Cyclists take on one of L.A.'s steepest hills

[krebs303]

At a whopping 33% incline, Fargo Street is one of the sharpest grades in L.A. Many never made it to the top. One man climbed the peak 51 times in a day.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fargo-ride15-2010mar15,0,3912612.story?track=rss

 

[Archibald]

seriously, why do they give any time and creedance to the smoking boozer at the end of the article??

 

[TheNJDevil]

how long is the hill? just says 33%, but no distance.

 

[krebs303]

it's 200 meters

 

[TheNJDevil]

and...of course there is a stop sign at the bottom. nothing like slamming the brakes while coasting at 40mph.

short enough to put in a dig, long enough to make it really hurt. either way..it looks like fun.

 

[broken chain]

Piece "O" cake

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Video of one way to climb it... with ultra low gears...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgh5Y5RhdfM

7.5" gear at 100 rpm = 2.2 mph

See also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgIL6eHHgZU

 

[usedtobefast]

Laguna Beach has one even steeper, but shorter. trained riders can do these
hills no worries. they do hurt, but what's a little pain among friends?

 

[Night Rider]

Baldwin Street, Dunedin - check out the angle of the road past the house (top pic)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Street,_Dunedin

 

[CapeEpic]

Laguna Beach has one even steeper, but shorter.

Do you mean the one that goes up from South Coast Highway? Upland road? Next to some hotel I believe. That one was pretty steep, the steepest I remember from LB, at the moment at least; last time I visited LB was about 2 yrs ago

 

[Zerak-Tul]

Should throw this sucker into ToC over a few laps, would be an amusing curveball

 

[usedtobefast]

Do you mean the one that goes up from South Coast Highway? Upland road? Next to some hotel I believe. That one was pretty steep, the steepest I remember from LB, at the moment at least; last time I visited LB was about 2 yrs ago

it is about a 1/2 mile from PCH and runs parallel to it. i forget the name of the street. i'll get it and post.

 

[usedtobefast]

Baldwin Street, Dunedin - check out the angle of the road past the house (top pic)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Street,_Dunedin

now that is steeeeeeeep!

 

[Bluebeard]

Pah! Come back to me when they cobble it

Seriously good dig on that hill alright. Short enough to be manageable, but a nightmare enough. Cruelly enough, f you look at the Google street view, you will see some poor casual attempting to cycle up it. It reminds me of Lombard St in San Francisico, though without the convenient curving. I think that place in Dunedin has to be a bicycling near impossibility though.

I did feel sorry for the poor guy in the article who was being interview as he was dropped by nausea

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Should throw this sucker into ToC over a few laps, would be an amusing curveball

Great idea, though I was always surprised at how well they handled the Filmore St. climb (steep enough for sidewalks to be stairs) in the San Francisco Grand Prix.

 

[krebs303]

Should throw this sucker into ToC over a few laps, would be an amusing curveball

It's not far from this years TT course downtown.

 

[titan_90]

Canton Ave 38% on Cobbles

 

[craig1985]

Should throw this sucker into ToC over a few laps, would be an amusing curveball

Lance Cartstrong aka Lance Armstrong, would not approve. What they should do is put the finish line at the end of the hill.

 

[Big GMaC]

Lance Cartstrong aka Lance Armstrong, would not approve. What they should do is put the finish line at the end of the hill.

Also, I am working on a Shoop of Cartstrong on his Retirement Shack Trike.

 

[Le breton]

Canton Ave and a 38% joke

Canton Ave 38% on Cobbles

Anybody who has tackled a 30% incline on a bike knows immediately that you can't climb a 38% hill standing on the pedals and specially on cobbles.

I would buy 20%

 

[broken chain]

The ones who walked up lose their "Man Cards" for 90 days p*****s

 

[UpTheRoad]

Baldwin Street, Dunedin - check out the angle of the road past the house (top pic)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Street,_Dunedin

Canton Avenue in Pittsbugh is on the list in that wiki entry. It is cobbled (more like rough bricks than pave), which makes it a bit tougher (especially in the rain), but it is short enough that it is easy to muscle through. Pittsburgh has climbs that are far tougher than Canton Avenue, even though it is the steepest.

 

[Le breton]

Canton Avenue in Pittsbugh is on the list in that wiki entry. It is cobbled (more like rough bricks than pave), which makes it a bit tougher (especially in the rain), but it is short enough that it is easy to muscle through. Pittsburgh has climbs that are far tougher than Canton Avenue, even though it is the steepest.

Is not it a big lie to say that the gradient is 37% when that concerns only a minute 6.5meters? As far as I am concerned it really is both ridiculous and dishonest to make such a claim.

Found in wiki, reference given higher up by nightrider.
Canton Avenue, in Pittsburgh, United States; it is officially measured to be a 37% grade. [2][3] However, that angle of 37% only extends about 6.5 metres

 

[Le breton]

Canton Avenue in Pittsbugh is on the list in that wiki entry. It is cobbled (more like rough bricks than pave), which makes it a bit tougher (especially in the rain), but it is short enough that it is easy to muscle through. Pittsburgh has climbs that are far tougher than Canton Avenue, even though it is the steepest.

Here is something i found written by John Summerson

Tenth of a mile
Canton Ave.
Pittsburgh--35%

When this short street first comes into view, you will simply not believe how steep it is. Rising more aggressively than the more famous Fargo Street in Los Angeles, Canton is, as far as I've been able to determine, the steepest paved 10th of a mile in the world. The city of Pittsburgh officially lists it at 37 percent, but my multiple measurements indicate 35 percent overall from bottom to top, with a maximum of 37 percent. Cars are prohibited from driving down it, and a common pastime for those who live near its base is watching automobiles try to climb it in bad weather. On a bike, even with a flying start, almost all cyclists end up needing to tack from side to side to reach the top, even with mountain bike gearing. Adding insult--or glory, depending on your point of view--the second half of Canton is paved with cobblestones. All of this makes Canton a treasured part of the Dirty Dozen, an annual unofficial race that climbs 13 of the city's toughest streets (dannychew.com). Get There: Turn onto Canton from Coast Avenue in the Beechview section of Pittsburgh

Assuming that to be true for a second, the total altitude gain would be 56 meters. It can be seen in the video mentioned earlier that the first guys climb it in 19 seconds, which means almost 3 meters/s, ie about 3 horsepower for 75 kg (man + bike), more than Zabel could ever muster and an impressive velocity of 30 km/h.

Then assuming a gear ratio of say 36:21, they would be spinning at over 135 rpm, definitely not the impression you get ( more like 60-80 rpm)

Anybody from Pittsburgh who can tells us a bit more?

 

[UpTheRoad]

Here is something i found written by John Summerson

Tenth of a mile
Canton Ave.
Pittsburgh--35%

When this short street first comes into view, you will simply not believe how steep it is. Rising more aggressively than the more famous Fargo Street in Los Angeles, Canton is, as far as I've been able to determine, the steepest paved 10th of a mile in the world. The city of Pittsburgh officially lists it at 37 percent, but my multiple measurements indicate 35 percent overall from bottom to top, with a maximum of 37 percent. Cars are prohibited from driving down it, and a common pastime for those who live near its base is watching automobiles try to climb it in bad weather. On a bike, even with a flying start, almost all cyclists end up needing to tack from side to side to reach the top, even with mountain bike gearing. Adding insult--or glory, depending on your point of view--the second half of Canton is paved with cobblestones. All of this makes Canton a treasured part of the Dirty Dozen, an annual unofficial race that climbs 13 of the city's toughest streets (dannychew.com). Get There: Turn onto Canton from Coast Avenue in the Beechview section of Pittsburgh

Assuming that to be true for a second, the total altitude gain would be 56 meters. It can be seen in the video mentioned earlier that the first guys climb it in 19 seconds, which means almost 3 meters/s, ie about 3 horsepower for 75 kg (man + bike), more than Zabel could ever muster and an impressive velocity of 30 km/h.

Then assuming a gear ratio of say 36:21, they would be spinning at over 135 rpm, definitely not the impression you get ( more like 60-80 rpm)

Anybody from Pittsburgh who can tells us a bit more?

I used to live in Pittsburgh and can tell you that Canton Avenue is definitely steeper than the steepest streets in San Francisco. You take Coast Avenue in Beechview to get to the climb. You can either approach it from the east and you have a 20% downhill and a bit of flat to get to the start, or you can approach it from the west (take Coast off of Banksville Road and you have a slight upgrade until you hit it. Obviously, it is far harder from the west.

The climb is not that difficult because it is so short. You just have to muscle up it. I do/did it in a 39x26. Certainly not spinning or really "climbing," you just power through.

For the poster who said you cannot stand...I think you have to, for at least the steepest part. You just have to have your weight back to keep the back wheel from spinning. Seated, your front wheel pops up and flops around too much. Hard to control.

Just an FYI, Boustead Street is right near Canton Avenue and is a much harder climb, even though it's maximum gradient is listed at 29%. Also, I cannot recall the street, but there is a road on the South Side which is by far the toughest of the super steep that I've encountered. It's about 5 or 6 blocks, with the stair-step sidewalks the whole way.