It was always up or down but the tunnels/bridges ensured grades of mostly 4-5% and occasionally 6-7%. However, this is not the story had I biked – the highways are off limit and according to other bicyclists the secondary roads most often go over the mountains and down the valley bottoms on steep roads making it a very challenging and tough ride. So I was happy to do this 2,000k bus trip saving me at least 3 weeks of biking though I wouldn’t have come this far east had I biked....