gurk700

I guess it depends on the person what "tough" is. Some people find miles and miles long 5% grinds tough while others have a hard time with 10%+ grades tougher although shorter. (I'm in the second group)

I have climbed a lot of stuff in Norcal but 2 of the toughest ones for me have always been

Hicks (north side) -> Umunhum (4 miles. 10% Avg Grade. 2188 feet Elv gain) (Umunhum sadly closed after all the rains. Might open after summer)
https://www.strava.com/segments/8479250

Bohlman -> On Orbit -> Bohlman (4.2 miles. 9% Grade. 1953 feet Elv gain)
https://www.strava.com/segments/268861

Bohlman although easier on paper, it feels harder cause it has flat and almost negative grade up top in a small section which makes the rest of it brutal.

These 2 really make you feel it even with a compact & 11-32. After these, climbs like Hamilton, Diablo, Hwy 9, Montebello etc seem fairly easier because you can choose to just go slower. Slowest I can go in parts of the other 2 require sustaining 250 watts which is a lot for a weakling like me.


What are some of your favorite walls?

shotwellian

The good news about Umunhum is that this summer the road will open all the way to the summit, several miles above the old "No Tresspassing" signs, and that the whole road will be repaved.

A few of my other favorites are Moody / Page Mill in the South Bay, Sweetwater Springs near Guerneville, and China Grade in the Santa Cruz Mtns.

Lanceoldstrong

Welch Creek and Mix Canyon belong on a list of walls that hurt so good.

gurk700

China grade is nice! I might have done Welch before the name's familiar!

Btw that's amazing news about Umunhum!!! It's gonna be even more epic!

teehee

Cyclist0108

Alba Road near my house is something I find hard.

jfh

Nothing as long as Bohlman or Hicks, but I do variations of the Ring of Fire route in Los Altos Hills/Woodside, which hits Moody/Golden Oak/Los Trancos. This spreads out the steep stuff to make it a bit more manageable, and you can go back up on Joaquin for good measure.

A little different is Club/Crestview (and some of the connected roads) in Belmont, near Carlmont High School. Much more suburban than the other rides, they are smooth wide roads, so sharing the road with cars is easier. But they have long steep pitches that you can see how far up you have to grind, with great views of the bay towards the top.

johnny99

Redwood Gulch in Cupertino (or Saratoga?) is 1.5 miles with gradient over 20% in the first half of the climb.

RushFan2112

If we're talking about walls, the summit wall on Diablo gets my vote. My Garmin consistently registers 15-17% grade over that stretch. For me it's the context - a 15% grade is always tough, but is especially tough after climbing for the last 90-100 minutes.

+1 for Mix Canyon as well.

turkey9186

Pacific Grade between Mosquito Lake and Hemit Valley on Hwy. 2.5 miles, 1100', grade averages 8% and tops out at 22%. Did I mention the 7000-8000' elevation?
It starts in Nevada, but the east side of Mt Rose. 15 miles and 4100' of climbing. Most of it is only 5-7%, but there is no let up until you hit the last couple of miles in double digit grades.

gurk700

Just climb the part before faster?

Kidding aside, yeah that's pretty steep. But so short I don't mind it as much as 3 mile 10% climbs

DiabloScott

Well, I'm biased, but yeah.
For reference with De Ronde van Vlaanderen:

Rider51

I concur. I almost thad to walk up the final switchback there. Sonora Pass is just as bad. A long uphill slog, with a sharp section near the pass at altitude that just demoralizes you.

For long grinds, the Everett Memorial Highway on Mt. Shasta is quite challenging.

bikingshearer 

I'm a serious Clydesdale with the climbing prowess of an anchor. Asking about my favorite "walls" is like asking a Hatfield about his or her favorite McCoy. With that disclaimer, here goes.

Toughest ones I've actually been able to pedal my ample self up (not always without stopping to barf up a lung) at some point in my life:

Top o' Diablo. No explanation needed, although DiabloScott's chart justifies all horror stories about it. That wall would be hellish even without the previous 10 miles. But ain't that descent a joy?

Hicks - and that was just to the bottom of Umunumunumunumunum.

Oakville Grade - the first mile of up a little west of Hwy 29. Kind of a stair step, except the flat parts of the steps are 14% - it gets worse from there. Not particularly scenic, not that I was in any position to care. Oh, and it's exposed to the sun, too. Just hateful.

But to me, the hardest remains (drum roll) the top of the east side of Patterson Pass. Not as long as Oakville grade (at least not the part I'm talking about - there is a not-inconsequential uphill run to get there, though, unlike Oakville Grade), but similar stair-steppy unpleasantness with stupid steep ramps. But what makes it so awful is your soul-crushing realization that that 13% wall you just surmounted is the Mother Of All False Summits; only when you have crested it, certain that a lovely descent is about to begin, do you get a view of the top-most (and hardest) climb to the real summit. That initial view leaves absolute no doubt about what awaits. You get a minute or two for the dread to build up while you ride to the base, and the wall is in full directly-in-front-of-you-can't-avoid-looking-at-it view the entire time. Mentally, it's just brutal. If you don't know to expect the false summit - and sometimes even if you do - it will suck the joy of living right out of you, and make you want to commit a violent felony on whoever's stupid idea it was to go this way, even if that person was you. Maybe especially if that person was you. What you don't see is the wind that often whistles through the pass and smacks you square in the face at some point during the final assault. The actual descent into Livermore partly makes up for this foolishness - but only partly.

turkey9186

Some sick individual on the Death Ride staff decided it would be fun to add it as a 6th pass in 2000. I don't know what was harder, climbing it, or descending back to Hermit Valley against all the riders trying to climb it.

B. Carfree

How about Old Priest Grade? Two miles averaging 13.4% with a nice last step of 17.7%. Since it's on the way to Yosemite, I have always climbed it with a touring load, so perhaps it always seems longer and steeper than it would on a naked bike.

On one trip many years ago, I rode up ahead of my wife, thinking I would enjoy a nice cold soda at the cafe at the top while I waited. I was disappointed to find the cafe had burned to the ground, but when not a single car came along in the quarter-hour I was waiting for my wife, I began to wonder what was going on. When she arrived she told me that a pick-up was having trouble going as slowly as she rode, and there are very few places to pass. Then the pick-up lost a boat that had been poorly strapped on. The folks in the vehicles behind helped load it back on. After this fiasco, the pick-up driver had a lot of difficulty getting his vehicle going again and appeared to burn out his clutch. He never did arrive at the top and we always assumed that everybody backed down the hill so he could park at the bottom and get a tow.

gw_12

Good call - Old Priest Grade should definitely be on the list.

gurk700

I think I might have found it guys! lol

https://www.strava.com/segments/518565

The only thing is it has flat parts that you can rest on for 2-3 seconds.

I ended up descending Marin avenue at the end of my ride on Sunday. I've already climbed Diablo + another 4000 feet that day but I was in awe of how steep the thing was going down so I turned around and climbed part of it. My legs just didn't have enough in them after 70 miles and 8000 feet to finish it but I'll be revisiting for sure!

spdntrxi

https://www.strava.com/segments/691975

^ near to me... reminds me of Diablo Wall (but harder) expect for missing out on the 10miles of hurt before it.

https://www.strava.com/segments/5021066

^ have not done this one in years because it is gated now and may be private and the gate is closed... it's brutal.

Nibbles

Perie lane 65m, 17% https://www.strava.com/segments/628994

This comes on top of a 150m, 1.5km (10%) climb of suncrest in the berryessa area of SJ

brake hard at the bottom of Perie! turn right and hit an easy 50mph on suncrest

carl7

Do streets count? if so, Bradford St. in SF being one of many very steep climbs.

Borhasov

I'm kind of new to road cycling. Just moved to Cupertino and bought a road bike.
I went to try Regnart and had to stop 3 times to catch my breath. Redwood gulch was also a very hard one.
Reading your comments, I'm wondering how much training it will take me to even try my Diablo
Scary stuff right here

gsa103

My favorite story on Longview was the time I got passed by woman pushing a stroller. She looked fit, but still...

McBTC

No one mentioned Pacific Coast Hwy 1 near Leggett?

spingineer

I'm surprised no one mentioned Jameson Creek!

gurk700

Indeed! and also cause it most likely comes after a couple hours of riding other hills. By itself it's comparable to metcalf etc i think. Can be grueling on a hot day!