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2018 Dirty Dozen Scouting Rides

FIRST SCOUTING RIDE, SAT 30 SEP 8:00 Coffee Tree Roasters, Bakery Square The days are getting long so it must be time to think about riding uphill.  It is time for the Dirty Dozen scouting rides.  Because Stef Burch was inconsiderate enough to move to Vermont we have a different crew of ride leaders.  The idea of these rides is to introduce people to the DD hills and the DD route; they are not training per se - a few other fast people around town do that and if you are keen to pound the hills we can direct you to them.  HOWEVER, we really want you to sign up here and come out on Saturday 25 November to ride 13 of the steepest hills in Pittsburgh.  The hills are really, really, really steep, but you can ride them; however, it really helps a whole lot to have done so before the big day.  So we organize training rides to survey the hills incrementally, first in quarters, then in half, and finally all together. Starting this coming Saturday, 30 Sep (8 weeks before the event), we shall gather at Coffee Tree Roasters in Bakery Square and depart at 8:00 am to scout the first 4 (ish) hills (1, 2, 3a and 3b), aka Center, Ravine, Berryhill, and Cristopher). DD-8: Hills 1-3, first quarter DD -7 : Hills 4-7, second quarter DD -6 : Hills 8-12, third quarter DD -5 : Hills 11-13, last quarter DD -4 : Hills 1-7, top half DD -3 : Hills 8-13, bottom half DD -2 : Hills 1-13, full ride, race route DD -1 : rest
neilmd
2017-09-25 19:34:05
Here is the first route, more or less.  There are a few turns that differ.
neilmd
2017-09-25 20:40:15
Hah!!  That would, of course, be 2017.  When you get to be my age getting the right decade is a victory...  If some bb owner could change the thread title that would be super...
neilmd
2017-09-25 21:01:49
Thanks for posting & hosting, Neil! Is this the same series Monica & WPW are putting on? She's published on the WPW site and calendar that the rides start at the EFT parking lots off Second. Urr?
ornoth
2017-09-25 22:01:49
Yes, we need to update that posting.  I have been fine tuning things and just decided to leave from CTR yesterday at about 3:00 am...  To repeat, these are the WPW rides (thus the reference to Stef).  Jim Logan will be around to make sure everything is done to order.
neilmd
2017-09-26 08:49:13
For those of you who have not ridden before, these rides are for you (and those who have too!). As someone said in the WQED video, the Dirty Dozen is 90% mental and 90% physical. We are mostly trying to help you with that 90% mental part, so you know the hills, know how hard to go and how much to hold back. We are also trying to help with the substantial portion of the 90% physical that is technical, and not just putting out power; DD hills are steep, they can get slick, and maintaining rear-wheel traction while keeping the front wheel on the ground takes a bit of practice.  Furthermore, most are 3-6 minute efforts, so you just can not go full gas and hope to reach the top, because you really can not blow up and back off while staying upright.  Canton Ave is the only full gas sprint -- every other hill requires some element of measured effort. There are a few things to know.  First, you're gonna need a lower gear.  Don't believe what you may read on Danny Chew's website about gearing.  Remember that you are on Danny's website and in both his pedaling and hand-cycling phases he is much more accomplished than most of us can ever dream of being.  If you look on the web you can find a video of Canton in which Danny calls out something like "Sarah, on your right" about halfway up to warn a rider that he is passing.  About the only thing I have ever said going up Canton is "F*&k F*&k F*&k F*&k" and uttering a well-constructed sentence is just not something I can really wrap my head around, much less identifying another rider by name and chatting with her. So, I recommend something very very close to 1:1 gearing if at all possible, and fairly wide tires help a lot with traction and cobbles.  A compact crankset is a really good idea. If you are young and very fit with excellent 5-minute power, you surely can get by with a 34:28 or harder -- I've done them all in 34:28 but usually spend most of my time in a 34:32 on 26 mm tires with good grip.  I have a 1x that is 42:42 with nice fat 36 mm Roubaix tires that I have used the past 2 DDs when it was wet.  I have an old cyclocross bike with a 34:36.  Bottom line, if you have near 1:1 gearing and good grippy tires you will not regret it.  Even with that gearing I often get down in the 40-50 rpm cadence range but I am much, much happier if I can keep things around 60.  The torque you need through the flat spot to keep the pedals turning at 40 rpm on a 30% grade becomes ... problematic.
neilmd
2017-09-26 12:34:29
Ha, 1:1. I did it with 3/4 gearing and do not regret it.
jonawebb
2017-09-26 13:13:23
A very wise person you are.  3:4 sounds blissful though I am trying to figure out how to machine a 3-tooth front ring, and it might lose a bit of bending efficiency.  I have relatively little patience for the "you don't need blah blah blah" comments that sometimes crop up.  It is possible that "you" don't (not you but "you") but it is also very, very likely that you will "want" it.
neilmd
2017-09-26 15:32:58
I spend a lot of time riding, doing math gear ratio conversions in my head. I'm at 24/28 right now. I used to be at 24/32 (=3/4), which is the same as 21/28. I'm not completely sure whether I will be able to get up the DD hills with 24/28 or not, or whether I want to. I'm thinking of going to 22/28 the next time I buy an inner front ring (24/32 let to embarrassing chain droop).
jonawebb
2017-09-26 16:00:23
Let me know if I'm off base here, but I want to bring up a point of etiquette: We should be mindful not to ride in front of the leaders between hills.  They are in charge of the route for the day and will also make sure the group gets through intersections in a safe and orderly manner.
lee
2017-09-26 16:15:31
We will go over race-day etiquette during the rides but it is a good idea to also post things here.  As of last year we split the race into groups, loosely based on competitiveness.  The first group is the race group with all male and female riders who expect to compete for points; it is a closed group in the sense that a rider needs to convince the race organizers that he or she is competitive in the group.  Consult the DD website for more information.  After that are a series of groups starting with a fast group that is roughly riders who might think about getting a point or two on one or two hills, but either did not gain entry into the lead group or just don't want to puke.  Last year Chris Helbling organized the second group (as well as, more or less, the whole ride -- thanks Chris!!!!) and ran it as an unofficial second race.  As far as I know he expects to do that again.  The groups after progress toward a group consisting of riders whose objective is to finish the DD, not to be first up hills.  As we will indicating, FINISHING the DD means climbing each and every hill, individually, with continuous forward motion and without putting a foot down; repeat attempts are fine.  That is still really hard and DD finishers deservedly feel a great sense of accomplishment -- it may well be the hardest thing they have ever tried.  There are also people more interested in completing the ride, by which I mean following the whole route with the group but being OK with the occasional trudge up a super steep section. The bottom line is that the exact etiquette, especially in the later groups, will depend a little on how many leader / marshals we have in the later groups.  There is a sheepdog element to the task, and we tend to spend some time in front and some time sweeping, so really the etiquette is to be respectful and to listen to the marshals.  Thanks to Chris we have distinctive jerseys and should be easy to spot - we also tend to be talking loudly.
neilmd
2017-09-27 10:36:09
Nice ride today. Thank you Jim & Neil. But I has a question. On my own, I've scouted all the hills except Canton & Boustead. That's because 19/51 seems like an immense barrier to a solo cyclist, and I pretty much never ride in that direction. So experts, what's a sane and plausibly safe solo route (both southbound and returning northbound) between say Allentown and the Canton/Boustead neighborhood for someone who is reasonably confident playing in traffic? With my limited knowledge, I'd guess Warrington Crane 19N Beechview Broadway Coast? Or 19S Pioneer Capital Faircress toward Broadway? I presume Bausmann dumping you on 51 is a bad thing? And Brownsville, which I've ridden, seems a long way around.
ornoth
2017-09-30 14:05:14
You can go up Sycamore, down Southern or Boggs and get to 19. Depending on the time of day and day I either take the sidewalk (not great) or the road to Cape May then over to Canton. From Canton go to Banksville and just ride the center island till you get to Wenzell. Up Boustead, reverse course to go home. (take PJ McArdle down, not Sycamore) You can take Bausman just fine. You're only on 51 for a hot minute, it's not bad. Especially coming back into the city. It's not something I'd ride during a weekday but weekend, esp morning, you'll be fine. You could not pay me to ride Warrington to Crane to Banksville Rd. Doesn't Warrington have tracks?  Crane is steep and kinda busy for what it is. Then you're dumped on to a very busy Banksville Rd. Id' do it at 9a on a Sunday, but nothing more. I don't know what street you mean by Faircress but the rest of that route doesn't sound advisable to me either.
mayhew
2017-09-30 17:48:43
What we will do during the scouting rides is go up Crane from Saw Mill Run (51) and take a left on Beechview at the top of Crane (there is a light just before it plunges down to Banksville Rd (19).  I do NOT recommend riding on Banksville Rd unless you are in a very large group.  If you go down Woodruff from Mt Washington (that is the race route) you can take a left onto Saw Mill Run with a light, and you have a quarter mile or so with a mostly fairly decent margin if you need it.  Yes Crane is a bit annoying (it is famously "in the way") but the traffic isn't too bad even solo, and training on hills is the point, no? Using Beechview as the access you can go down Coast to Canton, back up Hampshire to Beechview / Broadway, back along Broadway to Crosby, down Crosby to Wenzell and either go down to the Rite Aide at Wenzell and Banksville if you want to do the "official" hill or just hang a right onto Boustead after only a few feed of Wenzell.  There is a little lawn / park at the top of Boustead at the little flat landing that is perfect for throwing up in. Getting HOME is also a bit of a pain, but we usually go down Pauline and take W. Liberty to the interchange, then take a left just in front of the tubes to get on to Warrington or Boggs or whatever.  W. Liberty isn't too awful in my experience -- 2 lanes and not super crowded.
neilmd
2017-09-30 18:28:44