BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

i have been told from others on here that hunter road out of oakmont/verona is the best descent (and subsequently the best ascent) within a ten mile radius of the city. i've never done it, though.

as far as things i have done, there are plenty of solid climbs all around. i'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but if you can stand rollers, just take any road out into the north hills, and you should be good. if you want to go up, say, mt. troy, you can start it by going up rialto st. in troy hill (pig hill = 24% = fun!) or logan ave in millvale (maxes out around 24% but it's longer and the steepest part is at the top = fun!), or you can find any other ways getting there.

middle road out of etna is at least a 10 minute climb for me. or you can once again take the fun way, which is a very gradual ascent up saxonburg to berry hill, then up berry hill (probably once again around 25% at its steepest) to middle, for maximum fun.

i haven't been everywhere within an hour of the city, so i certainly can't speak to the best climb. but there are plenty of 10+ minute climbs, even within the city. and i promise the north hills has plenty more. and so many others where you think you can suddenly relax because you're going downhill, only to find you've got to go back up even higher once you get to the bottom. love it!

+10 minutes climbs?

In the city:

>18th street from Southside to Mt. Oliver

>Josephine @ 27th to Arlington

>Hazelwood Avenue from 2nd to Greenfield

>Flowers to Tesla?

>Brighton Road from northside to Brighton Heights - not terribly steep but it's a long steady climb.

>Spring Garden Avenue from Penn Brewery to Mt. Troy Road - not very steep, either.

* Guys Run out of Harmar is a good one. Probably one of the best "classic" climbs near the city.

* Hunter is also quite good going up. Another "classic."

* Hoffman and Geyer out of Millvale are also long, though maybe not 10+ minutes.

* Marzolf out of Etna is probably 5+ minutes.

Thanks, all. Yeah, 18th street was kind of what I had in mind. That's a good one. I think I need to explore the North Hills some more.

I second Guys Run and Middle Rd

Others I like:

- Noblestown Rd between West End Circle and Carnegie (either direction, I like going out more)

- Campbell's Run Rd out of Carnegie

- Thompson Run going towards North Park from Babcock Blvd

- Riverview Park... the windy road to the observatory isn't bad

- If you go a little further down Freeport Rd, I like Bailey's Run/Fairfield to the top of Deerlakes Park

- Elfinwild between Rt 8 and Middle Rd is actually pretty tough

Third on Guys and Middle.

Also, Roosevelt (off Center in Emsworth) up to Mt Nebo is nice. Good climb for the first bit, then nice gently rolling ridge road.

In that same neck of the woods, Blackburn from 79 up to Sewickley Heights is decent, OR Blackburn in the other direction starting in Sewickley is a really nice twisty, narrow, pretty climb. Watch the high-dollar SUVs and luxury sedans, though.

Lots of good climbs out of the Sewickley region, ranging from relatively mellow like Backbone to Dirty-Dozen caliber like Red Gate.

@bjanaszek: geyer out of millvale is like my nemesis. granted, i think i've only ever hit it after like 30 miles of hills, but that always absolutely kills me. still, it's like a 10% grade over a mile, with a good deal of 15% thrown in. hurts every time.

and now i have to ride it tomorrow. dammit! thanks! oh well, at least it has that cool cemetery.

Thompson Run off Babcock is an easy climb, though rather narrow and twisty.

Campmeeting Rd in Leetsdale is a toughie, followed by a lot of rolling hills, then right onto Rochester where there's a second really tough one, followed by a fairly nice ride back into West View and the metro area. Avoid Perry Hwy southbound out of West View, though. The hill would fit your bill, but very heavy traffic & no shoulder.

i did this route last summer with a friend from out of town as a kind of goodbye to biking/kill the out of towner route... i couldn't find the actual routte (i just did it real quick by memory here) but there are a few decent grinds and a couple ouch i just got my ass kicked hills in there... i lived on the northside so that's where it starts but you could start it anywhere in the loop:

URL for this route is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2966564

I'd say, with Dan, Redgate road in Sewickley, then loop back down coming back to main drag in town via Glen Mitchel Road and go up Sycamore Road (yes the name says it all), which is a sweet switchback climb right next to Redgate, like a mini Alp Duez, except steeper at 20-25% in spots.

Just type into google maps: "sycamore road sewickley, pa" or "redgate road sewickley, pa" -John

listing climbs by time can be depressing or can make you think that somebody is an egomaniac.

Anyway.

Guys run is a classic hill. Steep at the top, steady all the way up.

LOGANS FERRY!!! how come nobody listed this? this is one of the best climbs around.

Also noblestown out of the west end circle all the way up (going left to stay on it) is 10 minutes at a good grade that allows you to keep a high cadence.

Spring garden on the northside is a fast hill that gets real steep at the top. It can be long.

LOGANS FERRY!!! how come nobody listed this? this is one of the best climbs around.

D'oh. Indeed. I completely forgot about that one. Plus it leads to Sardis Road, one of the better ridge roads, too.

Mmm, if you go out Sardis Rd, you can make your way over across 366/Greensburg Rd to Merwin Rd, which I seem to recall was a pretty spiffy climb as well.

You can also do Sardis/Logans Ferry/whatever it's called out of Murrysville (west-ish, back towards New Ken) for a good few miles(5?) of gradual climb.

This is all great for inspiration. Thanks again.