Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

ZepinAtor wrote:Well if that's the case almost vertical with a good run up. I've ridden a BMX dirt bowl near Brisbane Forest Park & it's a shear drop only a few degrees off vertical with a massive G-out in the bottom followed by an almost vertical wall on the opposite side. Takes a lot of stupidity & courage to do the drop & I've backed out last minute 90% of the time.

That's hardly called "riding up", more a case of being a projectile...

The up ramp from under Roseville Bridge on the eastern end heading west towards Chatswood hits 36% according to my Garmin.

Unfortunately it's less than 100m long.

For those interested, it's made of concrete, and the local council seems to clean it at least weekly, maybe twice weekly. I have to say I'm very glad they do 'Tiz a bit scary climbing that on 23mm tyres with wet leaves and sticks all over. Careful navigation is required. .

Quarry Climb in Cascades back of Belrose would have to be 20% plus, it goes for at least a kilometre, and is covered in loose rocks at the steepest bits. Even in granny gear on the mtb that gets your HR up! Trouble is, granny gear results in wheelspin on the loose bits so you usually need to go a couple of gears up.

toolonglegs wrote:...if the steepest st in the world in the world is 35% at its steepest point....how do you have 36.9?.

I got 36.9% out of www.ridewithgps.com - no idea of accuracy, other than to say it is bloody steep !!!

Here's the link to the route - http://ridewithgps.com/routes/262668

Here's a screen capture from Google Street view showing a gate on the side of the road. Sorry - only decent reference point on that part of the road.


and finally, here's another beauty at Gower St, Toowong. The sign at the top says 30%, and here's another screen capture from Google street view:

The worst I have experienced is Fitz's Epic. There is one short pitch of 22%, which is bad enough, but at that point in the ride, you've already done about 150 km of fairly sharp hills. I was already on my 24 t chain wheel - then I saw the steep bit

zues wrote:Toolonglegs wrote

if the steepest st in the world in the world is 35% at its steepest point....how do you have 36.9?.

GPS units have a vertical inaccurracy of upto + Or - 30m Thats why

My Navi does a lot of vertical wandering but I doubt that its that far out.
The Garmin uses a barometric altimeter.
I would be interested to know if the Edge 500 does give accurate gradients.

<edit> Just saw the other thread about the Garmins. Their altitude reading is pretty dubious it seems.

ironhanglider wrote:I believe that Baldwin St in Dunedin is in the low 20s and that is by reputation, the steepest street in the world.

Guinness officially recognise Baldwin Street as the world's steepest street at a 35% grade.

Ross wrote:

Warnesy wrote:I want to work out the gradient of a road near me, its short but damn steep. Is there any way without a fancy GPS unit

I'm in Canaberra, curious to know which road, Warnesy?

I was talking about Limestone Drive in Jerra, which gets me right near the end of my commute.
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&sa ... 49.79,,0,5

Looking at it, it doesn't look so bad, perhaps I'm just soft.

Not the steepest of streets, but a few that get the legs burning around Geelong were used on the UCI course.
Streets such as Challambra Cresent which becomes Westbury Terrace as it gets steeper, and then after the long downhill, there is Queens Park Drive which was just after the small temporary bridge during the World Cup. A short little steep street leads off Queens Park Drive, which is Melville Avenue. I haven't ridden up that one, but I have ridden the others a few times just to try out the course. I aren't sure how to find out the actual gradient/percentage though.
The ride we used to do is on Bikely as "Ceres and UCI loops"

probably not the steepest road. but i walked the last 2 km's to the top of Mt William in the Grampians.

Pretty tough walk. Then on the way down, came across a guy riding up. thats dedication i reckon.

zues wrote:Toolonglegs wrote

if the steepest st in the world in the world is 35% at its steepest point....how do you have 36.9?.

GPS units have a vertical inaccurracy of upto + Or - 30m Thats why

Not within 3 seconds they don't.

Mine works off a barometric altimeter and GPS position plots. At the moment I have it set to record my position every 3 seconds. And since I ride the Roseville Bridge route a couple of times a week, the recordings have been consistent for that section of bike track each time I've looked at it.

No idea what the gradient is, but the bottom of Fuller's road, near Lane Cove National Park in Sydney is a killer for me (but I am an unfit noob)

three214 wrote:A short little steep street leads off Queens Park Drive, which is Melville Avenue

A number of years ago when we were small car shopping we needed first gear to get up Melville Ave in a Renault Clio. That one was knocked off the list quickly

Cheers,
Simon.

Rhubarb wrote:...and finally, here's another beauty at Gower St, Toowong. The sign at the top says 30%, and here's another screen capture from Google street view:

The camera angle makes it look steeper than it is, but not by very much.
I used to go up Miskin Street and Gower Street twice a week in 67 inch gear (my lowest) - Miskin is harder because it is longer and there is a nasty pinch before the top.
This was FULL power ankles legs torso shoulders arms and hands, stroke by stroke straining every inch of the climb to the top and all the way with the bike twisting creaking and ticking - steel bike so expected and ok/safe.
Miskin and Gower are within a stones throw of each other - they could make a seriously good super duper anaerobic intervals training course....if you can go hard on those two little hills, the Mt Cootha Challenge ought to be a piece of cake.

Eric.

I used to own a unit in Miskin St and was just thinking hey its not that steep, but of course I was on the freeway side of Sherwood. I used to drive up the other side of Miskin so now do recall its steep. Watching cars doing hill starts from stationary just near the top in front wheel drive cars on wet days was always uncomfortable.

I can confirm with confidence that Mayfield Ct is 25%. Very unbelievable circumstances yesterday at work as an air-conditioning contractor from Samford personally knows Mr Mayfield who built the road to access subdivided property. He took it upon himself as the local council said it couldn't be done due to the gradient. The old bloke was sure he built the steepest road in Brisbane back in the day & would go around measuring others. How very strange.

So my GPS readings of 30% & 32% are still possible as the road has little peaks & undulations on the way up & a crap s-bend with cambered corners. Although the "average" would be 25%.

Rhubarb wrote:As a result of the floods, the office has been closed since Tuesday, and I will probably be asked to work from home for another week at least, so no commuting. Also the main bike track along the Western Freeway was impassable 2 days ago inbound at Indooroopilly and outbound at Jindalee. These may be open now but I'm avoiding them due to diseased mossies etc, so my usual rides are all out at the moment.

So I went looking for some alternate rides to do next week in the mornings (in lieu of commuting). From Brookfield there are a number of roads that go out and up into the hills which look good. After mapping them out on ridewithgps.com, most of them seem quite good with 5 to 9% gradients and about 200m elevation, but Boscombe road is 18.2% and Haven Road is 36.9% !!!!

Does anyone have a local climp steeper than 36.9% ???

PS I only have a 39/25 lowest gear so no going to attempt Haven Rd.

Anyone know how steep Checkers Hill is in Adelaide? I did it a few times at TDU last year - it was a steep mother and pretty damn long considering how steep it was. If you can get up that hill, you're doing alright in my books

jacks1071 wrote: ....Anyone know how steep Checkers Hill is in Adelaide? I did it a few times at TDU last year - it was a steep mother and pretty damn long considering how steep it was. If you can get up that hill, you're doing alright in my books

Theoretically (off climbing websites) it is avg of 14.2% for 600m, with peaks around the 20 - 22%.

Kensington Rd Lookout is similar, with the last 900m having an avg of 14% with peaks close to 20%

I'm a civil engineer working in the roads and traffic field. Longsections and road gradients are my bread and butter. (I'm sure Strawburger will back me up here).

To work out the gradient of a road, simply divide the 'rise' by 'the run' i.e vertical distance by the horizontal distance and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. A road that rises 20m in 200 is said to have a grade of 10% (or 1 in 10).

In any new residential areas, Council's will generally permit maximum gradients of up to 14 - 15%, although steeper grades may be allowed over short distances. The problems created by grades steeper than 15% include pedestrian access, driveway designs, stormwater velocities, heavy vehicle access (particularly garbage trucks and buses that may have to stop & start on the slope), vehicle parking.

Even driveway designs are limited to a maximum grade of 25% (1 in 4) by Australian Standards. I've had to explain to clients in the past that car doors become impossible to manage if your car is parked on a grade of 25%, and controlling a laden wheelie bin is even harder.

I live in Port Macquarie, and we have plenty of hills in our area. But the steepest public street in our council area is around 18.5%. I find it hard to believe there are streets in Australia that are twice as steep.

Sweeper59 wrote:To work out the gradient of a road, simply divide the 'rise' by 'the run' i.e vertical distance by the horizontal distance and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. A road that rises 20m in 200 is said to have a grade of 10% (or 1 in 10).

Sweeper, many people mistake the distance they ride up a hill as the run. However, as you point out:
- rise is the net vertical distance ascended.
- run is the net horizontal distance traveled.
- slope is the distance traveled as per the bike odometer and is equal to the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle.

For slopes under 10%, the slope and run are pretty much interchangeable as the error is small.
However, over that and the difference is significant.

gradient = rise /(slope^2-rise^2)^(1/2)

Around Brisbane :
Gower St, Taringa has 30% posted at the top.
Mayfield Ct, Highvale (Samford Valley) I have measured at 31%.
Mt Coot-tha (from Simpsons Road to ABC) is around 9.5%, with a steeper section for 200 metres before channel 10.

There are a couple of steep, short hills in my area - Melb South- East

I do hill repeats every second week up Baker Ave, Glen Waverley. Max 20% Gradient, Average 12% Gradient for 250m.
I get up the hill (AT) about 25-26km/hr and repeat 6 times with 5 mins rest in between. Never fails to get my HR in the RED zone and makes me sick for an hour afterwards. Hardest bike session by far!

I am another of the doubters of a 36 gradient. I have walked up Baldwin St in Dunedin and it is pretty steep. However, I think it is the steepest residential st in the world. I dont remember it being steeper than the pic earlier. Every year, Cadbury go to the top of the hill with a truck load of jaffa type lollies and tip em out down the hill.

However, 36% seems mildly incredible. Even the steepest climbs on the Tour or in Geelong at the world champs were only in the 20's at their steepest points.


Not sure it is possible to be much steeper than this. Thats nuts. I am a climber, and that scares me.

mrgolf wrote:

Not sure it is possible to be much steeper than this. Thats nuts. I am a climber, and that scares me.

The end of Barwon Blvd just before Challambra Cres is a little bit steeper than this, but that's at the start of the climb. That steep bit in your pic at the top of the climb is just a nasty bit of punishment to finish things off!

Cheers,
Simon.

BruceGray wrote: Around Brisbane :
Mayfield Ct, Highvale (Samford Valley) I have measured at 31%.

Thanks for the confirmation as I thought I was my GPS was out. I definitely saw 30-34% on the screen as I was grinding up in the 26 X 36 on my MTB. Was probably riding at about 3-4km/hr.

snark wrote:

mrgolf wrote:
Not sure it is possible to be much steeper than this. Thats nuts. I am a climber, and that scares me.

The end of Barwon Blvd just before Challambra Cres is a little bit steeper than this, but that's at the start of the climb. That steep bit in your pic at the top of the climb is just a nasty bit of punishment to finish things off!

Cheers,
Simon.

The first time I attempted the course (UCI) I couldn't get over how steep that little rise just prior to the roundabout is at the very start of the climb, thought I was doing OK, then as the hill kept rising in front and just as I thought I had it under control, up it kicks again as shown in the photo.
I haven't attempted Melville ave,(mentioned earlier in previous post) as I am sure it is steeper than the section pictured above, although much shorter.