What are some of the steepest grades on the Trans Am?

[cara2u]

 Hello, Does anybody know what are some of the steepest (percentage) grades of hills on the Trans Am?
Thanks in advance,
James

[staehpj1]

It the west maybe 8%.  In the Appalachians there are a few that are probably between 15 and 20%.

[Gus Riley]

In the Ozarks about mid way across Missouri, westbound is a tough climb.  It looks to be close to 20% just after the route crosses the Current River.
ACA Maps Section 9, map 109. 

[John Nelson]

In my opinion, no value can be derived from the single data point of "steepest". What you really care about is "difficulty", and difficulty is some strange combination of grade and length, plus some factor for how steady the hill is (i.e., a hill that is unrelenting is more difficult than one where the road levels out from time to time to give you a break). If the hill is only 50 yards long, the grade is almost meaningless (unless it's so steep you cannot even pedal at all, in which case you can just walk it, unless you cannot walk, in which case you really do care about grade). Of course, a couple hundred 50-yard hills in a row can wear on you.

As far as I know, no one has successfully come up with a agreed-upon numerical way to express difficulty.

[vertiganr]

There's a long treatise on the subject here:

http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/r/m/hilliness

[stevnim]

Not sure about the TransAm, but Northern Tier has Chilkoot Hill in Stillwater, Minnesota. It's a three-block stretch of 24% climb.  It rises 100 feet over a distance of 700. There is an annual professional cycle race  in Stillwater which includes this hill (Nature Valley Grand Prix). The first year, organizers tried to put pedestrian fencing on Chilkoot but it was sliding to the bottom. So this section during the race has a European feel w/o fencing.

ACA may want to consider mapping around Chilkoot.

-stevnim

[JHamelman]

Hi Steve,

Not sure about the TransAm, but Northern Tier has Chilkoot Hill in Stillwater, Minnesota. It's a three-block stretch of 24% climb.  It rises 100 feet over a distance of 700. There is an annual professional cycle race  in Stillwater which includes this hill (Nature Valley Grand Prix). The first year, organizers tried to put pedestrian fencing on Chilkoot but it was sliding to the bottom. So this section during the race has a European feel w/o fencing.

ACA may want to consider mapping around Chilkoot.

-stevnim

Can you be more specific about the location of Chilkoot Hill in Stillwater?

Thanks,
.Jennifer.

[Drew Diller]

ACA may want to consider mapping around Chilkoot.
-stevnim

No way! I've been to watch the Nature Valley race. That hill is the BUSINESS!

Can you be more specific about the location of Chilkoot Hill in Stillwater?

Here is a small map.
Here's the Nature Valley page about that course.
The first 30 seconds of video I took this year at that stage shows the hill. It doesn't do it justice...

[Drew Diller]

And, speaking as a mere human, I've biked up it a number of times, I live about 30 minutes west of there.  It's steep enough that it's difficult to avoid doing wheelies 

[Pat Lamb]

Are you looking for bragging rights or locations?

I think Kentucky has the steepest parts.  One's about 10-20 miles east of Virgie -- that one's long and steep.  I would guess that's close to 20%.  The there are the gouges in the earth east of Irvine -- 3 or 4 U-shaped things, each less than half a mile long, and each will get you over 35 mph on the downhill, then stop you on the uphill.  Those are darn steep %.

Center of Missouri has some nasty stuff too, but I think those two areas in Kentucky are the steepest.

[dubovsmj]

if you get headwinds in kansas it'll seem like you're trying to bike straight up a wall...an invisible mountain of sorts.

[Sectrix]

Hah, the driveway up to the Knott County historical society was pretty brutal.

...Then again, there was a glass of lemonade at the top.

[Turk]

I used to bike up the Myrtle St. hill in Stillwater, Mn with the 3M bicycle club in the 1970's. I never saw a woman who could bike it without walking, and there were some pretty good female bikers in the club. One is a prize-winning marathoner today. It literally separated the sexes. I have great trouble getting up that hill today but I still can do it.

[John Nelson]

Alas, "Danger Hill" in Christiansburg VA is no longer on the TA. That probably would have set the mark.

[Gus Riley]

Hah, the driveway up to the Knott County historical society was pretty brutal.

...Then again, there was a glass of lemonade at the top.

Yep!  I got off the bike the second I saw that one...walked for my iced tea.