Start & Registration Info

Danny Chew's DD Rider Indexes: Find out what rider finished in what place scoring how many points in what year.

2005 DD Photo by Steve Mellon on Cover of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Newspaper:
Joe Ross Running up Canton Ave. Against 2004 & 2005 DD Winner Steve Cummings.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article on Canton Avenue: The Steepest (37%) Dirty Dozen Hill.

Article on Canton Avenue: text only

Dirty Dozen Route Map: With All 13 Hills Listed.

Dirty Dozen Riding Old (DO NOT GO THRU THE LIBERTY TUNNELS) Route Cue Sheet: Thanks to Bikely.com.

Dirty Dozen Driving Route Directions by the late Mark Powder.


41st Annual / 2024 DD Jersey Order Info
Million Mile Man Fundraiser T-Shirts

2014 & 2015 Media Links
2016 Media Links
2017 Media Links
2018 Media Links

HISTORY OF THE DIRTY DOZEN

In 1983, Dan & Tom Chew and Bob Gottlieb wanted to showcase Pittsburgh's steepest and toughest hills in one ride, never getting more than 10 kilometers away from the center of the city. We searched out hills on Unites States Geological Survey (USGS) maps by counting the 20 foot contour lines/intervals. The closer the lines, the steeper the hill. Sometimes the "road" was merely steps for pedestrian traffic only. So on Saturday December 17, 1983, the first Dirty Dozen ride was held in 27 degrees F with snow flurries. Among the 5 starters were Oscar Rattenberg and Ron Reider, but only Dan, Tom, and Bob finished. Dan & Tom were deemed the two strongmen of the ride. The 5 place points system was first used in 1988 when 13 starters showed up. The 10 place points system was used in 2007 when 131 riders started, in 2008 for women, and in 2011 for men. When Tom Chew moved away from Pittsburgh in 1985, Dan Chew took over as the ride organizer. Back in the early years (the 80's) a macho attitude prevented any rider from using gears lower than a 42x24. In recent years, the ride has gotten easier due to lower gearing and several of the hills being paved (asphalted) which used to be rough cobblestone or wavy blacktop, killing what little momentum the rider had. In recent years, riders have used a 39x32 gear which makes the ride much less taxing on the rider's upper body.

In 2016 after a bad cycling accident left Danny paralyzed from the chest down, the format of the DD underwent a major change - instead of one big group, head marshal/ranger Chris Helbling came up with the idea of having many smaller groups, of which only the lead group could score points (both men & women). This made for a safer event, and also for safety reasons, the 4 mile road race section before the last hill was eliminated and the route started taking the Hot Metal Street Bridge instead of the Glenwood Bridge. Also in 2016, the 3rd hill - Berryhill (often barricaded off after the first snowfall) was replaced with 57th St./Christopher St. in Lawrenceville. In 2018, the women started getting their own separate points group.

DIRTY DOZEN OFFICIAL FINISHER STATUS

To be an official DD finisher, you must ride up every hill using your own current power available without stopping or crashing. You must have continuous forward motion UP the hill! You can weave back and forth as long as you are continuing to go UP. As soon as you start to go level or back down the hill, you are disqualified. You can go back down to the bottom of the hill, and try again as many times as you want. In the early days of 20 or fewer riders, I was able to keep track of who made all the hills, but once the DD grew bigger than this, I was unable to police it anymore. Now there exists an honor system where riders keep track of themselves.

DIRTY DOZEN RECORDS

Most wins: 11 by Steve Cummings from 2004-2013 & 2015
Most consecutive wins: 10 by Steve Cummings from 2004-2013
Most wins, women: 4 by Stefanie Sydlik in 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2019
Youngest winner: 16-year-old Josh Smith in 1992
Oldest winner: 41-year-old Danny Chew in 2003
Youngest hill winner: 15-year-old Willem deBoer in 2013
Oldest hill winner: 53-year-old Gunnar Shogren in 2015
Youngest points scorer: Tie - 14-year-olds: Max Bergholz in 1987 & Willem deBoer in 2012
Oldest points scorer: 65-year-old John Brockenbrough in 2023
Oldest female points scorer: 59-year-old Lisa Weiss in 2023
Most DD finishes: 32 by Danny Chew
Most consecutive DD finishes: 25 by Danny Chew from 1983-2007
Most consecutive finishes by a current rider: 13 by Larry Weber from 2011-2024
Youngest finisher: 11-year-old Luke Gunnett in 2015
Youngest female finisher: 15-year-old Angelina Palermo in 2011
Oldest finisher: 70-year-old Gary Fisher in 2024
Oldest female finisher: 58-year-old Tammy Killebrew in 2017
Heaviest winner: 186 pound Tom Chew in 1983 (first DD)
Heaviest finisher: 285 pounds by Don Snow in 2015
Tallest finisher: 6'10” Frank Curl (weighing 280 pounds) in 2019
Lightest/Smallest finisher: 85 pounds & 4'9" tall by 13-year-old Xavier J. Szigethy in 2012
Longest time between DDs: 36 years from 1988 to 2024 by Lane Rodgers
Highest low gear winner: 42x23 {1.826} by Danny Chew in 1988
Highest low gear finisher: 36x17 {2.118} (also single gear/speed) by Montana Miller in 2011
First woman finisher: Diane Blackburn in 1997
First fixed gear finisher: Montana Miller in 2009
First female single gear/speed finisher: Winner Betsy Shogren in 2014
First tandem finisher: Brothers Jody & Adam Lobert in 2000
First mixed tandem finisher: Seth Gernot & Rebecca Rankin in 2012
First handcycle finisher: Jonathan Weasner in 2022
First unicycle finisher: Ryan Matthews in 2022
Second unicycle finisher: Harrison Hsueh in 2023
Highest score to ever win DD (5-place points system): 64 points (out of 65) by Danny Chew in 1988, women's winner Betsy Shogren in 2009 & women's winner Stefanie Sydlik in 2015
Highest score to ever win the DD overall (10-place points system): 127 points (out of 130) by Robin Carpenter in 2023, women's competition: 130 points (out of 130) by Jill Patterson in 2023
Most riders: 453 in 2017
Most female finishers: 15 in 2024
Coldest: High of 27 degrees F in 1983 (first DD)
Warmest: High of 73 degrees F in 2022
Most DD hills ridden in a day: 66 times up/down Canton Ave. in 2 hours in a 42x24 {1.75} gear in 1985 by Danny Chew

THE HILLS

DIRTY DOZEN WINNERS AND WEATHER