My Girlfriend Wanted to Walk Up the Steepest Street in the US – I Drove Up Instead

While I'm playing competitive pinball against 800 other people from across the world at the ReplayFX Festival in Pittsburgh, my girlfriend Michele seeks out fun things to do in the city. If you ask me this isn't one of them.

We had no idea that Pittsburgh is home to the steepest public street in the United States, and some say the world. Canton Avenue has a 37% grade that is a challenge to walk, bike and even drive up.

Michele loves a challenge and I don't, so we drove to Canton Avenue and I dropped her off at the bottom.

Then I drove to the top to wait for her after spinning a tire for a brief moment before it got the traction it needed and climbed the hill with the tachometer needle pointing straight up. I wasn't doing that again.

A bicyclist came by while we were there and he took the challenge as well.

He made it pedaling hard standing up, but I think he was surprised when he got to the top and realized Canton Avenue curved to the left up another steep incline. He climbed that one like a champ too, but had to take a break.

The steep street was featured in a commercial for Audi. As if it wasn't hard enough to climb as is, they ramped it up with gravel, dirt and snow.

There are apartments at the top of this hill and the people living there must get tired of hearing the roar of engines of people who just want to say they climbed the steepest street in the US. I know I would.