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what is the world's steepest paved road (half mile or longer)?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

what is the world's steepest paved road (half mile or longer)?

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Old 01-07-11, 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by johnny99
Hawaii is in the US (unless you are a birther)
they don't consider Waipio paved according to the Wiki article
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Old 01-07-11, 11:32 PM
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The person from my bike club did the challenge, but I do agree that it would have been more credible if there was an actual video of Lance climbing it,
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Old 01-08-11, 07:53 AM
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ah.... sure.
 
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I have a local climb i do that has approx 1000 feet of climbing in 1.2 miles.... steep enough for me Climbing it isn't as bad as riding back down!
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Old 01-08-11, 07:54 AM
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Ive seen some pretty steep paved roads in Madeira, the pavements are stepped.
More gradient madness here including the steepest road in UK (Wales) Ffordd Penllech . Signposted at 40% but measured at 26.9max
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Old 01-08-11, 08:43 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by Reynolds
How did they pave it?
They just dump the asphalt at the top and gravity does the rest.
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Old 01-08-11, 08:57 AM
  #31  
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Does Mount McKinley not have a road leading up to the base and about a mile or two into the ascent? I don't know where I heard this, but I was told that is one of the toughest uphill pedals. (If it exists, I could have completely boggled that conversation)
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Old 01-08-11, 10:54 AM
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There's something wrong about a street that has stairs with a handrail next to it instead of a sidewalk...
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Old 01-08-11, 10:56 AM
  #33  
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Not steep based on grade, but the Pikes Peak race is pretty much just up hill and at altitude. Probably child's play for a pro, but still a pretty serious ride.
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Old 01-08-11, 11:52 AM
  #34  
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Our local steep road is Cain Road, which gains 600 vertical feet in .8 miles, an average gradient of 15%, the steep sections are 20%+ Very nasty little climb. The other road I did in the NE was Fiddler's Elbow Road on the Hillier Than Thou Century like 20 years ago. That road sucked. And at the time I climbed it in a 42 x 21. Don't ask me how I kept the bike upright. Couldn't do that today.
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Old 01-08-11, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris R.
I rode a 19% climb that was 2km...but if I can do it, lance can do it with one leg.
That was tasteless dude.

Oh, snap! You said leg. My bad.
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Old 01-08-11, 02:45 PM
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Originally Posted by johnny99
Hawaii is in the US (unless you are a birther)
I'm a birther and Hawaii may be in the U.S., but Kenya is not :-)
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Old 01-08-11, 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris R.
I rode a 19% climb that was 2km...but if I can do it, lance can do it with one leg.
agreed. where was this? i did a hill with the same grade and distance seated in a 39x23 with one hand pushing my girlfriends who was in a 32x25. my cadence was slow and my legs felt like they were going to explode, but we both made it.

i would love the chance to go back and do it standing without having to push...
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Old 01-08-11, 03:12 PM
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Not the absolute steepest, but a popular NorCal killer is Bohlmann-On Orbit. It's a 4.5mileish ride that 'only' averages about 10%, but since a good chunk of the early part is mellow, it's way, way worse in the latter half.

Once it gets going, you're hammered with 13-16% for a good distance and then rewarded with a near-continuous 20-21% stretch at the very top. Nice.
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Old 01-08-11, 07:18 PM
  #39  
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Mix Canyon in Nor-Calif.

Here is some info from a riders blog. https://www.toughascent.com/blog/?p=224


Ken
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Old 01-08-11, 08:57 PM
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I always heard Fargo was the steepest ride (at least in North America)...
I know a bunch of people ride modified bikes to get up it. Its 32%...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgIL6eHHgZU
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Old 01-08-11, 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Blackdays
Canton Ave. in Pittsburgh has a grade of 37%. It's not half a mile long though.
Is that part of that big climb race they do?

The Dirty Dozen I think its called? So insane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaQXcFg0i2c

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Old 01-08-11, 09:52 PM
  #42  
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pacific grade on highway 4 in norcal 24% max and at least 15 to 18 % for the rest of the 1 1/2 miles ,climbing from 7,000 ft to 8,000 ft
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Old 01-08-11, 09:53 PM
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https://cyclingfusion.com/fanatics/im...GradePower.pdf



4.6 watts/lb required to climb, max grade 42%?! Oh yeah, and you have to do it when it's 33 degrees out, rain, snow, whatever.
I've done Suffolk once, and Flowers is the first hill in one of my usual routes.
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Old 01-08-11, 10:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Silvercivic27
https://cyclingfusion.com/fanatics/im...GradePower.pdf



4.6 watts/lb required to climb, max grade 42%?! Oh yeah, and you have to do it when it's 33 degrees out, rain, snow, whatever.
I've done Suffolk once, and Flowers is the first hill in one of my usual routes.
watt/pound? You mean watts/kg?
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Old 01-09-11, 04:41 AM
  #45  
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The picture says watts per pound, not kg. (those aren't my data)
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Old 01-09-11, 06:42 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by patentcad
Our local steep road is Cain Road, which gains 600 vertical feet in .8 miles, an average gradient of 15%, the steep sections are 20%+ Very nasty little climb. The other road I did in the NE was Fiddler's Elbow Road on the Hillier Than Thou Century like 20 years ago. That road sucked. And at the time I climbed it in a 42 x 21. Don't ask me how I kept the bike upright. Couldn't do that today.
Pope I did a race year's ago where the climb was 1.9 km long with a 14% average (peaks were in the 20%+ range) - what sucked is we had to climb it 18 times.
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Old 01-09-11, 07:01 AM
  #47  
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Enjoy ...

https://www.bikereader.com/contributo...ley/hills.html



After a visit to New Zealand to check out the hills ... because apparently Baldwin is not alone in being a very steep hill, there are similar ones in the vicinity ... travel to Wales and just spend a month or so cycling around Wales.

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Old 01-09-11, 10:34 AM
  #48  
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Looks like an interesting century

Originally Posted by patentcad
Our local steep road is Cain Road, which gains 600 vertical feet in .8 miles, an average gradient of 15%, the steep sections are 20%+ Very nasty little climb. The other road I did in the NE was Fiddler's Elbow Road on the Hillier Than Thou Century like 20 years ago. That road sucked. And at the time I climbed it in a 42 x 21. Don't ask me how I kept the bike upright. Couldn't do that today.
Any further toughts on Hillier than thou[how steep were the climbs and how long]?
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Old 01-09-11, 01:09 PM
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all I know is that I've been up a 1/4 mile, 19% grade and I really don't want to do it again anytime soon.
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