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Baldwin Street again...The Worlds Steepest Street

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01 / Original postBaldwin Street again...The Worlds Steepest StreetGizmoDuck · 4 Apr 2008 02 / This pagePosts 1–20Page 1 of 2 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #28joemarshall · 15 Apr 2008

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rec.sport.unicycling
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4 April 2008
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15 April 2008
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GizmoDuck
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  1. Original post
    GizmoDuck
    Archived post
    #1

    There are a couple of threads on unicycling up Baldwin Street but I
    thought I'd start a new one as the others are getting a bit old and it
    might be interesting to talk about your own personal hillclimbing
    challenges on this thread.

    If you don't already know, Baldwin Street is listed in the Guinness
    Book of Records as the World Steepest Street, with a 38% gradient. It
    is a residential street in Dunedin, New Zealand.

    I know of only three riders to have ridden it without falling off (Tony
    Melton, Daniel Goodman and Myself), although I think there may be a few
    more. Possibly Roger Davies as well from memory.

    I have finally uploaded a news story from last years SINZ Unicycle Tour
    (www.sinzuni.org), which shows some good footage on our attempts at
    Baldwin Street:

    Here's a photo of Tony Melton riding up Baldwin Street:

    +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |Filename: Baldwin St gradient.jpg |
    |Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/26060 |
    +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

    --
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  2. unicycledood
    Archived post
    #2

    Hell yeah!

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  3. ivan
    Archived post
    #3

    Looks pretty badass.

    How long is it?

    Is 38% an average or more or less constant gradient?

    Edit: and I'd love to glide down that street🙂

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  4. GizmoDuck
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    #4

    38% is the max I think. The whole street is probably about 800m I
    think. The first 400m is pretty level, then it steepens up pretty
    quickly.

    I don't think gliding is a good idea! People have been killed on that
    street.

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  5. TonyMelton
    Archived post
    #5
    ivan said:

    Looks pretty badass.

    How long is it?

    Even more badass when carrying a bottle of Ch'i as well, as illustrated
    in the photo above!

    Baldwin St is not particularly long, maybe 400m from bottom to top, but
    boy its steep! The climb got my heart working really hard. I remember
    salivating like crazy at the top - no idea why! Maybe it was in
    response to road riding without a camelbak on or something... I was
    stoked to complete the climb on my first attempt of the day on a
    borrowed 24". Last time I tried to ride up Baldwin St was about 10
    years ago when I lived just a few blocks down the valley. I only got
    2/3 of the way up before I had to stop then.

    The death on Baldwin St Ken is referring to is when someone tried to
    descend the street in a wheelie bin, some years ago. Or are there
    others I don't know about, Ken?

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  6. bubbaeck
    Archived post
    #6

    Hahahaha... I read about that in the Darwin Awards...

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  7. siafirede
    Archived post
    #7

    I don't think that Daniel rode up the entire street, but he was able to
    do the steepest part.

    EDIT: duh, he lives in Dunedin, so I am sure he has tried it again and
    completed the task.

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  8. Klaas Bil
    Archived post
    #8

    How far is this from UNICON15? Close enough so that the organisation can
    think of something special? Maybe a Guinness record? A competition?

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  9. peleschramm
    Archived post
    #9

    I have a street by my house that i think is about that steep, or
    possibly steeper. Ive ridden up that, with some difficulty. Then again,
    its hard to tell from just a picture.

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  10. siafirede
    Archived post
    #10

    It isn't close. You would have to cross over to the South Island from
    Wellington and go pretty far southeast.

    However, if you are already going to be in NZ you might as well check
    out the South Island anyway!

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  11. MuniAddict
    Archived post
    #11

    I'd like to see somebody try riding up that hill on a coker with short
    cranks!:p

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  12. Klaas Bil
    Archived post
    #12
    siafirede said:

    However, if you are already going to be in NZ you might as well check
    out the South Island anyway!

    That is actually the current plan!

    Peleschramm, you don't have to judge from a picture. Baldwin street is
    38% and you can measure 'your' steep street with this:
    http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/inclinometer.htm

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  13. siafirede
    Archived post
    #13


    Quoted message said:

    I'd like to see somebody try riding up that hill on a coker with short
    cranks!

    I tried...with 125mm cranks...and I didn't get very far at all 🙂

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  14. peleschramm
    Archived post
    #14
    Klaas Bil said:

    That is actually the current plan!

    Peleschramm, you don't have to judge from a picture. Baldwin street is
    38% and you can measure 'your' steep street with this:
    http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/inclinometer.htm

    Thank you. Will do.

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  15. irvinegr
    Archived post
    #15

    Well not to rain on your parade but only TWO people have EVER ridden my
    whole street with out falling off. And I am one of thoes people. It has
    a slope of around 2% and its like 300m LONG. But wait the street that
    is like 5 min from my house I am the ONLY one in the whole world to
    ride it on a unicycle without falling off, man its got like a slope of
    3% and its like 555m long. Man, i have the adrenaline pumping as i rode
    it, it was crazy.

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  16. jamessd
    Archived post
    #16
    irvinegr said:

    Well not to rain on your parade but only TWO people have EVER ridden my
    whole street with out falling off. And I am one of thoes people. It has
    a slope of around 2% and its like 300m LONG. But wait the street that
    is like 5 min from my house I am the ONLY one in the whole world to
    ride it on a unicycle without falling off, man its got like a slope of
    3% and its like 555m long. Man, i had the adrenaline pumping as i rode
    it, it was crazy.

    Are you joking, or did you mean to have 0's on the end of those
    percentages?

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  17. Klaas Bil
    Archived post
    #17
    jamessd said:

    Are you joking, or did you mean to have 0's on the end of those
    percentages?

    I think he's serious, and joking at the same time.

    Hey, my street is completely flat and about 300 m long, but not more
    than three people have ever ridden the whole length without falling.
    Not many more have tried 😄

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  18. mscalisi
    Archived post
    #18

    I'm going to guess that not a lot of unicyclists ride on that street.

    jamessd said:

    Are you joking, or did you mean to have 0's on the end of
    those percentages?

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  19. irvinegr
    Archived post
    #19

    wow, I am not joking, I am serious. A lot more than 3 have tried, and
    all have failed, except the select few.

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  20. Klaas Bil
    Archived post
    #20
    irvinegr said:

    wow, I am not joking, I am serious. A lot more than 3 have tried, and
    all have failed, except the select few.

    So, is there anything particularly difficult about riding that street?

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