Race report from the 3rd Annual Philadelphia Dirty Dozen

It was somewhat of a gloomy day last Saturday and the rain refused to move out of the area until about an hour into the ride, which made for a wet day and a relatively small field. We had approximately forty starters and 20 finishers for the 2009 PDD, less than half the number I was hoping for. Still, those that showed up were locked and loaded, ready to ride the toughest hills that Philadelphia has to offer.

The nice and easy warmup on the bike path was slowed up by 2 consecutive flat tires and a pair of broken handlebars. Once we arrived in Valley Forge, the riders were treated to 3 of the longest climbs in the area: Welsh Valley, Jug Hollow and the Paoli Wall. Todd Schwartz stamped his authority on the ride early on by winning all 3 and jumping out to what would soon become an insurmountable lead. Bryan Hitch consistently finished in second place, and in 3rd-5th we saw Nick Maimone, Jay Ziegler and Bob Kehl.

After the 3 "Northwestern Climbs" and a short rest stop, we made our way back towards Conshohocken, stopping along the way at the short but steep climbs of County Line Rd. and Pleasant Ave, followed by Spring Garden St. and the narrow hidden "Col de Bryn Tydden". With wet roads, riders were forced to stay seated to avoid clipping their back wheels on the leaves. Todd Schwartz again dominated the County Line, Pleasant and Spring Garden, but finally showed a chink in his armour as he was pipped at the line by a surging Bob Kehl on Bryn Tydden. The battle for 2nd-5th tightened up as Bob, Nick, Bryan and Jay traded placings.

After the second rest stop, we made our way back down to the bike path before riding the stair-stepped Hart's Lane, the deceivingly tough Hagy's Mill and the brutal cobbles of Port Royal. On Port Royal, only one rider (Jay Zeigler) was able to make it up without dismounting on the wet "kinterkoppen". Todd shot out to an insurmountable lead in first place as Bryan Hitch started to move more solidly into second place.

Crossing the river in Manayunk, the riders rode the steepest grade of the day at the top of La Collina and then wound their way over to the stream crossing and grooved pavement of Righter's Mill. Todd was again pipped at the line by Bryan Hitch on La Collina before conceding 1st place to his teammate Bob Kehl on Righter's Mill.

The finale of the day was the infamous Manayunk Wall, where Todd again displayed good teamwork by helping Bob take 1st place. However, with consecutive 2nd place finishes on the last 2 climbs, Bryan was able to hold on to second place by the skin of his teeth.

The final points standings were as follows:

1. Todd Schwartz: 89 points with 8 wins

2. Bryan Hitch: 48 points with 1 win

3. Bob Kehl: 43 points with 3 wins

4. Nick Maimone: 38 points

5. Jay Ziegler: 23 points with 1 win

6. Ed Vescovi: 1 point

Also: Kyle Eckley: 2 points (DNF)

Michelle Bishop handily won the women's PDD goat trophy by winning all but one climb. Though there were only 2 women to finish, this was certainly no easy feat, especially for a sprinter!

Thank you to everyone who came out and attending the event. I hope that you had a great time and that you will all come back next year and bring friends.

Thank you so much to all the people that helped out:

Dean Molle for leading the riders, blowing the whistle, and keeping everything under control in the pack,

Andrea Walheim for sweeping, My father, Eric Sandberg for keeping me company in the car and taking pictures,

my brother, Rhys Sandberg for helping score,

and to John Angelini for dontating his masterfully crafted homemade chili to the prize list and sending me excellent feedback as well as elevation data.

Pictures are posted on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=157693&id=654524273&ref=mf

Please feel free to email me or comment. Feedback and suggestions are welcomed.

2 Days to go!

The mountain goat can be yours...

Alright everybody, the Philly DD is 2 days away. After a brief scare with the weather forecast, it looks like it's going to be nice Sunday. Partly cloudy. Low of 43, high of 59. Remember that Sunday is the first day of daylight savings, so don't show up at 6:30.

I rode 12/13 of the course on Wednesday with Dean and I am just making a couple small last minute changes with the route: 1) We will indeed go up Jug Hollow as climb #2 instead of Country Club. 2) After Hagy's Mill (KOM #9) everyone will just come back down and then head over to Port Royal, which will start below the train tracks. Other than that, everything is the same. All I can say is that I am glad I'll be in the car!

Notes

Timetable: Meet at Cadence to sign in and make your [optional] donations to the ride expenses. We will leave promptly at 8 AM. This year's ride will be significantly longer than last years because of the addition of 3 climbs in the Valley Forge & Paoli area. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the nice easy warm up out the bike path, but riders that expect to complete the ride should expect to be done between 1:00 PM (14 mph avg.) and 3:00 PM (10 mph avg.). I hope that everyone will finish, but if you are not able to complete the whole ride there will be opportunities to shortcut home after climbs #4, #7 and #10.

Weather: Right now, the forecast for Sunday is very good: Sunny, low of 46, high of 61. Hopefully this forecast remains, but in the event of inclement weather the ride will take place no matter what. Dress warmly and in layers. I will have my car, so you can dump any clothes you want to take off in my car.

Rest Stops: There will be rest stops after climbs #3 and #7. You are welcome to throw extra clothing in my car at any time, but please do not ask me for food or water except at the scheduled rest stops.

After finishing the KOMs: Please make sure that once you complete each KOM you get out of the way of other riders and traffic. In particular, climbs #3, #4 and #13 finish on busy roads so keep your head up. I have done everything in my power to try to reduce the amount of time waiting around after each climb, so be ready to leave as soon as the last rider finishes each climb.

Transition rides: The rides from climb to climb are neutral, so please respect this. There will be a volunteer leading the group. This person will be responsible for keeping the group on the right path and blowing the whistle at the start of each climb. Do not pass the ride leader until the whistle is blown or you will be disqualified! If you are not riding for points, please allow those that are to ride towards the front and have an unobstructed path. If you have a flat tire or a mechanical problem, let one of the volunteers know so we know to wait for you.

Ride at your own risk: Follow the rules of the road. This is not a sanctioned ride. You are riding on open roads. If you are injured or cause an accident the organizer will disavow all knowledge of your existence

Prizes: There will be trophies and prizes for the first place male and female riders, but you must finish all climbs for your points to be counted. There will also be beer at the finish for all that wish to partake.

Late changes & route maps

Sorry everybody, but after yesterday's pre-ride I am making a couple changes:

- Climb #1 will now be Welsh Valley Rd. in Valley Forge
- Down Jug Hollow, not up it
- Climb #2 will be Country Club Rd.
- No more Hillside/New Delhaven St.
- Feed stops at KOM #3 and KOM #7
- The mapmyride route had been modified and all 13 climbs are listed as individual routes:

Route
Climb #1: Welsh Valley Rd.
Climb #2: Jug Hollow Rd.
Climb #3: North Valley Rd. (Paoli Wall)
Climb #4: County Line Rd.
Climb #5: Pleasant Ave.
Climb #6: Spring Garden St./Spruce St./Pine St./Riverview Ln.
Climb #7: Bryn Tydden Dr.
Climb #8: Hart's Lane
Climb #9: Hagy's Mill Rd.
Climb #10: Port Royal Ave.
Climb #11: Jefferson St./Ashland Ave./Price St./Rockland Ave. (La Collina)
Climb #12: Righter's Mill Rd.
Climb #13: Levering St./Lyceum Ave. (Manayunk Wall)

Pre-rides

If anyone is interested, I will be doing a partial pre-ride on Sunday the 25th at 9 AM and a full pre-ride on Wednesday the 28th at 1 PM. All are welcome. Both rides meet at Cadence. Sunday will be to work out any kinks in the route and then Wednesday will be pretty much straight through.

History of the Event and changes for 2009

The Philadelphia Dirty Dozen began in 2007 and was modeled after Danny Chew's famous Dirty Dozen in Pittsburgh. The 2007 Philadelphia edition included the following climbs: La Collina, Flat Rock Rd., Hollow Rd., Righter's Mill, Rose Glen, Rebel Hill, County Line Rd., Hughes Rd., Spring Garden St., Barren Hill, Hart's Lane, Port Royal and the Manayunk Wall. Approximately 50 riders started the ride, which was won by Cat. 1 road racer Mike Stubna by 3 points over John Minturn.

The 2008 edition was considerably bigger and badder. Only 7 of the original 13 climbs remained. Flat Rock Rd., Hollow Rd., Rebel Hill, Rose Glen, Hughes and Barren Hill were scrapped in favor of the more challenging Righter's Ferry, Waverly Rd., Brynn Trydden, Pleasant Ave., Delhaven St. and Hagy's Mill Rd. as well as an even more challenging route up La Collina and Spring Garden Street. The 2008 edition had 80 starters and was won handily by pro mountain biker Harlan Price over David Hoyle.

For 2009, the ride becomes even more challenging. Righter's Ferry and Rose Glen were deemed unacceptably easy for such a ride. Though riders will have a nice long, easy warm up on the Schuylkill River Bike path, they will at the end be treated to two climbs new for this year: the seemingly never-ending Jug Hollow Road followed shortly by the ever-steepening Paoli Wall before heading back towards Conshohocken. This year will surely bring an even bigger crowd of participants along with better support and organization.

Bring your compact cranks, your 27t cassettes, your inhalers and your barf bags!

Facebook

Check out the 2009 PDD page on Facebook. BTW, Facebook is a great way to promote events...

Route

This years route is published on Map My Ride. You will note that the distance is significantly longer this year. This is because we will begin with a nice easy ride out the bike path. The first KOM isn't until mile 20. 11 of last year's 13 climbs are still there, but I have added 2 new challenges: Jug Hollow Rd in Valley Forge and Valley Rd. in Paoli. Here is the full list:

1. Jug Hollow Rd.
2. North Valley Rd a.k.a "The Paoli Wall"
3. County Line Rd
4. Hillside/New Delhaven
5. Pleasant Ave.
6. Spring Garden/Spruce St./Pine St./Riverview Ln.
7. Bryn Trydden Dr.*
8. Hart's Lane
9. Hagy's Mill Rd.
10. Port Royal Ave.
11. Jefferson St./Ashland Ave./Price St./Fairview Ave a.k.a. "La Collina"
12. Righter's Mill Rd.
13. Levering St./Lyceum Ave. a.k.a. "The Manayunk Wall"

* Due to the fact that Bryn Trydden Dr. is a narrow private drive with a turn around at the bottom, only riders that have scored points in the first 6 climbs will go in the first wave of riders. Riders must start at the bottom with one foot on the ground.

3rd Annual Dirty Dozen: Event Details

November 1st, 2009: 7:30 AM. Come ride up the 13 most challenging climbs in the Philadelphia area. Riders will meet at Cadence (4323 Main Street) at 7:30 AM and be on the road by 8 AM. We will ride easy from climb to climb and a whistle will be blown at the bottom of each climb.

The Rules: Riders will race to the top, with points for the top 5 up each climb (5-3-2-1). The one with the most points wins. Note: Riders must finish all climbs to be eligible for the overall standings. We will regroup at the top of each climb and we will stop at climbs 4 and 9 for refueling.Water and some food will be provided, but if you need anything special, bring it yourself.

Admission is free, though a $3 will be welcomed (donations will help to pay for food, water, vehicle escort and prizes)Volunteers are still needed. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Colin at (330) 647-3977 or csandberg@cadencecycling.com

Date for 2009

Save the Date! Mark your calendars! The Date for the 2009 Philly Dirty Dozen will be Sunday November 1st, 2009, leaving from Cadence at 8:00 AM sharp! Meet at 7:30 AM for check in. More details to follow.