Cyclists compete in
the Dirty Dozen bike race over 13 of the city's steepest streets
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By Rochelle
Hentges
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, November 27, 2006
While
most people spent the weekend sleeping off their turkey dinners, Danny Chew and
more than a hundred other brightly clad cyclists challenged the city's steepest
streets in an uphill extreme race.
Chew, who
helped start the Dirty Dozen bike race in 1983, merged with city traffic on
Washington Boulevard, winding through the streets and spanning more than half
the length of the Highland Park Bridge.
Six hours and
13 of Pittsburgh's steepest street hills later, the 127 bicyclists arrived back
at the Washington Boulevard Bike Track.
Covering 52
miles, the Dirty Dozen winds through the hills around Pittsburgh neighborhoods
and boroughs, including Etna, Millvale, the North Side, Mt. Washington and the
South Side.
"It's kind
of like going to the dentist. You don't look forward to it," said Steve
Cummings, 26, of Lawrenceville, who won first place for the third year in a row
Saturday. The Dirty Dozen is strictly an uphill battle, giving points to the
first five finishers of each hill and allowing the cyclists to ride neutrally
between them.
Still, it's a
grueling six hours, and the week after the event, Cummings said he always has a
cough that he can't quite shake from his lungs.
But he still
came out for his fourth straight race. He was joined by 126 others, some coming
from as far as Cincinnati, doubling the record of 54 cyclists set in 1999. They
didn't compete for prizes -- there are none -- they competed for pride.
In Beechview,
they encountered the steepest street in Pittsburgh. Canton Avenue has a
37-percent graded incline, and it taunted the cyclists as they gasped for
breath and their legs slowly pumped the pedals, knowing that they could now
walk their bikes faster than they could ride them. Some did. Others fell.
"This is
harder than a century (100-mile race) in the West Virginia mountains,"
argued Chris BeHanna, 37, of Renfrew, Pa.
But for those
who could complete the hill, it was a matter of pride and the knowledge they
came out and competed in what is known by local cyclists as one of the hardest
races out there. Kevin Sapper, 44, of Erie, has finished more than 40
double-century, or 200-mile, races, and yet they don't compare to the Dirty
Dozen, he said.
"I drove
some of the hills (Friday), and my car couldn't make it up some of them,"
said Joe Padalino, 40, of Ben Avon. Padalino has rode up and down the East
Coast, and Pittsburgh, with its steep but long hills, has the most challenging
topography of any city he's come across, he said.
"At some
points, your legs hurt so bad, and you realize you're only half-way up. But you
keep going because you see everyone else pedalling," said Doug Riegner,
35, of Penn Hills. "To go up the same hill as these guys, it's an
accomplishment."
The Hills
Center Avenue
and Guyasuta Road in Aspinwall
Ravine Street
and Sharps Hill in Sharpsburg
Berryhill Road
between Saxonburg Boulevard and Middle Road in Glenshaw
High Street and
Seavy Road in Etna
Logan Street in
Millvale
Rialto Street
across from the 31st Street Bridge in the North Side
Suffolk,
Hazelton and Burgess Streets in the North Side
Sycamore Street
in Mt. Washington
Canton Avenue
in Beechview
Boustead Street
in Beechview
Welsh Way in
the South Side
Barry, Holt and
Eleanor Streets in the South Side
Flowers Avenue
and Tesla Street in Hazelwood
2006 top finishers:
1. Steve
Cummings
2. Mike Stubna
3. Stig Somme
4. Joe Vallese
5. Mark Nicoll
6. John Minturn
7. Dan Wilson
8. Danny Chew
(tie) Ryan
McDermitt
10. Ryan Mele
Where's the
steepest hill Pittsburgh? E-mail us.
Rochelle
Hentges can be reached at rhentges@tribweb.com
or 412-380-5670.