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Dirty Dozen - Event Day

Hey, last year I went out to the Dirty Dozen to spectate, and ended up serving as a course marshall.


I think I will be in town again for this year's event, and would certainly be willing to fill that role again.


Anyone know who I should contact? Or should I just show up again and talk to someone there?


swalfoort
2012-11-13 14:54:09

PM sent


tetris_draftsman
2012-11-13 15:33:45

From BigBangBikes:


Danny Chew is looking for volunteers for his annual Dirty Dozen race on November 24. Anyone interested should contact Danny at danchew@yahoo.com.


rice-rocket
2012-11-13 16:01:54

If anyone wants to PM me I can give you the email address for the guy who is organizing the DD volunteers. I recieved an email about volunteering I can send along as well if you would want it.


tetris_draftsman
2012-11-19 20:24:24

Hey, can someone post a map/routing? It was very helpful last year.


Also, last year I was able to post general rider location information here as they moved from hill to hill. Was that helpful to anyone? Should I plan to do it again?


swalfoort
2012-11-21 13:39:57

Yes, that would be super helpful and much appreciated. A hash tag on twitter could also be used.


chinston
2012-11-21 15:28:33

Just a cautionary note...it's looking a bit chilly (30s), with some chance of precipitation. Please be prepared for cold weather, especially when standing around sweat-soaked on top of a hill for 10 minutes, waiting for people to finish up.


reddan
2012-11-21 15:54:26

being that i expect to be one of the people finishing up, i'm not too worried about standing around, except at rest stops. but i haven't spent a whole day out in the cold since last year. what will everyone be wearing? assuming the forecast (low 30s, chance of snow) remains the same.


hiddenvariable
2012-11-21 16:03:19

@HV: I just had this conversation elsewhere. Here's a reprint:


Given that most of the ride will be moderately paced, with bursts of hard effort followed by standing around for a while, I'd recommend stuff that wicks well and keeps you warm while wet (wool),plus adjustable layers. Make sure you can unzip easily and get some ventilation on your torso while climbing, maybe go short-sleeved plus arm warmers, so you can roll the warmers down if you get too hot.


Worst case is likely to be drizzle and mid-30s, in which case you'll probably want a thin waterproof layer you can throw on if necessary.


I'll probably go with toe covers, wool socks, knee warmers, shorts w/ a chamois (the chamois helps keep "the boyz" warm on long descents), a wool baselayer tee, short-sleeved wool jersey, wool arm warmers, wool glove liners under fingered gloves, and a cap or bandanna under the helmet. I'll also bring my Showers Pass jacket rolled up and stashed in a pocket, in case it's colder/wetter than I expected.?


reddan
2012-11-21 17:02:12

that's pretty much what i had planned, but i am wondering how many layers to do. for commutes (which only last about 20 minutes), i find a long sleeve wool base layer, long sleeve wool zip-up, a shell, gloves with liners, wool socks, wool tights, and knickers keeps me fine down into the low 20s/upper teens. add cycling shorts to that, and i should be fine?


i am probably not going to bother preparing any more for rain. #ifitrainstakethebus


it occurred to me this morning that i no longer have shoe covers. toe covers sound like a delightful option. i wonder if any cycling place will be deluged friday with shoppers (especially rei), or if i can pick them up without trouble.


hiddenvariable
2012-11-21 17:14:21

How difficult is your commute? That's a lot of layers. I overheat if I do more than a windstopper baselayer with my Showers Pass softshell (and I usually have the front unzipped down, pit vents open, and rear vent open) but that's with a moderate to high level of exertion around freezing temps. I'll close a vent or two if it dips lower, but I avoid those temps mostly because my toes freeze before anything.


rice-rocket
2012-11-21 17:58:27

I can't attend any if this, but I'd suggest carrying a cheap foil "space" blanket. Folds up small, fits in a pocket and retains heat enough...


sloaps
2012-11-21 19:22:12

@sloaps: Ah, yes; the ever-popular cyclist burrito aesthetic.


reddan
2012-11-21 19:28:52

I suggest buying some instant hand warmers. They are inexpensive and you can buy them at Target and other fine retailers!


greasefoot
2012-11-21 20:23:08

I have some of those. I hope I know where they are.


stefb
2012-11-21 20:36:05

i need to buy some real gloves on friday, i may grab some heat packs while im out shoppin.

maybey a waterproof jacket as well (i dont really need to give comcast anymroe money this month.)


2012-11-21 21:00:42

@pbeaver: every so often, a very sexy goretex waterproof jacket comes up on chainlove for $69.99. if they had it in blue (and if i didn't already have an adequate rain jacket), i would have bought it already. it may be worth keeping an eye out for.


@rice rocket - that is for when the temperature is in the teens. today, with the temp at about 43° or so, i was sweating wearing a wool t-shirt, a wool zip-up (half unzipped), and a super light nylon windbreaker (all unzipped).


hiddenvariable
2012-11-21 21:07:02

I’m going to volunteer. I’m waiting for a reply back to see what they need me to do.


greasefoot
2012-11-21 21:13:54

i also volunteered (thru a proxy) but cant check that email from work. going to see whats up when i get home.


im wondering if the marshal vests are the same used on the keg ride? those were surprizingly warm for consisting of mesh & velcro.


2012-11-21 21:35:39

What is the deal with "Chu" spray painted all over the place? Can't say I approve of that crap. It is everywhere. Just ride, don't spray paint stuff all over our beautiful city.


2012-11-22 14:19:37

@GG, i don't think the grafitti tag is related to the event. I beleive its just some knucklehead with a can of spraypaint.


2012-11-22 20:18:29

So the weather forecast looks soooooo shitty now.


stefb
2012-11-22 20:22:48

"Chu" started popping up in Highland Park / E. Liberty at the beginning of the summer. Looks like a wide ass sharpie, not paint. Unrelated to the ride.


Good luck to everyone on Sat. Rules #5 and possibly #9!


quizbot
2012-11-23 01:47:56

Saw a new "Chu" with an arrow by the zoo yesterday. There is one spray painted on the Highland Park Bridge, but I didn't pay much attention to it until I saw one with an arrow. I don't know what the route is, but if it follows that arrow... well that would be enough for me.


I will leave my old post for the idea of one's first thought, but the arrows and such with Chu don't match up with the ride, so I guess that is something different. I will ask around a bit.


Anyway, enjoy the ride. Hope to ride a bit of it to... well just have a look. I don't have a bike set up for such hills.


2012-11-23 02:30:55

A few years back, someone similarly left hundreds of "Serg" tags all over the city. They caught the guy, he was convicted, and he may have done jail time in addition to paying a huge fine. It's been long enough that I don't remember the specifics.


stuinmccandless
2012-11-23 05:13:00

If anyone was considering some last minute prep items, r.e.i. is having a decent sale today (black friday), energy gels, cliff bars, super protein foods, etc are averaging 25.% off.


2012-11-23 15:02:55

is it just me or is it completely insanely hilarious that anyone would think danny would tag anything?


cburch
2012-11-23 15:20:56

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't think it was Chu himself. Anyway, it is obvious the ride and those tags are separate.


2012-11-23 21:18:59

Seriously people. That's not even how his name is spelled.


cburch
2012-11-24 01:58:25

Seriously people. That's not even how his name is spelled.


cburch
2012-11-24 01:58:26

anyone have any opinions on what the best hills are for spectators? my girlfriend will be in town this year and wants to check it out. obviously canton is the best. things to consider are availability parking, impact on the neighborhood of having people watching, impact of the neighborhood on the people watching, and entertainingness of the hills.


hiddenvariable
2012-11-24 02:33:45

I disagree that Canton is the best. There's a lot of waiting with Canton, as folks take the hill one by one. I prefer the two on the South Side (Welsh Way, and then Berry/Holt/Eleanor). Or, similarly, on in Northside, where there is a sharp turn halfway about halfway up, and then another turn further up (Sufflok/Hazleton/Burgess). Great vantage points throughout the various turns. I'll check the map and get the names.


And you can hop skip and jump from the first hill, to the northside hill (6) to the southside hills (11 and 12) and permit time to get there and find parking. You probably would have to choose between 11 and 12 however -- hard to catch both of them.


swalfoort
2012-11-24 03:25:16

Um, spelling isn't usually the graffiti folks strong point. lol


2012-11-24 03:25:50

Logan is fun to watch. Riders should be there around 11:45 if I'm remembering correctly.


quizbot
2012-11-24 05:01:23

You can bus to SHB. The 11 Fineview goes right to it; the 8 Perrysville gives you about a quarter-mile non-flat hike; the 12 McKnight gets you to the bottom of it.


The 1 Freeport Rd gets you to the bottom of hills #1 thru #4. The 4 Troy Hill gets you near the top of Logan.


Can't offer much advice on the hills south of town.


A bus pass and a bicycle will do you well today, though. And be sure your brakes are working pretty darn well before you set out.


stuinmccandless
2012-11-24 05:11:20

Please come out and watch me eat shit on canton as my tires spin out n wet cobble. Thanks, weather. Thanks.


stefb
2012-11-24 12:07:36

Good luck to all today!


marko82
2012-11-24 12:24:51

yes, good luck to everyone! stay warm. layer up.


stefb
2012-11-24 12:54:36

I hope to be at SHB and BHE. Just have to figure out how to navigate around parade downtown. Be safe out there!


swalfoort
2012-11-24 13:17:32

Downtown parade starts at nine. Route is 18th or so and Liberty to Grant to Fifth to Liverty to PSP or thereabouts. Crossing fifth shhould be challenge, so might be best for DD spectators to avoid going THRU downtown.


swalfoort
2012-11-24 13:20:06

Careful of the icy conditions. The local news is showing car crashes on overpasses and bridges.


stefb
2012-11-24 13:35:50

Anyone racing today is more hardcore then I!!!


Might go down and watch canton / boustead. And ride them too. What dime would they be at canton?


3ish?


igo
2012-11-24 14:34:22

I am going to be posting times/locations when i can. 10.40 now, and i am at Logan in Millvale. No sign of riders yet. (hill 5).

I'll then jump to shb, on nortside for hill 7. Will try to post departure time from there. From there, riders do sycamore to canton.


swalfoort
2012-11-24 15:44:19

Currently at the top of hill #2


igo
2012-11-24 15:56:31

11 can see marshall on Grant in millvale. No sign of riders yet. Food stop at park, then on to hill 5.


swalfoort
2012-11-24 15:58:45

Good luck, all--stay warm!


2012-11-24 16:14:52

Spectator reports support vehicles are on hill 4. Then food stop, and on to Logan...


swalfoort
2012-11-24 16:26:48

Live stream is awesome!


teamdecafweekend
2012-11-24 16:52:42

Riders on grant, food or no, then logan


swalfoort
2012-11-24 16:55:00

Riders on grant, food or no, then logan


swalfoort
2012-11-24 16:55:30

whoever is doing the live stream, BIG KUDOS.


shajo
2012-11-24 16:55:41

Hill 5 complete, on to rialto the shb on northside


swalfoort
2012-11-24 17:37:29

Riders on shb, sycamore then canton next up.


swalfoort
2012-11-24 17:58:54

Rialto is closed.


Thanks for the streaming. I have never been to this ride, but have ridden many of those hills. That is one long day and to ride all of them like that... wow I am impressed with those that can finish and those that are going for points? Must be some kick azz riders. Are there any pros out there? This IMHO, could be a great media event. Pittsburgh really has the topography for this to be a very publicized event. If it were more publicized it would have a good effect for the cycling community, showing what cyclists deal with around here and sort of saying, come out and ride, if you think you can. lol


2012-11-24 18:01:30

Who won? Second? Third?


2012-11-24 23:16:20

I got second in women's. the field was also kinda shallow. great job, sarah. she finished also. Watching her climb canton helped get me up it.


steeveo won the men's again.


It was tough.


stefb
2012-11-24 23:37:47

Steph, who was 1st place women's?


boostuv
2012-11-24 23:42:28

A girl named Acadia. Really nice. Just met her. A few leaders DNFed on the back half for various reasons.


Oh and congrats to the tandem!!!!


stefb
2012-11-24 23:46:08

Congrats Stef!


Live feed was cool.


teamdecafweekend
2012-11-25 00:11:07

thanks


stefb
2012-11-25 00:45:51

Great job, Stef and everyone else!


2012-11-25 00:59:23

Yay Steph! It was nice doing (at least part of) another miserable ride with you.


I was one of those who dropped out, due to ridiculously bad last-minute equipment choices and subsequent floundering. Thanks to Evan at Big Bang, though, for helping me try to rectify things. Actually I don't know if any of that made a difference in the end, as I just wasn't feeling it, physically or mentally. And I was looking forward to bad weather, too. Eh. Next year!


kbrooks
2012-11-25 01:28:09

Karen, you were doing so well. But it is diffcult to continue to do something like that in miserable conditions when you just arent into it. Thanks for the support!


stefb
2012-11-25 02:18:01

i didn't finish last year, but i did make it to halfway up the second-to-last hill (before mechanical failure). and this year was, for probably a number of reasons, so much more difficult. the cold, the wind, maybe my lack of training this year. so i made it all the way, but it was extremely difficult this year.


so, serious kudos to stefb! you can try to minimize your feat, but you came in second place in your first dirty dozen! you can say others might have been better than you, but the fact remains that they weren't.


hiddenvariable
2012-11-25 05:08:15

That is great! Congrats! And thanks. It was very difficult. It takes a lot mentally in addition to all of the physical work. I actually felt a whole lot better riding back to the oval knowing it was over! A crazy bunch we all are, huh? I actually only did it to meet Danny chew. I even got a photo with the legend. And now I get to say that I did the same race as steeveo, who crushed it again. My brain has a hard time understanding how he and others like him can just fly up those hills like they have a motor attached to their bikes. And they were all standing at the end.


stefb
2012-11-25 05:39:45

@Stepb it was frickin cold today! Congrats! You rock!


greasefoot
2012-11-25 06:56:03

StefB Thanks. Its all relative. I have eaten

a lot of humble pie in my bike racing so I

know that it is just a matter of being the

fastest that shows up. ive raced guys who

can do for 20 minutes what I can for 5.


steevo
2012-11-25 13:11:45

It was on the 11:00 news last night. Forget which channel. Cool.


edmonds59
2012-11-25 13:29:49

StefB - Congratulations on finishing.


I got as far as Canton.


2012-11-25 16:05:14

Congrats stef and steevo and everyone else who finished. I knew my coworker Danielle rode but I had no idea she was doing the DD - I saw she was #4.


PS steevo, I have no doubt I can do the same distance in 20 minutes that you can do in 5. Just sayin'...


salty
2012-11-25 16:07:01

Oh I didn't know you work with Danielle. She does some team decaf rides and other misc rides. She is a pretty strong rider, as were all of the other ladies.


stefb
2012-11-25 16:11:51

@gg this ride isn't exactly unpublicized. People come from all over the country for it, there have been short documentaries made about it and last year Rick Sebak did the inaugural episode of his new weekly series on the ride. 2-300 people is about as big a turnout as the ride can handle without having to make some serious changes in the nature of the ride. Changes that no one involved wants to make. We've already seen what happens to a long running, and quite successful underground cycling tradition when it gets too big with the death of the Punk Bike Enduro. There are a lot more accessible rides that are a much more suitable vehicle for your very admirable goals than the Dirty Dozen, such as Pedal Pittsburgh or the Flock of Cycles Party Rides. Sometimes a thing is perfect exactly the way it is, and some things should remain elusive and for the truly dedicated.


cburch
2012-11-25 17:40:05

I marshaled about five intersections, a couple of them as an assistant, a couple solo. The most grief I got was at South 18th & Sarah, where I corked cross traffic on Sarah for maybe two changes of the light. Oh, the horns. All it would take is a couple of truly pissed off people to make enough of a stink to put future rides of the DD and others in jeopardy.


OTOH, I enjoyed the opportunity to try riding inbound Saw Mill Run Blvd between the Liberty Tubes and Woodruff Street, then a beautiful ride through the Wabash Tunnel. Those will be my take-aways from DD Day.


stuinmccandless
2012-11-25 18:07:40

cburch. Thanks for that information. I have to say, after watching that streaming, I may have to ride that next year. Looks like a lot of fun. I don't have a bike geared for that kind of ride at the moment though.


2012-11-25 19:14:25

2012: stefb = 1st lady CTC, 2nd lady DD


2013:?


Great job to all who took part yesterday!


marko82
2012-11-25 19:58:20

Thanks. Marko, did you drop by at the top of SHB? I thought for a minute I saw you but then lost you.


stefb
2012-11-25 20:34:55

No. I was lazy and went to the Pitt game and sat in the cold. Wrong choice on my part, because all I could think about was how I was missing the race (as a spectator).


marko82
2012-11-25 20:48:28

I think you should have done the race.


stefb
2012-11-25 21:13:01

Thanks for marshaling Stu!


steevo
2012-11-25 21:13:54

Congrats to Stef and Stevo!


@salty Be very careful :), steevo could chose 15%-25% up hill.


2012-11-25 22:58:38

Thanks for marshaling also mikhail.


stefb
2012-11-25 23:02:45

@Stu I was a car marshal. I specifically have chosen PennDOT style -- steel toe boots, old jeans, yellow vest, thick black head cover, appropriate gloves. Almost always flashing lights and red flag in hands. No question asked, no honking. Ken, Dan and I were at Millwale (both from Berryhill to Seavy and back to Logan. They we got to Suffolk, I closed East Str, Dan in the middle, and Ken at the last turn (Later Ken and Dan went to Sycamore, I covered top of Suffolk till last driver). I went to Woodruff-51, rode with pack and completely shutdown two lane after pack (just put on my flashers on and sticked out red flag from drivers side window). Ken, Dan, Clif got to Banksville-Coast and I got Banksville-Wenzel. Got Cliff on the board and next we got to 12th and Sarah. Completely shutdown it and rerouted traffic Carson, no problem, no questions -- PennDOT style, very assertive. And then Cliff and I shut down Mountain-Wagner. In my mind one of worst intersection -- stop sign at the botton and Wagner has blind curve just before it gets to Mountain so Cliff ran to the turn and closed line there. The last intersection for Cliff and me was Hazelwood-Calvary letting people go after Tesla.


Ken and I did a dry run (in cars -- thanks to Ken) on Thursday and I put all problem on paper which we shared later -- it really helped.


Notes for the next year. We need around 5-6 cars with 2-3 marshal inside. Role of each car should assigned before with possible fastest way to get to assigned intersection (Ken and I coordinated but mostly starting Sycamore and further and that allowed us to do stuff independently -- just calling each other covering intersections in advance). Drivers do not get mad at other car drivers with vests and flags -- they immediately slowed down as soon as they see flashing lights and people in vests jumping out of car. We need a couple of volunteers on motorcycles -- they are the best to get ahead of bicyclists if they caught behind DD riders.


But I missed all hill races. :(


2012-11-26 00:46:58

Thanks everyone who volunteered and help made this happen!


tetris_draftsman
2012-11-26 11:19:11

The marshals and volunteers were amazing. Until I rode in this I had no idea what heros they are. Thank you all!


sarapgh2
2012-11-26 14:45:36

Did anyone hear any reports of traffic problems, aside from a few irate horn-fingerers?


I was pleasantly surprised with how patient other traffic was at the intersections I marshalled...even stopped traffic at busy ones (like the left onto West Liberty) resulted in no more than one or two impatient beeps.


reddan
2012-11-26 14:52:16

@reddan A lot of drivers were very interested in what is going on. I think we can make flyers and give it away. :)


2012-11-26 16:22:38

I had a potentially nasty situation at the corner of Second/Irvine and Elizabeth in Hazelwood. I was manning this corner solo.


Most of the traffic that had to be managed came northbound across a small bridge. Very little traffic came down the hill from the north. Northbound traffic had a No Turn On Red sign, and most traffic did indeed turn right. Positioned as I was in the middle of the street, I could easily see the first car in line, but could not see the second car's intention. Right-turning traffic would not interfere with cyclists, since they were approaching from the opposite direction. So it was difficult to let the first car make a perfectly legal right on green and then NOT let the second car through. Sure enough, the one time I tried to let one through, the second car was headed straight, and right at the same time, along comes a rider blowing the red because he thought I would have traffic stopped. There wasn't a collision, but it was damn close.


In retrospect, I should have had help there, or forced cyclists to stop on the red. Or just stop everyone going every direction.


As if that was not bad enough, also right on that corner is a large church, whose services were starting at about that moment, so several cars were parking along the path of travel of the cyclists. Wouldn't you know, someone getting out of one of those cars darn near doored a cyclist. Nothing I could do about that one, and it was only 50 feet away.


stuinmccandless
2012-11-26 16:49:37

Yes, thanks to all the marshals! It's always awesome to do a big group city ride and feel at least somewhat safer.


kbrooks
2012-11-26 16:56:25

I did not marshall this year, but I did catch sight of a potential issue of concern to marshalls.....


I arrived at Canton quite early. What I observed was that there were literally DOZENS of cars who expected to arrive at the hill 5-10 minutes ahead of the riders and find parking and get into position just in time for the riders. The result was a traffic nightmare on Coast (the street at the bottom of the hill).


At one point, a City of Pittsburgh police Department squad car heading towards Banksville had to wait for a line of about 10 cars all heading up from Banksville towards Canton. As they were waiting for the incoming cars, the police were watching all these people gathering on Canton, and all these people double parking, parking on private property, etc. I was really afraid that they'd start asking questions.....


In the future, is there an option to guide people to OTHER areas to park, rather than the bottom of the hill? Is there a way to strongly urge people to arrive well ahead of time to avoid the sort of traffic jam that I saw at the bottom of Canton? If not, I think we risk the wrath of the neighborhood as we create congestion and delay. Hopefully we did not leave a mess in our wakes as well.


I won't spectate at Canton again. It's fun, but there are other hills I enjoy more. And, I don't want to do anything that I think might jeopardize the future of the DD. I think the overflow of spectators at Canton might be a cause for concern.


swalfoort
2012-11-26 18:49:40

BTW, speaking of parking concerns, I was a little peeved that, when I got near the top of Logan Street on my second attempt, the support cars were already pulling out and blocking the road. I probably wouldn't have made it anyway, but there were riders behind me and it is just possible that they may have had just enough strength to push pass that steep section except they also had to worry about running into cars. It would be nice if the drivers would wait until all the riders were done before getting moving.


jonawebb
2012-11-26 18:58:42

@jonawebb - this year was MUCH better than the past two years. in those cases, there was a support car parked on the left side of the road, so there was room for literally one bicycle at a time to squeeze between it and the (residents') parked cars on the right. but yeah, that was a cluster-what-have-you, especially combined with the slippery roads and other riders falling down (i did manage to make it, but had to dodge a lot, and it took a ton out of me).


hiddenvariable
2012-11-26 19:01:53

People DRIVE to see some of the dirty dozen?


WTF is wrong with them?


mick
2012-11-26 19:04:19

@Mick - i'm as transportation-oriented and car-hating as they come, but it's a bit much to ask people to bike from, say, shadyside to banksville and coast to see the spectacle of canton. and i think canton is a pretty awesome spectacle (i made a spectacle of myself, no doubt!), so i wouldn't begrudge them that.


hiddenvariable
2012-11-26 19:07:58

I'll answer that with my usual answer: Use transit! Get on the T, the Red Line specifically, get off at Coast, and walk down to Canton. When done, walk back up to the T, head back into Tahn, etc.


What I should do between now and next DD is put together a Transit Spectator Cue Sheet, telling people how to get around to as many hills as possible.


I may need help with this one. For example, can you get to the top of Tesla from the top? I just don't know the area that well. But there are plenty of 61Cs to get you near enough that you can hike through or past the cemetery, which would be a lot easier than hiking up Flowers/Tesla from Second Ave.


stuinmccandless
2012-11-26 19:15:33

Logan, BHE, Bousted, or SHB are good ones to watch. Really difficult.


stefb
2012-11-26 19:29:09

Just a thought, but I wonder how many spectators would be willing to spend $10-$20 for a seat on a school bus leaving from the oval to see some of the hills? I imagine it would be a pain to organize, but it would be a great alternative to a carravan of random cars.


marko82
2012-11-26 20:32:47

Marko that would be a good alternative as long as peole are willing to walk quite a long ways to most hills. I think it would be hard to park a bus around most of those hills.


tetris_draftsman
2012-11-26 20:48:50

@Stu, Tesla is very accessible from the top. See here:

http://app.strava.com/activities/28380097


I think that ride also refutes that is so incredibly hard to ride from say Shadyside to Canton Ave.


The car situation surrounding the DD is always a goat rope.


mayhew
2012-11-26 20:53:21

What I'd need to construct such a how-to is a rough idea when to arrive and when to leave each hill. This won't be easy to put together, since it's so fluid, as well as weather dependent (not to mention a bunch of timetable changes between now and then).


Shadyside to Canton? Get on a P1 at Negley, off at Smithfield & 6Av, walk to Wood St, board Red Line, get off at Coast. Done.


You're not going to get to 13 hills, or even 9, but if we can get a bunch of people to bus there instead of drive, there'd be that many fewer cars gumming up movement for everyone else.


As I've been saying since the mid-1990s, people don't use transit because they don't know how. And here's a classic case of not knowing how, because it's damn near impossible to figure out.


stuinmccandless
2012-11-26 21:38:24

Even in a car, you are not going to hit every hill.


Every other hill is mostly doable.


But, if you could link 3 of the more accessible/more interesting hills by transit, that would be great.


I can't think of a good transit connection to any of the hills north of the river though, so maybe you could just advise on Canton and then Welsh Way, or BHE.


I think Hazelwood/Flowers/Tesla is sort of anticlimactic for spectators, but maybe connect BHE to the Oval for the finish?


In 2011 I tried to log arrival times at several of the hills here on the board. That might give you an idea of arrival times at the various hills. The link is: http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/dirty-dozen-location-tweets-tomorrow


This year, the route dropped rialto, but the slick conditions meant that other slopes took longer than last year.


Might help in overall "arrival" planning.


From 2011: Done with hill 1 by 10:30; On hill 3 at 11:20; Done with High at 11:40; on Logan at Noon; On Rialto at 12:30; Waiting for riders to arrive at Canton at 1:45; riders arriving Boustead at 2:50.


I think the arrival at Logan was similarly timed this year. I'll check photo details for time at Canton. Those are the only ones I saw this year.


swalfoort
2012-11-26 22:03:26

@Swalfoort Yes there was a problem at Canton. I arrived a little bit earlier and tried to drive through Coast from Broadway to Banksville without succeeding it. I know that down Banksville there are Gaetano's Restaurant and gas station -- probably we can contact businesses and ask if support vehicle could park there? Broadway has payed parking spots just around Coast (and one block from Boustead).


@Stu There are not just spectators, I know one lady has been following one of bike marshal with extra bike on a roof (a pretty big SUV). And saw some cars following riders with spare parts -- non official cars. And Coast can accommodate around 20 cars total. And it's not possible to use public transportation if you want to watch 5-6 hills.


2012-11-26 22:30:45

@Chris Mayhew You are correct. Cliff and I closed Hazlewood-Calvary sending people on foot to look at finish since it's around 600 feet walk.


2012-11-26 22:36:23

I think that ride also refutes that is so incredibly hard to ride from say Shadyside to Canton Ave.


it is for my girlfriend. she rides a bit, but no more than about 10 miles at a go, and usually for errands or on trails. no way am i asking her to bike on crane or along banksville from the west end circle. she drove to canton, arrived about 45 minutes early, parked far away, and walked, which seems reasonable to me.


hiddenvariable
2012-11-26 23:45:35

As I've been saying since the mid-1990s, people don't use transit because they don't know how. And here's a classic case of not knowing how, because it's damn near impossible to figure out.


I'll agree that it's probably impractical to use transit to see all the Dirty Dozen hills on race day, but I can't agree with the idea that transit is just too tricky to figure out. At least not where Google Transit provides coverage.


https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=S+Negley+Ave&daddr=Canton+Ave,+Pittsburgh,+PA&hl=en&sll=40.431585,-79.981305&sspn=0.051025,0.111494&geocode=FdhJaQIdwlM8-w%3BFSSdaAIdUtY6-ynjl_873vY0iDHQDASxnM8GCQ&oq=coast&dirflg=r&ttype=now&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ltm&t=m&z=13&start=0


ieverhart
2012-11-26 23:48:56

Stupid question, has anyone done this ride fixed or single speed?


marvelousm3
2012-11-27 01:52:00

Stick and Gunnar and a few others have done it single speed, but I don't think anyone has done it fixed. There were a few dudes doing it single speed this year, but I am unsure if they officially completed all of the hills.


stefb
2012-11-27 01:59:58

Has been done fixed. Montana Miller as I recall.


mayhew
2012-11-27 02:12:10

Oh yeah. Well it says on Danny's website who did what on what and when. I considered doing it single or fixed, but decided that i needed gears.


stefb
2012-11-27 02:53:07