Hicks Road definitely has elevation change in it...
Found this on a Cycling website: Up on the north side, down on the south.
Hicks Road (North side)
distance:
5.1 miles from Camden to Guadalupe Creek
1.0 miles from Guadalupe Creek to Mt. Umunhum Rd.
climbing:
420 feet from Camden to Guadalupe Creek (1.7% avg)
740 feet from Guadalupe Creek to Mt. Umunhum Rd. (14% avg)
This is tough… the opening rolling miles, including the short and steep climb to the dam, hardly prepare one for the steep grades which follow. A cattle grate partway up the steep section is threatening, but can be survived if conditions aren’t too wet. Doing this climb in a 39/24 is a struggle—even with such gearing, fit riders will be wishing for more on the steepest slopes. Once at the summit, a very short (50 meters, approximately) descent brings one to the unmarked intersection (to the right) with Mt. Umunhum Road. This out-and-back sidetrip is highly recommended. Mt. Umunhum Road effectively combines with Hicks to make a single, extended, and quite difficult climb—of those listed in this document, only Bohlman-On Orbit-Bohlman is tougher to those with typical road gearing.
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Hicks Road (South side)
distance: 1.6 miles from Alamitos Road to Mt. Umunhum Road
climbing: 700 feet from Alamitos Road to Mt. Umunhum Road
The south face of Hicks isn’t as terrible as the north side, averaging only 8.6% (9.8% over the steepest 0.8 miles). Nevertheless, when combined with Mt. Umunhum Road, it makes for a challenging total climb. There is a cattle guard at the base of the climb, considerably less daunting than the one on the north grade.
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