Taylor Pass

Taylor Pass cycling climb profile

Taylor Pass is a Category 1 climb that gets its difficulty from density rather than sheer length. At 9 km, it is not a long alpine grind, but the 7.35% average gradient and 660 m of net elevation gain mean there is very little room to ride it casually. The climb starts at 1,564 m and tops out at 2,224 m, so the work is continuous from bottom to summit.

The key number is not just the average. A 7.35% mean over 9 km already demands a controlled aerobic effort, but the maximum gradient of 13.31% changes how you should pace it. Any climb with that gap between average and maximum is unlikely to feel perfectly even. The steeper sections will force bigger torque demands, and if you arrive at them already above threshold, the cost compounds quickly.

How the gradient should shape your pacing

The safest way to ride Taylor Pass is to treat the opening as a commitment, not an invitation. The climb is short enough that it is tempting to press early, but long enough that an early surge can leave you under-geared and over threshold before the summit half of the effort.

A practical pacing approach:

• Start just below your sustainable climbing effort, especially if using /glossary/ftp as a reference.
• Keep cadence stable through the 7% average terrain rather than chasing speed.
• Save a gear and some neuromuscular margin for the ramps touching 13.31%.
• Only lift the effort once the summit is realistically within reach, not simply because the climb feels manageable early.

The climb's profile rewards patience because its steepest gradients are hard enough to punish riders who ride the average as if it were the whole story. On a climb like this, the average tells you the aerobic cost. The maximum tells you how much discipline you need.

Gearing notes

Taylor Pass calls for climbing gears that let you stay seated when the road pitches into double digits. If your easiest gear is only comfortable around the average gradient, it will feel too heavy on the 13.31% ramps, especially late in the ascent. That matters because grinding through steep sections at low cadence can spike muscular fatigue even when your heart rate looks controlled.

For a strong rider, this is a measured threshold-style climb. For most riders, it is better approached as a steady endurance-to-tempo climb with short, controlled increases on the steepest pitches. The goal is not to avoid discomfort. It is to keep the cost of each steep section low enough that the final kilometres remain rideable rather than becoming damage control.