





2020 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





