Today I joined the 30% club. Fargo St in Los Angeles is 32% grade for about 300 meters. I can tell you that it is one steep climb.

It took me 70 miles to get there. As I was traveling over hills like Santa Susana Pass and Hollywood Hills I was somehow telling myself that it was good warm-up. In reality they are mere speed bumps compared to what was in store. I went through Griffith Park and headed south toward Allesandro. A right on Allesandro on my way to Fargo. I was looking up some of the streets before getting to Fargo and they all looked steep. Finally I got to Fargo and turned left. Oh my god. It was steep and not short enough for me that I could just power up it. It involved strategy. I started up straight and it was hard keeping the front wheel down. Part of that was my setup, I had a Carradice with such things as a cable lock, tools, a few tubes, and the jackets/tights/etc. that I needed to start the ride. Also I had a nearly full 100oz CamelBak and 1 bottle of 2 still full. If I somehow could have arranged to put some of the weight up front I would have had better luck with it.

When I got about half way up the hill and heart rate exceeding a billion or so BPM, I switched to tacking. That is a challenge in itself. It is very hard to turn up a 32% grade. But the tacking sure helped and I made it to the top.

So, let’s hear it, anyone else in the 30% club? Please share your tale.

Congrats!

I need to find myself a good 20% grade to climb before contemplating joining the 30% club. I can't imagine what it's like climbing something so steep that keeping the front tire down starts becoming difficult.

So for a normal road bike setup with a typical weight distribution, at what percentage grade does maintaining front wheel traction start becoming an issue? I seem to do okay with grades in the high teens in this regard. (As for having enough power to move at a reasonable speed, well, that's a separate issue.) I've yet to climb anything steeper.

I can't even imagine it. I have a 20 percenter that is only 300 yards long about a mile from home and I'm in the red zone by the time I get to the top. I takes me another mile to catch by breath. 32% seems undoable. Nice climbing.

nice one. i've yet to try fargo but its on my list. theres a hill climb challenge each year that does 10 of those hills in a row, finishing i think with fargo. the guys on the ss/fg forum know more about it.
i imagine it'd kinda suck to pitch over downhill side while tacking. not for a bike with toe overlap for sure!

That's a good question. There is a 24%'er near my house and I have never had that problem. Who knows, maybe I would not have had a problem today if I didn't have the Carradice loaded hanging from the saddle. I will try it another day when I go with someone so I can leave all my gear at the bottom of the hill.

Pppppffffhp ,, I was in the black and blue zone for most of the climb.

10 of those hills in a row would be awesome!!!

And you are right about the toe-clip overlap. I hit my front tire a couple of times when tacking.

Just scoot to the front of the seat and bend your waist more. 30% isn't too hard if you have the leg strength and gearing.

Congratulations, thomson.. I just live a mile or so sway from Fargo St. I worked all day today and had no idea today was the annual hill climb. They used to do this in January. Tell us more about your bike and its gearing. That is one crazy a$$ hill.....I've never even attempted riding it, as I don't think I can make it. Did you happen to see ovoleg out there by chance?...

good job!


but please don't get any ideas of putting any 30 percenters in cool breeze.. that awful hill you put at the 100 mile mark last year was bad/steep enough for me!

I'll climb anything, but when it gets above 10% I feel scetchy descending back down it. Wonder what its like flying down a 30% grade!

The official LAWheelmen climb day is March 26th. I am doing the Solvang Double on the 25th so I didn't really think I would make it out there on the 26th. That is why I did it yesterday. It was just me.

Hey Cali, I haven't heard from you in a while!!

Just think this year, you will be ready for all the climbs in the Cool Breeze with the excellent training you have been doing. I can assure you there won't be any 30%'ers.

I may be sagging the ride this year on my bike so I will be right there with you on the climbs!!

I stood at the top and looked down and thought the same thing. I don't think it would be that bad.
However, at the top of Fargo, I turned right on Alvarado and headed down. Still steep but nearly so.
i don't get to Los Angeles much and I wanted to take Sunset Blvd to Laurel Canyon over to the valley to visit my parents. Maybe next time I will descend Fargo.

Well, I am not that strong a rider. The only way I could climb Fargo while seated is slid all the way back.

I think I'd tip over backwards! There's a very steep (but extremely short) part of the Hudson Greenway near the GWB where on my folder I have to conciously lean weight on the front wheel or risk it coming off the ground if I stay seated. Even if it were 30% it's nothing like 300m of it! On the road bike I normally get out of the saddle (not enough gears to comfortably stay seated there) and haven't felt the front wheel jump so I'd say it's probably a good deal under 30%.

Congrats!

Myself, I'm in the .32% club. I did a huge .32% climb the other day - took forever. Yeah, we are as flat as the chest of a...nah, you get the picture.

No wonder I didn't hear a thing about it.
Re-reading your original post, I take it that you rode your bike from Ventura County into L.A. and rode up Fargo? Man, that's quite an accomplishment. I've seen riders unable to climb any further, dismount, lose balance, and literally slide part of the way back down on that hill. It's good to have a spotter follow you up as a precaution.
I'll most likely be out there as a spectator on the 26th.
Good job!...

me???? excellent training********** the majority of my afterwork rides have avoided our local hill! i wanted to climb this weekend.. the the threat of snow took care of that! yesterday i rode but cut it short... cuz i was cold! WIMP WIMP WIMP! i was gonna keep going.. since i hadn't gone too far with the wind pushing on me... but finally decided i ride for fun and wasn't having much fun! headed home and put on nice, warm, snuggly jammies and slippers and played with my new camera instead! (taking pictures of my favorite photo subject.. who earned a LOT of cookies posing and singing for me.. and no.. not hubby.. the dog! lol!)

fortunately (or unfortunately) i have the KOM and big bear rides prior to cool breeze... so that oughta get me ready (i hope!) just the thought of 126 miles right now is daunting! but i'll get there... i hope!

So Cali.....tell us a little about your new toy. I'm still in the market for one.

I know exaclty where your talking about, I lived at 200th st, about 20 ft from the end of the path and ever ride, ended with me going up that little incline, followed by a long flat/decline to the end. Every time I went up that little hill I wanted to know the grade, because it seems so damn steep right at the curve.

Knowing me, someone will probably chip in and tell me that this little gut buster of hill is only like 5% and that i'm a big wuss...oh well

i didn't go for a super, small compact (like the really casio) since hubby fixed his fuji that is small enough for the bike... i wanted a camera to replace my first digital (the kodak dc290.. HUGE HONKING thing! lol!) still took decent pics for its age and megapixel size (2 i think)

anyways... researched and ended up with the canon a620... still small... and if i really want to... can take it on rides in my handlebar bag (and actually.. it would fit in a jersey pocket too)... but it got EXCELLENT reviews on picture quality... 7.1 megapixel.. easy enough for a newbie/beginner.. but lots of toys for more experiences users too... uses sd cards (i bought a 1 GB sandisk ultra since it reads/writes a bit faster than regular sd cards)....

i played around with the sepia.. black and white.. movie (i'm impressed with the movies! took brie singing at regular size and it's a pretty large picture! then took compact.. TINY but still very clear (and smaller file size, of course!) emailed the file to my sister and she just had to click it to watch it! (they are used to getting videos and pictures of m6 dogs and cats and the bikes too! lol!) the other modes are fun too.. not sure how often i'll use them.. like vivid... enhance one color.. pick one color and it's color.. the rest is a black and white photo (that's kinda cool with brie.. enhanced red .. she wears a red color and heart id... and had a red toy in the pic... looked cool!) start up is almost instaneous! my kodak took forever! has a 4X zoom (i think all the other competitors have 3X) battery life is supposed to be excellent.. still using the alkalines that came with it. my new rechargeables are charging...

anyways.. after just playing around with it yesterday afternoon and last night.. i'm impressed and happy with my choice... i did even MORE research after i bought it and found no bad reviews on it.... so i guess, for me.. i made the right choice!

so far the only thing i'm disappointed about is you can only imprint the date on the photo when using "postcard" mode... whick is 1600 X 1200... *sigh*.... and i always like to take large pics.. cuz you never know when you will want to print it... and if you take it at smaller.. you can't add pixels.. but you can take away if you need smaller... of course.. when i print them.. i prefer to not have the date.. but like having the date on the majority of pics for historical purposes!

it's easy to change functions... a lot is right there on the the little wheel.. don't have to do deep into the function/setting mode like you do with a lot of cameras!

i read the basic quick start book.. will read the larger advanced book today at work (when i get done playing on the forums! lol!)

oh.. it has a swivel lcd screen so if you want to take pics above peoples heads or in weird positions.. you just move the screen instead of guessing! that's cool too.. and it's supposed to be great for self portraits.. (i'll have to try that here at work today! )

ok... that's probably more than you wanted to know..

didn't mean to hijack thomson's thread....

and no.. i haven't taken pics of my bike yet.. will have to do that and compare them to hubby's camera!

Cali...thanks so much for the nice review!..

Wow....that's friggin' steep. I think the steepest I've done so far in my current area is close to 20% which was a killer, but there are some climbs that appear to be slightly steeper (not 30% though). I have the compact on my bike now, so I think I'll go try and tackle those now .

Back when I lived in the area I grew up (Southington, CT), there's a road that they close off for the wintertime because it's so steep. I've climbed that before, but I don't know how steep it is. I had to use the entire width of the road to get up it though, and felt like I wanted to die (and it's really short, too.....but has a few turns because it literally goes up the side of a hill). Hmmm.....now I am curious - I will have to go back and climb it again to find out how steep it is. I think the road opens back up on April 15th, so I'll have to check it out after that.