I went on a long ride today on some nearby roads here at Virginia Tech. I followed these directions:
http://www.cycling.org.vt.edu/rides/river_spruce.html
as you can see by the elevation profile, some of the climbs have quite steep grades that last a while.
I used my Yuni 29er with 125 cranks (with leather air seat, rail adapter, and GB handles). After the first 5 miles I was kicking myself for not putting on my 150s. There were many times along the ride I also wished that I had a brake, some of the hills nearly killed me. I took one long half hour break or so when I got to the river, and a couple “circulation breaks”. This was the furthest I had ever gone on my 29er, I went about 30 miles a couple weeks ago, but that was in northern VA, which is a lot flatter than here in blacksburg. This was also the first time I tested out my rail adapter. I started out with the seat tilted back, but after about 15 miles I switched it back to being straight. Switching the tilt of the seat really helped in the long run for saddle soreness. I didnt bring my camera, so I didnt get any pictures, but It was a very scenic route. Next time I might bring a camera, and I am definitely going to put on my longer cranks!