2023 Dirty Dozen Bicycle Ride
What: The 40th Annual Dirty Dozen Bicycle Ride up 13 of the Pittsburgh area's steepest hills
Where: Registration, check-in and ride start are at the Rhododendron Shelter, Lake Dr, Highland Park, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Online registration is available at BikeReg.com.
When: Saturday, October 28, 2023. Registration and check-in start at 8:00 am on the day of the event. Groups of riders depart from 9:00 am to 10:00 am, competitors first. Registration ends at 8:45 am.
• The
2023
event
•
2023
media links
•
Registration
•
Event categories
• Check-in
•
Parking and rider drop-off
•
Spectator's
Guide
• Route
• Gearing
•
Food stops
• Support
vehicles
• Being an official
finisher
• Points competition
•
Official 2023
Dirty Dozen Jerseys
•
Please support our sponsors!
•
After-party
The
2023
event
The
Dirty Dozen celebrates
its 40th
event.
Danny Chew remains
the
director of
this Pittsburgh classic.
Whether
you’re a veteran or a first-timer, we welcome you to come test your
mettle against some of Pittsburgh’s most challenging hills.
Your participation in the Dirty Dozen helps to support Danny.
Additional donations are welcome.
Registration
Registration
is open. Normal registration is available through the morning of
October 26th,
except postal entries must have been received by October 20th.
Event-day registration opens at 8:00 am for unfilled categories.
Entry fees are $5 higher from October 21th
through
the morning of October 26th.
Entry fees are $10 higher on October 27th
and
on event day.
Online registration is available at
BikeReg.com.
There
will be a special session for packet pick-up and registration from 4
to 7 pm on Friday, October 27
at Biketek.
You
can register via PayPal
as follows: Send the funds to DanChew8@gmail.com. In the PayPal note
include the name, age on DD day, gender, entry
category, e-mail address, home city and state (or country) and
number of DDs ridden previously
of each of the people you are registering. Early registration fees
are $65 for the Open Competition and $55 for all other categories.
State rider qualifications for entries in the Open Competition; in
case there are too many requests to enter this category the
organizers reserve the right to downgrade less qualified entrants and
refund the difference in fees. Add $5 to each entry fee if
registering from October 21st
through
the morning of October 26th.
Mailed
entries must be received
by
October 20th.
To register by US Mail, print out the Liability
Waiver / Entry Form, fill it out, sign it, and mail it along with
a check for $65 (Open Competition, include qualifications) or $55
(all other categories) to:
Danny
Chew
1024 Pennsylvania Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Entry
fees are non-refundable after October 20th
if
the DD is held on Saturday, October 28,
2023.
Entry
Categories
•
Open
Competition—For qualified riders who compete in a mass-start points
competition. Points are accumulated from ALL contested hill climbs to
qualify for podium awards.
• Handcycle—For hand/arm-powered
cycles. How many hills can you tackle? The most hills wins. Tie
breaker is how far up the last hill you make it.
• Licensed
Group—For experienced group riders/racers who do not care to
compete in the Open Competition, but prefer an unofficial/casual
competition to be run by the group leader.
•
Women's
Competition—For all women, although women are welcome to compete in
the Open Competition, or to select any of the other categories for
which they qualify.
• Club—For
experienced group riders having no intention of competing.
•
Fan
Club—For strong cycling enthusiasts who have less experience riding
in a group.
• Enthusiasts—For
strong climbers, but not necessarily experienced group riders.
•
Rouleur—For strong climbers, but not necessarily experienced group
riders.
• Party
Bus—For those having the Dirty Dozen on their bucket lists, and no
desire to compete.
Check-in
On
event day those who have registered in advance will only need to pick
up their numbers, and sign waivers if they haven't already. Helmet
numbers are to be mounted on the front, center of your helmet, just
above the brim. These will be needed for identification throughout
the ride. Competitors will also receive frame and handlebar numbers.
The frame numbers are to be mounted towards the front of the bikes'
top tubes where they are clearly visible from either side. The
handlebar numbers are mounted in front of the handlebars using the
included twist ties. These must be clearly visible from the front.
You must mount all numbers to receive points!
Parking
and rider drop-off
Parking
is available where the ride starts, along Lake Drive. Parking in many
locations along Beechwood Boulevard is also an option. Beechwood is
used to transit from the last hill back to the starting location. If
you park on Beechwood then you can ride to the starting location as a
warm-up, and have less distance to your vehicle after the last
hill.
Please avoid parking or rider pick-ups at the top of
the last hill—Flowers/Kilbourne/Tesla. The congestion antagonizes
the local residents. Group leaders will escort groups of riders from
the last hill back to the ride starting point off of Lake Drive.
Route
To
be announced.
Click
here for a listing of the hills, history of the event, and former
winners.
Gearing
Danny
recommends a low gear of 39x27 for racers, and 34x28 or lower for
recreational riders. These assume 700c wheels.
Food
stops
There
are two official food stops. The location of the first stop is
Millvale Riverfront Park in Millvale at the large pavilion. There
will be two portable toilets at this location. The second stop is at
the top of the ninth hill, Canton Avenue. There will be two portable
toilets near the end of the street. Snacks and drinks will be
provided to registered riders at both locations.
Support
vehicles
To
be announced.
Being
an official finisher
You
must successfully ride every hill in the event to be an official
finisher. Successfully riding a hill means that you make continuous
uphill progress to the top under your own current leg or arm power,
and the only contact points with the ground are the two wheels;
falling down, putting a foot down, grabbing poles or other stationary
or moving objects, jockeying in place, etc. are disqualifying, and
the hill must be restarted from the bottom if any of these occur.
“Finisher” ribbons will be awarded to riders certifying they
successfully rode every hill. The “continuous uphill progress”
rule is waived for hand-cyclists. These riders may stop temporarily
and even drift backwards; they must simply make each hill on their
own power while staying on their cycles.
Points
competition
The
lead group of riders will contain those riders wanting to compete for
points on the contested hills. The number of positions available for
men in the lead group is limited, so those wanting to compete are
strongly encouraged to register early. Enter this group only if you
are qualified and have a realistic chance of scoring points. This
category is open to men and women.
There is a later group
that will consist of women who may want to compete, but not in the
open category.
The pace between the hills is neutral and
riders must stay together. When approaching the start of a hill,
riders must stay even with or behind the riding official who signals
hill starts. The official blows a whistle at the beginning of each
contested hill. Only then may riders go as hard as they want to the
top in an attempt to score points, while still remaining alert for
road hazards and traffic. For both the open competition and the
women's competition, a ten-place points system (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,
3, 2, & 1) will be used at the top of each hill to determine
overall podium positions.
To remain eligible for a placing
in the points competition riders must be official finishers as
described above and finish the final hill within 20 minutes of the
first finisher of that hill. This is intended as an allowance for
mechanical problems that occur later in the event. Riders not making
the final hill time cutoff will retain their points, but will be
ranked below finishers arriving in time. The competitive events have
prizes based on total points. The breakdown is:
Open
event
1st
– trophy + $200
2nd – trophy + $100
3rd – trophy +
$50
4th – trophy
5th – trophy
6th –
trophy
Women's
event
1st
– trophy + $200
2nd – trophy + $100
3rd – trophy +
$50
4th – trophy
5th – trophy
6th – trophy
Site
of the awards ceremony:
East
End Brewing, 147 Julius Street, Pittsburgh, after officials have
determined final results and as soon as riders and officials can
gather there after their respective events.
If
two or more riders have the same point totals then a tiebreaker will
be applied: Whoever has the greater number of higher placings,
starting with the highest, wins the tie. For example, a rider with a
single 9th-place
hill finish receives two points and wins the tie against a rider with
two 10th-place
finishes who also receives a total of two points.
On
contested climbs, maneuvers that are dangerous to others and/or would
be considered violations in standard road racing, may be considered
rule violations in this event. Rule violations are subject to
penalties applied at the discretion of the officials, and may range
from loss of points on one hill to disqualification from the points
competition.
Official
2023
Dirty Dozen Jerseys
To
be announced.
After-party
The
official DD after-party will be held at East
End Brewing, 147 Julius Street, Pittsburgh, beginning immediately
after the ride and continuing into the evening. Awards ceremonies
will be held at this location as soon as riders and officials can
gather there after their respective events.