Onion Valley Rd. - Indepenence, CA

I charted this climb with Google Earth over a year before I rode it (profile shown above). This climb is very similar to the legendary Tour de France summit finish at Mont Ventoux in the French Provence Region. It is just shifted 3,000 feet higher. Bring the big rear cogs and penchant for suffering, but awesome views at the top. Prossibly the toughest climb in Cali.

My personal climb rating:

I climbed Onion Valley on Memorial Day 2008...on my TT bike. Ride about 1/2 mile out of town and the climb starts at the cattle guard. The first two miles are kinda gentle at 6%. I stayed in the big ring for this section. But that was just a warmup! After the first two miles the road kicks up abruptly to about 8.5% and stays there for the last 11 miles (the climb is actually 13.1 miles)! Needless to say after 3 miles I had to drop into the small ring. There is only one section where the gradient rises above 9%. Coming up to the first switchback the road tilts to 12% for about 1/4 mile. Other than that the gradient is a consistent 8-9% for the last 11 miles. There is no let up, no chance to rest. Extremely difficult, especially on a TT bike! The saving grace is the stunning views of Owens Valley and Mojave Desert. I could see for 100 miles north and south of the valley! At the base if the climb the temperature was ~60 degrees F (3,800 ft. elev.) At the summit the temperature was in the 20s with plenty of snow on the ground (9,200 ft. elev.) Ended up completing the climb in 1 hr., 34 mins. Not bad for a guy 64"" tall, weighing 195 lbs. on a TT bike. Made my back sore!

My personal climb rating: