The chaos the ensues on Canton Ave.

Canton Avenue finds solace in reeking havoc on Dirty Dozeners...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3bHNcO_Wwc&feature=related

Dirty Dozen!

It's a rather sick and disturbing appeal, but the Pittsburgh hills for the Dirty Dozen were a lot of fun. Approximately 150 riders met up on a cold, slightly windy Saturday morning for 13 steep hills (along with 2 tough hills in transition), 55 miles of riding, and 6000 feet of elevation gain. All for the glory of saying that they accomplished the feat. Okay, some elite riders were actually competing for points. Myself, along with a couple of buddies, were in it just to make it through all 13 hills. Things were going well until hill 10 when my legs started to finally feel the wrath of these grueling hills. Some Advil and tons of nutrition got me through the last 3 hills. The picture is from one of the more difficult hills, Logan Avenue. It gets extremely steep at the end of the hill, and apparently the rider behind me opted to just lay down the bike. Top 3 most difficult hills were Sycamore, Barry/Holt/Eleanor, and Logan. Trickiest hill was definitely Canton Avenue at a ridiculous 38% grade. All in all, it was a great time...looking forward to next year's DD.