What is the steepest rd in Sydney?

[wombatK]

Jumping in a little late.
But after a similar conversation with a mate of mine, I went out with my 305 to do the math.

Ryedale Rd. (23.5% max)

The roads around Calga are no where near this - but they are much bigger climbs.

The top of Kissing Pt Road at Turramurra is pretty nasty. It comes in at about 16% max, but it is the 3km climb before that makes this hurt.

Ryedale Rd is nasty, but i would be very suspicious of the 23.5% max. It could be an error due to insufficient satellites in its antenna's view. Does it tell you anything about the no. of satellites or VDOP ? Or did you notice how many meters you could read that value for ?

[RobS]

Wombat, thanks for the post on Bowen Mt. The elevation profile spells it out.

I won't be visiting my cousin by bicycle in a hurry - I'd be quite sweaty by the time I got there!

[bud]

Princes Street in Putney is definitely the steepest. You can't see some of it as you look down.

[bud]

I drove from Yanko Rd pymble and through to where it becomes comenarra pwy, thornleigh and there were some killer hills. I wonder if anyone has ridden the entire length???

Yeah I have. It's hard!

[bud]

Rydale is steeper I think, but the hill is quite short. I'll go and measure the gradient and take pics on the weekend.

Try Princes Street in Putney. That is REALLY steep! I'd like to know the gradient

[Wollemi]

How come no-one mentions Old Bathurst Rd - Emu Heights to East Blaxland. You can even catch the train back down and repeat...

[scotty72]

How come no-one mentions Old Bathurst Rd - Emu Heights to East Blaxland. You can even catch the train back down and repeat...

Did that last Sunday.

Up to about 18% (more at the hairpins - absolute killers on 39/23 lowest)

Not the steepest I've done. but it is probably the steepest sustained climb I've done. It is very steep for a very long time.

It rises 223m in 1985 metres (more, but that is just the seriously steep bit) (AT) an average 11.25%.

Can't sbe accurate about the max etc. as I was going too slow (39 / 23 is just not low enough) and there were too many trees covering the sats.

Scotty

[geoffs]

This was a fun hill.
found another one on this trip that was 25% for most of the way but the last bit was 30%
Even with the weight we were carrying and the wheelbase of the tandem we couldn't get traction on the gravel road and had to push the bike up the last bit of the hill.

[/img]

[mikesbytes]

Geoff, where's that hill?

[geoffs]

somewhere in tuscany most probably between Florence and Sienna
I've still got the maps that i used so I'll do an accurate route on bikely one of these days.
here is the link to the rough route that i went on.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/geoffs-tour

[rob e]

My lowest gear is 42 x 20 (cant access the 22!) i have no hope on any serious hills.........cant wait to get my Cervelo built with 39x27

[Boognoss]

My lowest gear is 42 x 20 (cant access the 22!) i have no hope on any serious hills.........cant wait to get my Cervelo built with 39x27

42 x 20?? I have 39 x 27 and even that is too high sometimes .

[geoffs]

anyone who used to ride seriously years ago used to use what was called a corn cob which was a 13/18 6 speed freewheel.freewheel
Couple that with 42/52 chainrings and you were set.
Compact cranksets and STI hadn't even been contemplated. I was in heaven when i bought the very first dura ace SIS downtube levers!

As the saying goes HTFU

(says he who has a compact crankset)

[rob e]

My lowest gear is 42 x 20 (cant access the 22!) i have no hope on any serious hills.........cant wait to get my Cervelo built with 39x27

42 x 20?? I have 39 x 27 and even that is too high sometimes .

Yes mate, this was how it was done back in the day.......i have 53/42 with a 12-22 8 speed cluster.......mind you i used to race at 74-76kgs or so compared to my now 110kgs, and managed to get up the hills fine back then

Geoffs right, we need to HTFU.

[Hebden]

Hi,

Well in regard to this post... its not in Sydney but according to an RTA document I found on the net (sorry can't post the link as I am a new user) Victoria Pass between Mt Victoria and Heartly is the steepest public road in NSW. I think the average over the 2.6kms is 10% with some climbs at 13.3%.

There is a shoulder for most of the climb, and the cars aren’t going to fast past your elbow, the trucks are sometimes barely moving going up. It’s about 1hours drive west of Penrith (Western Sydney).

Cheers,

You can find the PDF by entering "Victoria Pass NSW RTA" into Google.

Quote:
1.3.2 Alignment and width
The existing highway alignment reflects the severe terrain conditions. River Lett Hill and Victoria Pass both involve a number of 45 km/h curves on steep (10 percent) grades. The best of the alignment is through the Hartley Valley section where the alignment is still marginal at a design speed of 90 km/h. The remaining length involves alignments varying between these two extremities. The urban area of Mount Victoria also involves sub-60 km/h alignments combined with narrow widths and intersections. The gradients are very steep, typically 10 percent averages over the main climbs with Victoria Pass having a section of 13.3 percent grade. This is the steepest section of classified road in NSW, and is the steepest section on any recognised freight route in NSW.
End Quote

[Slavo]

The gradients are very steep, typically 10 percent averages over the main climbs with Victoria Pass having a section of 13.3 percent grade. This is the steepest section of classified road in NSW, and is the steepest section on any recognised freight route in NSW.
End Quote

There is a difference between classified and unclassified roads. basically classified roads are highways, freeways, main roads, etc where every other public road is unclassified.

Sections of Pretoria Pde/Rosemead Rd in Hornsby are quite steep.

[Hebden]

The gradients are very steep, typically 10 percent averages over the main climbs with Victoria Pass having a section of 13.3 percent grade. This is the steepest section of classified road in NSW, and is the steepest section on any recognised freight route in NSW.
End Quote

There is a difference between classified and unclassified roads. basically classified roads are highways, freeways, main roads, etc where every other public road is unclassified.

Sections of Pretoria Pde/Rosemead Rd in Hornsby are quite steep.

Ah, ok, that explains all the 20% hills people have been posting about. I thought maybe there were different ways of measuring gradiants...

[RainForeverRain]

Princes Street in Putney is definitely the steepest. You can't see some of it as you look down.

That's the double hill that convinced me to change my gearing! At least there was only one climb on the way back.

[rob e]

for the guys in the east i have found a real stinker, short but very steep....one of the steepest i have found.....start in Wolsely St Coogee heading south turn right into Oberon and start the climb its about 100m at greater than 10%, then turn left into Dundas St and look up....next stretch is 140m at greater than 15%....it gets very steep at the top, turn right into Rainbow for the last 20 metres at 15%+.

its a 260m climb with average gradient of above 15%

a good one for hill repeats!

[tinhorn]

If youre looking for steep hills in Coogee, Rainbow is good heading west, but not for very long - otherwise you cant really go past Arden/beach/brook streets on the northern side of the beach. However you do have to worry about some of the cars around so in that sense its not the greatest.

However i do know a place in Gymea Bay / Grays Point called Greenhaven Rd, its a few hunderd mtrs long and is very steep and very quiet - it also leads right into the Royal National Park fire trails. This also means it leads to practically nowhere.

[ni78ck]

times

for the guys in the east i have found a real stinker, short but very steep....one of the steepest i have found.....start in Wolsely St Coogee heading south turn right into Oberon and start the climb its about 100m at greater than 10%, then turn left into Dundas St and look up....next stretch is 140m at greater than 15%....it gets very steep at the top, turn right into Rainbow for the last 20 metres at 15%+.

its a 260m climb with average gradient of above 15%

a good one for hill repeats!

i did hill repeats up those streets last night on foot! we did it 6 times, boy are my legs sore

[rob e]

Timhorn where do you start Rainbow heading west? There is bugger all climb there, unless you link it with Oberon and Dundas which is 40m in 270m. I dont think there is anything tougher in the east, even Arden heading north between Dolpin and Alison is 37m in 330m, and that sucks because of car traffic.

This is it fellas http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/301275

Lets see if we can out do this, i am always looking for a challenge close to home.


PS. Nick i had to read your post twice, i thought you did 6 hill repeats on your bike....thats good going

[ni78ck]

Timhorn where do you start Rainbow heading west? There is bugger all climb there, unless you link it with Oberon and Dundas which is 40m in 270m. I dont think there is anything tougher in the east, even Arden heading north between Dolpin and Alison is 37m in 330m, and that sucks because of car traffic.

This is it fellas http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/301275

Lets see if we can out do this, i am always looking for a challenge close to home.


PS. Nick i had to read your post twice, i thought you did 6 hill repeats on your bike....thats good going

i think im scared doing it with my bike . i have visions going too slowly and not being able to clip out! i do like going down that hill on my way back from la pa

[sandman]

The gradients are very steep, typically 10 percent averages over the main climbs with Victoria Pass having a section of 13.3 percent grade. This is the steepest section of classified road in NSW, and is the steepest section on any recognised freight route in NSW.
End Quote

There is a difference between classified and unclassified roads. basically classified roads are highways, freeways, main roads, etc where every other public road is unclassified.

Sections of Pretoria Pde/Rosemead Rd in Hornsby are quite steep.

Ah, ok, that explains all the 20% hills people have been posting about. I thought maybe there were different ways of measuring gradiants...

Mate she's a nice climb thats for sure.. Think Bnej hit that climb at 150km, I hit it at 100km, it hurts... then what about Megalong Valley ?? That is a ripper, sure you can "lollygaggle" up the thing but to get some pace happening, its got hurt written all over it as it just goes n goes n goes, relentless

Sandman

[wombatK]

There is a difference between classified and unclassified roads. basically classified roads are highways, freeways, main roads, etc where every other public road is unclassified.

Sections of Pretoria Pde/Rosemead Rd in Hornsby are quite steep.

Ah, ok, that explains all the 20% hills people have been posting about. I thought maybe there were different ways of measuring gradiants...

I wouldn't give up on the idea that the problem could be the different ways of measuring gradients. My Edge 705 is very good at producing elevation's that rise by 5 m every lap of a circuit (like Dunc Gray crit track, or Landsdowne track) - possibly a flaw with its method of using barometric pressure when temperatures are not stable. So I'm highly suspicioius of its elevation and gradient data.

A more reliable Navman Pocket PC GPS I have gives consistent values on each lap, but a more sophisiticated differential GPS unit ought to give more accurate data. If you haven't got an accurate elevation figure, you're not likely to get an accurate gradient (assuming you don't have a more sophisticated accelerometer-based instrument that can work out inclination of objects, such as missiles being guided to their targets !).

People have trouble walking up gradients exceeding 15% (the max allowed in most council codes for a driveway slope) - pushing your bike up it would be even more difficult - let alone riding up it. So I'd take any claims of gradients this high with a grain of salt.

Timhorn where do you start Rainbow heading west? There is bugger all climb there, unless you link it with Oberon and Dundas which is 40m in 270m. I dont think there is anything tougher in the east, even Arden heading north between Dolpin and Alison is 37m in 330m, and that sucks because of car traffic.

This is it fellas http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/301275

Lets see if we can out do this, i am always looking for a challenge close to home.

Rob e I'm not sure how accurate your 15% reckoning is. I don't doubt the route you've found is one helluva climb - you've only got to look at streetview and see the steps on the footpath (a sign the slope is getting to the pedestrian-unfriendly territory).

But where are you getting your elevation data from ? The 90m grid data in google earth and used in bikely is hopelessly inadequate in areas where there are large slopes or discontinuity in slopes. So it's especially poor in the coastal area around Coogee. Are you using something more accurate ?

i did hill repeats up those streets last night on foot! we did it 6 times, boy are my legs sore

How's it compare with the Coogee-Clovelly coast walk around Gordon's Bay to the north ? There's quite a few steps there - giving gradients around 50% for some sections. Coogee to Clovelly and back would be a really punishing walking/jogging repeat, and at least an out-and-back run seems popular enough with local joggers. My knees hurt just thinking about that