The 25rd Annual Dirty Dozen was held on Saturday, November 24th.
Despite a high temperature of just 36 degrees F and variable
cloudy skies, a record 131 riders (including 3 women) started.
64 rookies (49% of the field) tackled Pittsburgh's steepest hills.
I decided to go 10 places (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1) deep on points
instead of the usual 5. This allowed 28 people (21% of the field)
to score points. However, only 9 (32%) of the points scorers were
rookies. Only 16 people scored (real points according to Steve
Cummings) top 5 place points. A record 13 riders graduated to my
prestigious multiple (3 or more) DD list, which now has 67 people.
A record twelve riders 50 years or older started. 67 year old Jack
Stitt tied Roger Brockenbrough's oldest starter record.
The longest anybody has ever taken to come back to the DD is now
almost 24 years. My old high school riding buddy Jonathan Pratt
rode the 2nd DD with Scott Dismukes & I back in January, 1984.
After living in Colorado for many years, Pratt finally moved back to
the area, and returned to the DD this year - even managed to score
some points. This year was Andy Mor's 3rd DD. His last one was in
2001, and in 2000, he won 3 hills and finished 4th. This year was
Eric Dobratz's 7th DD. His last one was in 2002, and his first one
1994. He has won Berryhill twice.
After shooting his mouth off on the Internet, 1999 DD winner Ryan
McDermitt found out that Steve Cummings & Mike Stubna (only riders
to score points on every hill) are still the best hill climbers in
Pittsburgh. After going out too hard on the first hill, McDermitt
was seen vomiting by the road side. Winning 7 hills, Cummings
dominated (except for Stubna tying for the lead after 3 hills) the
entire event, winning his 4th consecutive DD and tying my record.
Having recently moved to Philadelphia, Stubna got his 2nd consecutive
2nd place finish. Having survived a Chew Fall double century, Joe
Vallese placed 3rd. McDermitt won the 4 sprinter hills, and finished
4th. For my prerace predictions, I picked the correct top 4 people,
but in the wrong order.
McDermitt wrote this post DD e-mail letter:
"This was the last string in the DD trash talk and where I must face
the proverbial music. Steve Cummings refused to be lored into our
string of trash talk and saved all of his effort for the bike. He won
the 1st hill and never looked back on a start to finish leaders run of
the DD. If my memory serves correct, he also scored points on every
single hill despite a record field of 131 riders. Job well done Steve!"
I was unaware that Ryan had an accident (other than vomiting) between
the first two hills until after the DD, when he wrote me this e-mail:
"I'm not one for excuses and while the crash did cost me being able to
contest hill #2, I wouldn't have beaten Steevo anyway. For your reference,
once I stopped puking after hill #1, I was about 30 seconds off the back.
I road through the cars and was riding through the field. On the steep
roller (connecting hill) between hill #1 & #2, I was just left of the center
line when a rider threw his gears, swung left and crashed into me. He went
down and I locked it up and had to come to a full stop. I got back on my
bike again at the back of the field and started to chase through again. I
was up to about 12th place at the bottom of hill #2, but my heartrate was
pegged from chasing through 120 riders spread out over a mile of road twice.
I never had a chance to contest the hill fresh so I just spun up it. From
that point on, I changed my direction to winning hills. I tried to win hills
#3 (successful), #5 (finished 4th), #6 (successful), 9 (successful), and 11
(successful)."
Three rookies rounded out the top 8. Zak Kovalcik scored points on 10
hills, and finished 5th. Riding the same new bike (a red & black,
carbon fiber, Specialized Roubaix) as me, Jacob McCrea lost his brake
shoes on the 5th hill - Logan in Millvale, and rode the rest of the DD
with only a front brake. Part way up the narrow hill, the media vehicle
(containing 3 time ACA Club Criterium Champ Jake Lifson, DD hill winner
John Minturn, & Ed Krall) stopped to shoot video, and a guy driving down
the hill froze/stopped - creating a bottleneck, which only one rider
could get through at a time. Words were shouted at the media personnel
as the majority of the field (including myself) had to stop and wait their
turn through. It must have taken about 5 minutes for everyone to pass by.
While stopped with his brakes on (to keep from drifting back down the hill),
McCrea's rear brake pads (obviously open ended) must have shot out.
Philadelphia Dirty Dozen (first one was 3 weeks before my DD) organizer
Colin Sandberg scored points on 8 hills, and finished 8th.
After scoring zero points on his first DD last year (although he did
shoot some good YouTube videos), Chris Mayhew returned with a vengence,
and scored points on 10 hills to a 6th place finish. Big Ring Bobby
(1986 DD winner and co-founder Bob Gottlieb known for riding the hilly
Pittsburgh area in his big chainring) did the 3rd hill - Berryhill in
his big chainring again, but was reduced to using his little chainring
up the other hills. Gottlieb placed 2nd on 3 hills, finished 9th place
overall, and was the first 40+ rider. This was also Gottlieb's 10th DD!
I rounded out the top 10, scoring real points on 3 hills. My new 10 place
deep points system hurt me the most - I would have beaten Sandberg, McCrea,
& Mayhew, and finished 7th had I kept my old 5 place deep points policy.
A big thanks goes to official Mark Powder and his helper Ryan Ross (rider
Sean's brother) who had to work twice as hard with 10 place points.
Usually all points scorers on the first 5 hills and all former DD winners
get to do the first heat on narrow hill #6 Rialto (Pig Hill), which we go
down and come back up, but because of the new 10 place points system,
there were too many people to stage at once, so only the top dozen points
scorers and myself did the first heat. Thanks to David Petrou who
marshalled the busy Rt. 28/31st St. Bridge intersection at the bottom of
Pig Hill while the rest of the huge field rode down and up.
After the toughest hill - #7 Suffolk/Hazelton/Burgess, rookie Dustin Wehler
crashed, broke his hand, and had to be picked up. After famous Sycamore St.
(Lance Armstrong won 3 Thrift Drug Classic races up it), we took group photos
at a Mt. Washington overlook, where Mark Powder had us all take a moment of
silence for my father Hal Chew who died back in March. The next hill - 37%
cobblestoned Canton Avenue was a points disaster since we beat Powder & Ross
there. In the lead points group, Gottlieb broke his chain and crashed.
Finishing together, McDermitt & Vallese were each given 10 points and deemed
co-winners. 5th and 7th-10th place points were given as best guesses after
riders who thought they were in the top 10 lobbied Powder & Ross. A nearly
constant flow of riders attempting the hill (some more than once and some
crashing) gave Gottlieb enough time to fix his chain and conquer the hill on
his 2nd attempt. Back in the 1980s (when Steve Cummings was a child), Gottlieb
& I kept setting multiple time records on Canton, finally ending with my two hour
66 times up and down (still standing) record.
Jeremy Kirchin won the traditional sprint out of the Liberty Tunnels.
Between the last two hills on Becks Run Road, 45 miles into my ride,
I rode my historic Millionth Lifetime Kilometer (621,371 miles)! 4
person Team RAAM finisher this year Bob Ansell whipped out his cell
phone to take some photos. The BIG GUY on the DD this year was two
time solo RAAM finisher - 6'8" tall & 230 pound Matt Bond of Dayton,
Ohio. He was trying to tie Maurice Tierney's heaviest DD finisher
record set last year, but the 10th hill (Boustead) got Bond. After
my millionth K, I blew my whistle to signify the early (5 miles
before the top) start of the last hill - Flowers/Tesla. After the
lead big pack reeled in Joe Vallese (on a solo break) on Rt. 837,
sprinter Jared Babik & 15 year old Eddie Grystar Jr. broke away on
the Glenwood Bridge across the Monongahela River. By the time we
turned right and started climbing, they had about a 30 second lead.
Although our lead points pack was gaining on them the entire way up
the hill, they barely held on and Babik won his first DD hill with
weaving Eddie taking 2nd.
Thanks to Trizilla Hummer support vehicle driver Chris Popovic who
also shot YouTube video on 6 hills. On the 9 minute video on the
top of the last hill, I counted over 90 riders either riding or
walking up the final steep pitch. After my 4th place finish, I
rode down the hill to ride back up with the last rider. On the
steep section of Tesla, I broke my chain and crashed (bloodying my
elbow). A resident on the hill, Carroll Kelly gave me a rag to
hold my broken chain in as I walked up (pushing my bike) to the
top of the hill. As Mark Powder was reading race results, I was
busy fixing my chain so that I could ride back to the Washington
Blvd. Track/Oval. I'm sorry I didn't get to say my many thank you's.
Thanks to food/drink vehicle people Steve Revilak & Babs Peterson.
Babs also helped me with registration and she marshalled the
dangerous intersection on Saxonburg Blvd. at the bottom of hill #3 -
Berryhill. Thanks to Steve Mentzer & Don Erdeljac for loaning me
their orange 10 gallon coolers used on the Rachel Carson Hiking Trail
Challenge. Thanks to Billy Kanarek for donating all of the pop again
even though he didn't ride this year. Thanks also to Ryan McDermitt's
sister Shannon who shot 334 photographs. Finally, thanks to all the
riders for coming and keeping the big group together through the
neutral sections between the hills.
34 year old Bill McNelis finished his 2nd DD this year. I have been
told that I don't give non-points scorers enough ink. Please let
this post DD e-mail letter I receiced from Bill be the voice of all
you courageous middle/back of the pack DD finishers. Who's to say
that finishing is any less difficult for Bill as scoring points is
for me or even winning is for Steve Cummings?
"I have to say thanks again for throwing this party every year.
This year was only my second time, but I loved/hated/loved it
again. I finished stronger than last year - in no small part due
to learning the 'trick' to getting up Canton (hard right!...last
year it took 4 tries - this year got it on the first try). I'm
not a super-serious cyclist like a lot of guys in the DD (just
bought my road bike in April 06), so for me, just finishing that
beast of a ride (with a 39x25 low gear - and straight up each
hill, no tacking back and forth) is very hard."
"But that is the whole point. For me, the DD is more than just
'I rode up some ridiculously steep hills.' It is a pretty
personal thing. I tend to doubt myself a lot, and I look at the
DD as being a metaphor for what I can do when I grab myself by
the balls and say 'I am going to do this, and I'm going to do it
right, and I'm not going to quit no matter fucking what.' For
about 2 weeks after the DD (both years) I feel like nothing and
no one can touch me. And the feeling comes back when I think
about it later, and I love having that."
"Last year my legs were cramping on the last 4 hills - hard on
Flowers/Tesla, but I pushed through and finished all 13 hills -
JUST BARELY. The feeling afterwards was amazing (aside from
cramping with every pedal stroke on the ride home) and I knew I
was gonna do it again next (this) year. And finishing it stronger
this year just makes it all that much better. Nobody can take a
DD finish from you - once you've done it, you get to keep it forever
as a reminder of what you're capable of. No matter what happens for
the rest of my life, I have that inner knowledge of what I can push
through and endure when I focus and decide I'm not going to give up.
To a RAAM winner that probably sounds hilarious, I know, but for me
it's a big deal. What has probably at this point become just a
yearly party and points contest for you and some of the other DD
heavyweights, stands out for me to be one of the most valuable
experiences of my life, and metaphorically, as a rock-solid foot
hold for what I hope will be a bigger kind of climbing I'll be doing
in life later on."
"So, if you ever wonder what some of the guys who disappear behind you
when you blow the whistle are thinking - well, now you what it means to
one of them - and between last year and this year, I told everyone I
ride with, 'If you are even *thinking* about doing the Dirty Dozen, DO IT.'
So thanks for being insane enough to come up with the idea - and I'm sure
anyone else who has finished it thanks you too - even if it sounds more
like they're cursing you out for their screaming lower back pain.
VIVA LA DIRTY DOZEN!"
Congratulations to Steve Cummings for winning. His cyclocross training
and racing kept him very fit. Congrats to all the riders who finished -
making it up every hill without stopping except for the forced bottleneck
stop on Logan. You have now tamed the monstrous beast known as the Dirty
Dozen, and now know what steep hills really are. I was very impressed
with pro cyclocross racer Barbarella Howe who grew up in Pittsburgh
(Highland Park), and now lives in California. The strongest woman to
ride the DD, she floated up every hill, beat me up 6 hills, and may have
had some top 15-20 hill finishes. Well known on the Internet as the "Queen
of the Galaxy", Howe writes diaries for CyclingNews.com. Read her diary
entry about her first Dirty Dozen experience at:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2007/diaries/barbarella/?id=barbarella0721
Barbarella Howe's DD Cycling News Diary:
3 Time DD Finisher Ted King-Smith's Article:
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