Fargo Street Hill Climb

March 6, 2011

Report by Dan Wyman

Photo by Dan Wyman

It's only one block long, but Fargo Street, with its 32% grade, equals the steepest street incline in Los Angeles. Our annual event challenges all comers to see if they can make it up on a bike (and sometimes weird bikes or skates), and if so, how many times in one day.

Back in the day, the 1970’s, only one type of bicycle was used to conquer Fargo Street, a road bike. A few of us are still around to remember that bye-gone era.

Who could have imagined back then what people would be using to get up this steep hill 30 odd years hence? This year, there were mountain bikes, unicycles, rollerskates, rollerblades, bmx bikes, exercisers on wheels (the “ElliptiGo”), recumbents and even a few road bikes.

Riders are hardier today, too. It used to be that most people were content to ride up the hill once but now, a lot of riders do it multiple times. This year, eight riders made 31 or more successful climbs, and a new women’s record was set by Heidy Volpe at 26 climbs. Not too many years ago, 26 climbs was the men’s record, set by my brother Dave.

Of course, mountain bikes with their low gears make things a lot easier, but there's no denying that a lot of great athletes come out to Fargo Street to challenge themselves on this very steep hill. One such athlete is Jack Dwyer, who at 71, became the oldest person to have ridden up Fargo Street. Way to go, Jack! The youngest rider this year was Evan Bal, 15.

Another impressive feat was Terry "the Unigeezer" Peterson's two successful rides on his unicycle. Terry is the first and only person to have successfully ridden up Fargo St. on a unicycle.

No doubt this great Fargo Street tradition will continue to evolve. Who knows what types of bicycles and other contraptions people will be using to get up the hill 30 years from now?

Many thanks to Kermit Ganier, Wheelmen Director at Large, for his tireless work again this year in recording the finishers' information and compiling the statistics. Thanks also to the Ignacio family for taking care of the sign-ups.

Here are the results for the 2011 event, compiled by Kermit Ganier:

Riders registered: 118

Successful Riders: 70 (65 were on bikes)

       1-unicycle  (First one we know of to surmount Fargo St)

       2-rollerbladers

       1-roller skater

       1-ElliptiGO (a wheeled fitness device with no seat- Google it to see a photo)

New woman's record: 26 climbs...Heidy Volpe

Most climbs: 62...William Aligue

Oldest rider: 71 years young...Jack Dwyer

Youngest rider: 15 years old...Evan Bal

A bit of trivia:  Oldest to walk the hill:        Joan 79 --  Gerry 56 -- Vivian 78

Photo galleries:

Dan Wyman: http://www.pbase.com/coaster/fargo_street_bicycle_hill_climb_2011

Dave Wyman's photos and commentaries:

http://www.bikeforums.net:80/showthread.php/718208-To-Climb-the-Steepest-Hill-A-Journey-of-Self-Discovery

A great video of Terry Peterson ascending on his unicycle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNUPefIVxv4

Complete results of all successful ascents: