by Staff | Aug 21, 2013 2:14 pm

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Posted to: Citizen Contributions, Sports

Bill Kurtz sent in these photos from a Saturday bike race up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, where a number of New Haveners reached the summit.

New Haven cyclists made a strong showing at the 41st annual Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb this past Saturday. The race is widely considered to be one of the most difficult one-day cycling events in the northeast. Racers start at the Auto Road tollhouse (home of the famous, “This Car Climbed Mount Washington” bumper sticker) and ride 7.6 miles to the summit at 6,288 feet above sea level. The road has a one-mile dirt and gravel section and rises at an average grade of 12 percent, with long stretches at 18 percent and the final 80 meters tilting to a vertigo-inducing 23 percent.