Okay strange question but anyone have an idea what the percentage grade is on the west side of Lombard? When riding east I find the steep section on that end more interesting than the crooked section . Will be leading a group in a few weeks on Harleys with wives. Last time I let them off the hook and took an easy way to the crooked section. This time I am thinking about taking them all the way.
I don't know whether this is Lombard or another street close by and parallel to it but this should give you some idea how steep it is. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I believe the curved section of Lombard is ~18%. Filbert st between Hyde and Leavenworth, nearby, is apparently a whopping 31% though! Best of luck!
22nd Street between Vicksburg and Church is slightly more than 31% according to Wikipedia, and is I believe quite a bit longer than Filbert to boot. Add in a sharp crest and a crazy view, and you'll scare the crap out of most any Southerner, even going slow. A film crew once filmed about 500,000 super-balls of various sizes bouncing down 22nd with high-speed cameras. Another crew shot mountain-bikers doing crazy long jumps off the crest, as there is a nice steep drop from Sanchez. Good entertainment as a kid. Can't forget about the big earthquake of '89, our no-side-yard city houses were slapping together like a seal's flippers, no kidding. I grew up on 22nd a block from the 22nd hill, and rolled plenty of pumpkins down that sucker on October 31st over the years. My dad also used to illegally drive my brother and I up the 22nd St. hill in his 79 911sc when I was 4 (very, very unwise). That combined with a 130 mph run in the Alameda tunnel (also when I was 4) is what sparked the interest which resulted in car posters all over my room, then a 911, and now a 355. Want a faster car, honestly. Sorry for the nostalgia-laced divergence. Vermont St. near 20th is actually the curviest street in SF, but it's really ugly compared to Lombard, covered in acorns, definitely not brick-paved and certainly not lined with multi-million dollar homes. I ran it in my 911 once and it was too tight to have any fun, but a Lotus Elise would be a blast. The best part is there is literally never anyone there to crash into!
