Hello all,
Here is a shot of one of the hills on the Powell & Hyde cable car route.
The cable speed is regulated to 9.5 mph, so the only time the cablecar can exceed this is if it is coasting down a hill with the gripper loose.
I thought it would be a hoot to see if I could cycle the route faster. The Cable cars stop on every road intersection where the surface is horizontal. This gave me some time to catch up.
My hire bike was a Marin Verona with a 34/50 compact C/W a 12 – 25 10 speed. Lowest was 34". Uphill was a struggle and I didn't get off and walk once; and I beat the cable car BOTH ways!!
Each way was 25 minutes for approximately 1.5 miles 'up and down'.
My son and I hired bikes for four hours. He rode around the Embarcadero and Market Street route – Flat, while I rode across the mountainous route, over Russian Hill. He rode ¼ mile further and beat both me and the cablecar.
Moral of the story - 'Avoid hills'.
PS. The Mapsource Topo California I downloaded off the internet ( for free ) didn't work. It showed my position OK, but it wouldn't compute a route which followed the road.
That's what becomes of being a cheapskate.
Here is a shot of one of the hills on the Powell & Hyde cable car route.
The cable speed is regulated to 9.5 mph, so the only time the cablecar can exceed this is if it is coasting down a hill with the gripper loose.
I thought it would be a hoot to see if I could cycle the route faster. The Cable cars stop on every road intersection where the surface is horizontal. This gave me some time to catch up.
My hire bike was a Marin Verona with a 34/50 compact C/W a 12 – 25 10 speed. Lowest was 34". Uphill was a struggle and I didn't get off and walk once; and I beat the cable car BOTH ways!!
Each way was 25 minutes for approximately 1.5 miles 'up and down'.
My son and I hired bikes for four hours. He rode around the Embarcadero and Market Street route – Flat, while I rode across the mountainous route, over Russian Hill. He rode ¼ mile further and beat both me and the cablecar.
Moral of the story - 'Avoid hills'.
PS. The Mapsource Topo California I downloaded off the internet ( for free ) didn't work. It showed my position OK, but it wouldn't compute a route which followed the road.
That's what becomes of being a cheapskate.
