
2021 DD 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.
30th
Anniversary DD Jersey Order Info 34th
Annual / 2016 DD Jersey Order Info 34th
Annual / 2016 DD Posters & T-Shirts 35th
Annual / 2017 DD Jersey Order Info 36th
Annual / 2018 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:
61-year-old John Brockenbrough in 2019 Oldest female points
scorer: 52-year-old Mary Kowalski in 2019 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:
17 by Steevo Cummings from 2003-2019 Youngest finisher:
11-year-old Luke Gunnett in 2015 Youngest female finisher:
15-year-old Angelina Palermo in 2011 Oldest finisher:
69-year-old Paul Salipante in 2014 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: 31 years from 1985 (at age
19) to 2016 (at age 50) by Ed Kauffman 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 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): 125 points (out of 130) by Ian Baun in 2019,
women's competition: 128 points (out of 130) by Shaena Ulissi in
2018 Most riders: 453 in 2017 Most female finishers: 12 in
2019 Coldest: High of 27 degrees F in 1983 (first DD)
Warmest: High of 66 degrees F in 2006 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
1.
|
Center Ave./Guyasuta Rd. in Aspinwall
|
2.
|
Ravine St./Midway Dr. in Sharpsburg
|
3.
|
Berryhill Rd. between Saxonburg Blvd. and Middle
Rd.—removed in 2016-9 and replaced by 57th
St./Christopher St., which became the first hill starting in
2018
|
4.
|
High St./Seavy Rd. in Etna
|
5.
|
Logan St. in Millvale
|
6.
|
Pig Hill/Rialto St. across from the 31st St. Bridge (Not
used in 2012)
|
7.
|
Suffolk/Hazelton/Burgess Streets on Northside
|
8.
|
Sycamore St. on Mt Washington
|
9.
|
Canton Ave in Beechview
|
10.
|
Boustead St. in Beechview
|
11.
|
Welsh Way on the Southside
|
12.
|
Barry/Holt/Eleanor Streets on the Southside
|
13.
|
Flowers Ave./Kilbourne St./Tesla St. in Hazelwood
|
DIRTY
DOZEN WINNERS AND WEATHER
Year
|
# of Riders
|
Winner(s)
|
Weather - High Temp. in
*F
|
1983
|
5
|
Danny & Tom Chew
|
27
|
Snow Flurries
|
Jan-84
|
4
|
Danny Chew
|
34
|
Partly Sunny
|
Oct-84
|
5
|
Doug Grauel
|
50
|
Sunny
|
1985
|
6
|
Lane Rodgers & Danny Chew
|
54
|
Rain
|
1986
|
8
|
Bob Gottlieb
|
52
|
Sunny
|
1987
|
7
|
Danny Chew
|
50
|
Rain
|
1988
|
13
|
Danny Chew
|
64
|
Partly Sunny
|
1989
|
20
|
Danny Chew
|
51
|
Partly Cloudy
|
1990
|
20
|
Danny Chew
|
55
|
Partly Cloudy
|
1991
|
17
|
Gunner Shogren
|
32
|
Partly Sunny
|
1992
|
8
|
Josh Smith
|
34
|
Cloudy - Sleet
|
1993
|
|
NOT HELD IN
1993
|
-
|
-
|
1994
|
14
|
Rob Acciavatti
|
34
|
Cloudy
|
1995
|
16
|
Rob Acciavatti
|
43
|
Cloudy - Light Drizzle
|
1996
|
22
|
Johnny Knotts
|
44
|
Rain - Fog
|
1997
|
29
|
Danny Chew
|
52
|
Periodic Light Rain - Fog
|
1998
|
35
|
Johnny Knotts
|
63
|
Sunny
|
1999
|
54
|
Ryan McDermitt
|
50
|
Mostly Sunny
|
2000
|
28
|
Rob Acciavatti
|
33
|
Cloudy/Snow
|
2001
|
47
|
John Oshlick
|
65
|
Partly Sunny/Windy
|
2002
|
39
|
Justin Pokrivka
|
38
|
Cloudy/Rain/Snow
|
2003
|
8
|
Danny Chew
|
35
|
Cloudy/Snow/Windy
|
2004
|
44
|
Steve Cummings
|
57
|
Mostly Sunny/Windy
|
2005
|
51
|
Steve Cummings
|
42
|
Mostly Cloudy
|
2006
|
125
|
Steve Cummings
|
66
|
Sunny
|
2007
|
131
|
Steve Cummings
|
36
|
Variable Cloudiness
|
2008
|
147
|
Steve Cummings & Patty Buerkle
|
42
|
Mostly Sunny
|
2009
|
185
|
Steve Cummings & Betsy Shogren
|
46
|
Sunny
|
2010
|
182
|
Steve Cummings & Betsy Shogren
|
34
|
Cloudy/Windy
|
2011
|
305
|
Steve Cummings & Anne-Marie Alderson
|
60
|
Mostly Cloudy
|
2012
|
232
|
Steve Cummings & Acadia Klain
|
33
|
Cloudy/Snow Showers/Windy
|
2013
|
261
|
Steve Cummings & Ryanne Palermo
|
39
|
Variable Sunshine
|
2014
|
328
|
Ian Baun & Betsy Shogren
|
48
|
Sunny to Cloudy
|
2015
|
244
|
Steve Cummings & Stefanie Sydlik
|
45
|
CLOUDY/light rain all ride
|
2016
|
382
|
Ian Baun & Stefanie Sydlik
|
45
|
Cloudy
|
2017
|
453
|
Ian Baun & Stefanie Sydlik
|
57
|
Partly Sunny/Windy
|
2018
|
~300
|
Will Cooper & Shaena Ulissi
|
34-> 43
|
CLOUDY/rain most of the ride
|
2019
|
342
|
Ian Baun & Stefanie Sydlik
|
57
|
CLOUDY/rain started at noon
|
2020
|
|
Cancelled because of
the COVID-19 Pandemic
|
|
|
|