Steepest Road I Ever Saw!!

Gus Riley said:

Today while traveling in the car back to Illinois from our visit to Virginia we came into Charleston WV on I-64. Just as we crossed the Kanawa River headed west (before the capital bulding) there was what looked like a brand new road off to the right. There was a pickup coming down it, that road looked STEEP!! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. What a monster!!

Anyone see that thing!? Better yet, anyone ride it?!! Looks impossible!!

What your steepest hill?

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Freehub said:

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OMG! Now THAT would be a workout!

Freehub said:

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Believe it or not, this road in Charleston looked every bit as steep. It looks like it is brand spanking new too. :eek:

Quoted post said:

What your steepest hill?

These are probably the steepest I ride on a regular basis. These first one in the foreground isn't terrible, but a couple of those beyond it are pretty severe.

23% on my evening ride is the steepest and averages 100 ft per mile.

BarryMc said:

These are probably the steepest I ride on a regular basis. These first one in the foreground isn't terrible, but a couple of those beyond it are pretty severe.

Awesome hill!! Have you ever ridden it down hill!? I bet it is fun as hell!!

jhuskey said:

23% on my evening ride is the steepest and averages 100 ft per mile.

23% Holy Sh%T!!! I think the steepest around these parts might push 15%?

Next time I cruise past Charlseton I'm going to get a decent picture of that hill.

We've got at least one climb measured at 26%. There are apparently a few others outside of town that are as steep or steeper.

alienator said:

We've got at least one climb measured at 26%. There are apparently a few others outside of town that are as steep or steeper.

Ah Tucson. Does the climb to Mount Lemon have any hard steep sections?

Gus Riley said:

Awesome hill!! Have you ever ridden it down hill!? I bet it is fun as hell!!

I ride it both ways, all the time. 😄

Gus Riley said:

Ah Tucson. Does the climb to Mount Lemon have any hard steep sections?

On the ride back down Lemmon, the first 1/8 mile or so is at 8-10%....so no, not really.

The steepest road in the US is Canton Ave in Pittsburgh, PA at 35% for 1/10 mile. Steepest pitch (any length) that I have found is 37% on that road. Many others are > 30% (famous Fargo St in LA is 32%). The book 'The Complete Guide to Climbing (By Bike) contains very complete stats on the most difficult hill climbs in the US along with many other climbing by bike resources (training, etc). It also ranks the most difficult, steepest (various lengths), highest, longest, etc American climbs. Good read and resource. Check out www.usacyclingclimbing.com and it is available through Amazon.com.

Liketoclimb said:

The steepest road in the US is Canton Ave in Pittsburgh, PA at 35% for 1/10 mile. Steepest pitch (any length) that I have found is 37% on that road.

that's amusing, seeing as how i grew up in that neighborhood, just a few blocks from that street (many decades ago). I didn't know it was the steepest street, but there's one very near there that i thought was the steepest one i ever saw-Potomac, just as it meets up with Banksville Road. (the hardware store where i bought my baseball cards was on Banksville, about a block away from Potomac). i used to ride my bike around there as a kid, but didn't try either of those hills on my little stingray with the tiger striped banana seat. Any idea how that last bit of Potomac compares with Canton?

nowadays i ride around san francisco looking for hills to climb. just like in pittsburgh, they're not hard to find 😄

The century I rode in this weekend had 4 climbs between 12 and 15%, and after riding those, I can't even imagine riding a road over 30%. That's crazy. It didn't help that these were all after the 60 mile mark either, but at least they weren't all that long.

That whole neighborhood in Pittsburgh is steep. I have notes of other sections I measured there but I don't know if I measured that stretch of Potamac you mention, have to check that one out. San Fran is the king of steep climbs. I used to stay in town there for several days and at night just ride the hills. (Mtn bike). There are so many 25%+ stretches that you just can't list them all.

Riding something > 25% usually involves tacking up the hill side to side. On the 30%+ stretches I have never seen anyone that can go straight up the hill for more than 20 ft or so. Fun riding but hard on the knees.