Philly DD canceled for 2010

Sorry everyone, but I've decided to cancel the Philly Dirty Dozen this year. Thanks to everyone who has attended and helped out in the past, and I will see about maybe bringing it back in 2011.

Colin

Date for 2010 Philly Dirty Dozen: November 6th

The Date for the 2010 Philadelphia Dirty Dozen is Saturday, November 6th.

The route will return to a shorter distance loop this year. Hills will include most of the same hills with one or two new climbs. More to come!

Colin

Easter Sunday ride

Everyone!

I am planning a 100 mile ride Easter Sunday @8 AM leaving from Cadence. 4323 Main St. Philadelphia PA in Manayunk. The ride will include lots of dirt roads, fire roads and poor pavement to get ready for Battenkill. Hope you can make it!

Colin

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)