How Steep Is "Steep"?

[classic33]

And we can't have cyclists being slowed down on the roads can we? Who knows what congestion, hazards and delay they would cause to normal road users (power assisted type).
PS I liked the video too - thanks for posting Colin.

That piece was never actually said. Came close though.

 

[PMarkey]

The biggest impediment to traffic on Salterhebble hill is it goes to two lanes heading up the hill before going back to a single lane after the lights at Dryclough lane so instant bottleneck and the same problem going down the hill after the lights at Chapel lane



There is no need what so ever for a cyclist to dismount at the bottom of the hill as it is two lanes so more than enough room .

Paul

 

[ColinJ]

PS I liked the video too - thanks for posting Colin.

I think if I had been 'Zimby' I would have instructed my mate to take his camera and motivational remarks elsewhere!

Actually, seeing how close Zimby came to making it, I might have a go one day. It would have to be dry and the cobbles clean though - it gets incredibly treacherous up there when there are rotting leaves all over them, and slimy moss grows on them too. Every now and then the path is cleaned.

I once saw a 4x4 drive up to within 25 metres of the top! (SatNav error?) The stupid driver finally realised that he wouldn't make it and had to reverse all the way down ...

Another time a motorcyclist rode all the way up and almost hit me on the pavement as he emerged at the top.

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.relive.cc/view/1484344841

I did this on Sunday. There are two consecutive sections where the road gets uncomfortably steep ( Leith Hill, from the Leith place direction, followed by Whitedown Lane ). The corner sections on Leith, and hairpin on Whitedown Lane, are what I would classify as ‘steep’ for England.

 

[ColinJ]

https://www.relive.cc/view/1484344841

I did this on Sunday. There are two consecutive sections where the road gets uncomfortably steep ( Leith Hill, from the Leith place direction, followed by Whitedown Lane ). The corner sections on Leith, and hairpin on Whitedown Lane, are what I would classify as ‘steep’ for England.

I don't know how a road can be "'steep' for England" when it is only about 1/4 of the gradient of many roads in England!

 

[Ajax Bay]

The corners he refers to are steep. But the climbs come out at 10%ers (I have only done the Whitedown Lane one - it gets slippery (ie loss of rear wheel grip) too with the tree cover.)

 

[ColinJ]

The corners he refers to are steep. But the climbs come out at 10%ers (I have only done the Whitedown Lane one - it gets slippery (ie loss of rear wheel grip) too with the tree cover.)

I couldn't find the Whitedown climb but the Leith one is 135 metres of ascent in 1.87 km so that is an average of 7.2%.

PS I'm not sure that I will ever get to cycle down there but it looks like there would be some nice rides, as long as the roads are not too busy.

 

[ColinJ]

Try Googling, Colin. Just watching a video of the White Down climb now!

 

[ColinJ]

That is an annoyingly noisy bike! (Or perhaps it just where the microphone was picking up sound from?)

It looks like a nice climb. Some of the bends do look quite steep but the gradient display must be way out in places on that video though because sometimes the road looks much steeper than it says, and at other times it said way over 30%, which I doubt would be true for more than a metre or two at most.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I was giving this some thought while out on Sunday. I came to the conclusion my personal calibration is: If I use my bottom gear, it's steep. If I have to stand up periodically, it's quite steep. If I have to stand up, pull faces and weave around, its really steep. If I get off and walk, it's really jolly steep.

So after careful observation of what my fingers and legs were doing (they arrange the gear changing between them, I have no input) I conclude that anything above 7-8% is steep. Quite steep kicks in at around 12-15%, but becomes really steep if it persists for over 1km. There was nothing really or jolly steep on Sunday.

Edit, from memory, there are short bits of Leith and White Down that are really steep, but mostly they are quite steep.

Sounds about right

 

[Racing roadkill]

Leith definitely has some steep kickers. The road surface is also really crap, unless they've fixed it since I was there. White Down is just a slog. https://cyclinguphill.com/100-climbs/whitedowns/

They haven’t fixed Leith, The ‘Whitedown Wall’ (section at the hairpin after the railway bridge) is a soul destroyer, because you can’t see the top of the steep bit from the bottom, so your brain can’t work out how long you’re going to be punishing your legs.

 

[Racing roadkill]

That is an annoyingly noisy bike! (Or perhaps it just where the microphone was picking up sound from?)

It looks like a nice climb. Some of the bends do look quite steep but the gradient display must be way out in places on that video though because sometimes the road looks much steeper than it says, and at other times it said way over 30%, which I doubt would be true for more than a metre or two at most.

The hairpin after the railway bridge before the ‘wall’ is about 25% but it’s only a hundred yards or so, the problem is that the gradient only drops back to 17% after the hairpin, and carries on like that for about half a mile. You have to remember that the ‘total average gradient’ for the whole section includes a short steep downhill drop, but you won’t remember that about 2 seconds later. As with Leith, anyone that thinks that it’s 7 odd percent, and steady, is in for a big shock, it’s got 3 ‘steps’ on the climb, that are 17% gradients, and they aren’t straight, so it really isn’t as easy as it looks ‘on paper’.

 

[ColinJ]

As with Leith, anyone that thinks that it’s 7 odd percent, and steady, is in for a big shock, it’s got 3 ‘steps’ on the climb, that are 17% gradients, and they aren’t straight, so it really isn’t as easy as it looks ‘on paper’.

I really shouldn't make that mistake because I have been caught out that way several times in the past!

I did nickyboy's Llandudno ride last year on my singlespeed bike and thought that I would be able to ride up the main hill because its average gradient is the same as a local one that I know I can cope with. The trouble turned out to be that it consisted of 4 ramps (which were a bit too steep for me) separated by easier sections which brought the average down. I only managed to ride all of the first ramp but that did so much damage to my legs that I had to walk parts of the next two ramps and all of the last one.

 

[Racing roadkill]

That is an annoyingly noisy bike! (Or perhaps it just where the microphone was picking up sound from?)

It looks like a nice climb. Some of the bends do look quite steep but the gradient display must be way out in places on that video though because sometimes the road looks much steeper than it says, and at other times it said way over 30%, which I doubt would be true for more than a metre or two at most.

I think some of the gradient variations on that video are because the front wheel is lifting off of the road.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Chevrons:
Two: steeper than 20% (1 in 5) (@Dogtrousers 'really jolly steep' or 'walk')
One: 14% to 20% (1 in 7 to 1 in 5) (@Dogtrousers 'really steep')
Five (2x2 + 1x1): 2.4km + 283m (Porlock, N Devon - from the Ship Inn to the cattle grid).
Seven (3x2 + 1x1): Hardknott (E-bound): 2.2km + 289m (from the telephone box)
Seven (3x2 + 1x1 NB less than 1/2 E-bound distance): Hardknott (W-bound): 0.9km +131m (final steep hairpins section)
Five (5x1 (some 2s hidden in there)): Rosedale Chimney (NY Moors): 0.7km + 103m (cattle grid to the car park (on R))
Three (1x2 + 1x1 - have to say this is just an extended 25%er) Bushcombe Lane (NE of Bishop's Cleeve, nr Cheltenham) 1.1km + 131m
Two (1x2): Salcombe Hill (E from Sidmouth up to the observatory): 1.2km + 145m
Four (2x2): Lynmouth Hill (N Devon): 0.4km + 78m
Zero: Leith Hill (just saying, kickers or no)