Dirty Dozen

Nov. 25 2010, I headed out to Pittsburgh to see if I was man enough to climb the toughest hills in and around the city. I had been watching the weather channel so I could figure how warm to dress, they were calling for a high in the mid to upper thirty's, they lied. When I woke on Sat. morning it was around 23 degrees and when I looked out the window it was windy and snowing, and I knew I'd have to wear every bit of my cold weather gear to attempt this ride. John Majors pick me up at my hotel at 7:30. As I climbed into his truck I let him know that I wasn't real sure if I'd be able to finish this ride. Everybody I ride with knows 45 degrees is my limit. The ride started at 10:00, maybe a little after. There were about one hundred and seventy riders as we headed out into the wind to find the first hill and it didn't seem like very long before we found it. The hill, Center Ave. started out with a good pitch and just got steeper, and as I made my way to the top I'm thinking, holy shit this is just the first one, only twelve more to go that count. John and I decided to stay together on this ride and shortly after the first climb we hooked up with the head mechanic (Rick) from his bike shop and off we went to find another hill. The second climb Ravine St. didn't seem quite as hard but I think my legs and lungs were working together a little better. I don't remember too much about the third and fourth hills except they seemed long and steep. All the hills were challenging but in order of the hardest, I think number 5, Logan St was the worst one as the street was longer and steeper than all the rest, and you are stuck in a group of riders that are struggling to keep the pedals turning and not fall over which happened to a number of riders that had the wrong gearing or not enough fitness. I felt very fortunate that I made it to the top without any problems, and knew that if had been much longer I might not have made it. Number 6 Rialto St. was a short but very steep climb that you rode down, turned around and rode up. Not as easy as it sounds, as your going up other riders are coming down and some riders are pedaling too slow in front of you which made the climb a little harder. Number 7 Suffolk, Hazelton, Burgess Sts. in my opinion was the second hardest as this was my first climb with the Belgium blocks, just as you think you're at the top the street turns right and goes into another steep grade with the cobbles. At the top of that you might be thinking you're about done with this hill, you'd be wrong. As you make a left turn there's another sharp incline that was threatening my legs and lungs and a lot of other riders as well, but I made this hill as well. Seven down and six more to go with the steepest yet to come. Number 8 was Sycamore St. which takes you up to Mt. Washington and overlooks the city. I had driven down this the day before, it was so steep I could smell anti freeze coming out of the over flow hose and smell hot brake pads, but at this point I had settled into the idea the I was going to climb all of these hills and started looking forward to the next hill which was Canton Ave. After a few miles of riding toward the climb, I noticed the temperature on top of a tall sign said 29 degrees at 1:30 and thought this is insane but what else is new. We finally arrived at Canton Ave. I watched riders sprinting up this extremely steep hill with a 37% grade. Some riders attempting the hill making it, others falling on the cobbles about half way up. After about ten minutes there weren't too many riders so I just took off hoping for the best and made it on my first try. I was sure if I made this one I should make the rest. While waiting at the top for John and Rick I started looking forward to the next climb. Number 10, Boustead St. I remember how steep and long this one was and about half way up a rider right in front of me threw his chain and stopped, causing me to stop as well, I was pretty pissed but I backed up to the curb and waited for most of the riders to get by then took off at an angle hoping I could get clipped back in and after ten or fifteen yards I was back in control and headed towards the top once again. After climbing 11 and 12 we had a long ride to the last hill and John said this hill wasn't quite as bad as the rest. He was kind of right, but because of the cold and extreme amount of climbing I started cramping about half way up and just told myself it was about over and just kept turning my pedals through the pain because I thought I could see the top as riders were making a left turn and going out of site. As I reached what I thought was the top, I saw one more steep grade which wasn't what I had hoped for. But I paid my ten dollars to climb all the hills and wasn't about to quit now. At the top John, Rick and I regrouped and headed for the truck, it took about half an hour. The ride took all day as we arrived at the truck about 5:00. It was a long day in the saddle. We had ridden fifty four and a half miles and I accomplished what I had set out to do and that was to conquer Pittsburgh's toughest hills. As we headed towards the hotel John and I decided we'd get cleaned up go out to diner and drink some cold beer, we figured we had earned them. I highly recommend the Dirty Dozen to all, its a must do! If you make Rick Sebak your friend on face book you'll get to see some great pictures. A special thanks goes to Majors family for a great thanksgiving dinner and their hospitality. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58119195

Eric A.K.A. The old Man A.K.A. Papa Smurf.

The moving finger writes; Having writ moves on