Seeking hilly bike routes

Is Skyline drive in VA at Shenendoah National Park? If that it what you are referring to then I would second that suggestion. I was there over memorial day weekend on a camping trip and noticed a lot of cyclist going up and down the mountains. I am not sure what the grades are but it was about 3,600ft elevation where we were staying and I dont think we were the highest point. My girlfriend and I noticed all the cyclists and thought it would be a great/beautiful place to train (when I get in shape enough to do that elevation lol).

Looking at the mapmyride route for the GF it looks like as a sustained climb most are below 6% except for one climb at 6.5% .. doesn't mean there are not pitches that get up to 8-12% but nothing for more then .5 of a mile.

With that I can tell you there are some long steady climbs in frederick, and there are some steep climbs. This ride, will beat you up.. ~8000ft in 67 miles .. many other variations.

Also skyline is hilly but in the 3-5% grade for long stretches. (somewhat like the listed climbs on mmr) if you want steep go up and down the mountain on the sides..  not many places for that.. around luray, but if you get as far as the blue ridge parkway there are super steep climbs around waynesboro.. vesuvius is one of the steepest around MD/VA

As is often the case, I gather that mapmyride is underestimating the climbing involved, to the tune of around 6,700'. I haven't seen the Gran Fondo route, but the many reports that I've read suggest that a number of the climbs are stiffer than that. A few 10-12% pitches would be fine, but the reports from strong climbers suggest more than that. I guess I'll know in a couple of weeks.

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for. It has about the same amount of climbing per mile as GCGF. I think I'll give it a shot sometime in the coming week.

Those are a little far afield for right now. But they look like something fun to try out in the future. Again, thanks for the tips.

Listening to mapmyride's elevation assessment in this region would be one way to severely underestimate what is coming your way.  Let's put it this way.  Killer Miller on the SavageMan course.  A very well known climb for being ~15% for the better part of a mile.  That is included in the Gran Fondo and is just a minor blip on the day's elevation profile and is a very forgettable and non-noteworthy climb of the Fondo.  Bowman Hill.  That'll be a new one to folks only familiar with the SavageMan route.  Over 800 feet gain in 1 mile.  What's that for average percentage?  I'm pretty sure >6.5%.

Trust me.  The route is a monster and you will want every gear you can get your hands on.  MapMyRide is leading you astray here.

Thanks again for the tip. I tried out the Catoctin Climbing route linked above today, as my tune-up/dose-of-terror ahead of next week's GCGF. It certainly qualifies as a hilly route, and it seems to be well known - I passed some other guys who were out riding the same route today. The ride has 3 big climbs of around 1000' in the first 30 miles. For those, I was thinking, "these are big, but there's time to recover and they're not so bad." There are some other serious lumps scattered in the ride; climbs that you don't really notice when looking at the ride profile, but certainly do notice when you reach them, and they wear you down. But the kicker is the 4 hard climbs in a 13-mile stretch late in the ride, finishing with what seemed to be the hardest one of all, Coxey Brown Rd. There were a few pitches on that one where I was out of the saddle and working quite hard to keep the pedals turning. 

At a minimum, this route gave me more respect for what lies ahead next week.  

My other observation from the day is that VO2max intervals on the trainer are the best way to prepare for these without leaving the city.