Originally Posted by
CoogansBluff
Have you ridden up Canton Avenue? It's been called the steepest street in the country, although there is one in San Francisco and one in Hawaii that might have it beat. Top 3 for sure. I would love to try that. But not in clipless pedals. Would need to be ready to abort.
Yes, on my 3rd try. The first time I took a bad line to the left, and ended up in some slick leaves; back wheel slipped so I aborted early. The second time I was maybe 2/3rds of the way up when I hit a cobble wrong and it threw me off balance; I managed to unclip in time (I was on SPDs). The 3rd time I got it right. The rental bike had 34-front/36-rear gearing; clearly they knew their clientele and terrain.
Canton is short, but the next one I did (Boustead) was a real lung buster as it was quite a bit longer. When I was approaching the steep part a young local kid (clearly having witnessed a lot of attempts) yelled out "You're not going to make it!" I took some pride in getting up without stopping, although I was definitely gasping for air at the top.