bike shop can help match gearing to the grades you expect.
Can GPS bike computers measure elevation accurately?
Many use a barometric altimeter, which tracks changes well over short periods but drifts with the weather; others rely on GPS altitude, which is noisy. Both can over- or under-count total climb. The profile here reads the ground from the USGS 3DEP lidar model instead.
How much should I slow down on climbs?
Ride climbs by effort, not speed. Your speed will drop with the grade; the profile shows how long each climb lasts, so you can choose an effort you can hold to the top.
Can I use this for indoor training?
You can use the profile to plan a session: note the length and grade of a climb you want to simulate and set your trainer or workout to match. The Elevation Profile tool has no file export, so the numbers are copied by hand.