2005 DD Photo by Steve Mellon on Cover of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Newspaper: Joe Ross Running up Canton Ave. Against 2004 & 2005 DD Winner Steve Cummings. Article by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Newspaper Writer Moustafa Ayad: With A Link To A Map of the Route. above article: text only 2005 DD Photos: Compliments of riders David Petrou & Mike Stubna. 2005 DIRTY DOZEN RESULTS The 23rd Annual Dirty Dozen was held on Saturday, November 26th. After a cold 30 degree F start, the high temperature reached 42 under a mostly cloudy sky. Thanks to official Mark Powder and refreshment/support vehicle drivers Babs Peterson (registration also) and Steve Revilak. Thanks to the oldest (52) rider and points scorer Billy Kanarek for donating all of the pop, and to Babs for donating water and fruit. Also driving vehicles were ACA secretary Paul Ricci who took photos, rider Kevin Madzia's friend Amanda Hassner from Solon, Ohio, and Steve Cummings' girlfriend Amy Garbark who left after the 6th hill. Thanks to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Moustafa Ayad whose article with route map came out the day of the event, and to Post-Gazette photographer Steve Mellon whose Canton Avenue color photo of runner versus cyclist made the FRONT PAGE of the big Sunday newspaper the day after the DD. 51 riders was just 3 shy of the record turn-out in 1999. Rookies (29) outnumbered veterans (22), but of the 13 men (only 25% of the field) to score points, only two were rookies. The youngest rider was 21 year old Justin Kanter. After 6'3" tall Mike Stubna of Columbus, Ohio won the first hill, I thought defending champ Steve Cummings might have a challenger, but Steevo held the lead after the 3rd hill, and had the DD mathematically won after the 11th hill. He scored points on the most (12) hills, and won the most (4) hills. ACA official Mark Powder didn't beat the leaders up the second hill, so Cummings & Stubna (who finished together) were each given the hill win and 5 points. Mark Nicoll won the third hill (Berryhill) in his big chainring again. Behind Nicoll in 2nd place and also in his big chainring, Bob Gottlieb crashed just before the top of the hill, but was given 4 second place points when 2004 ACA Club Criterium Champ Jake Lifson gave up his chance of getting any points (he would have placed 5th if Gottlieb was DQed) saying that Bob deserved 2nd. Lifson quit after the 4th hill (High St./Seavey Rd.) because he had to go to work as a lawyer. Gottlieb broke his 10 speed chain on this hill, and walked to the top. While he was fixing his chain, the rest of the field enjoyed their first food/drink stop. After placing 2nd on the 6th hill (Pig Hill/ Rialto St.), Mark Nicoll vomited on the sidewalk where he lied down in pain. Rookie Steve Bedilion won the toughest hill (#7 - Suffolk/Hazelton/Burgess) despite having never seen it before. He also won the Liberty Tubes Sprint - the first rider out of the tunnel. Bedilion flatted at the bottom of Pig Hill, and carried his bike up the hill. Cramps forced Patrick Garrett to quit Downtown after 7 hills. Last year as a rookie, he made it farther than that - halfway up the 11th hill before bailing. He assures me he will be back to conquer/finish the mighty Dirty Dozen next year. Although it is the shortest hill, 36% grade Canton Avenue is the steepest, coblestoned, and claims the most victims. If you are not going for points, I warn people to spread way out so that you don't get taken out from a rider crashing in front of you. A rooting section forms on top of the hill - made up of people who have made it cheering on those who are attempting it for their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time. All three women failed their first attempt, but Carolyn Fisher (of Johnstown, PA) made it on her 2nd try. 22 year old bearded Nick Lubecki stood out like a sore thumb wearing work boots (no cleats), and on his retro bike with fenders and toe clips & straps which I told him to make as tight as possible. He made the first 4 hills, but Logan proved to be too much as he had to walk up the last steep pitch - at least he had the right shoes for this. At the bottom of Canton, Lubecki broke his old style rear shift lever, so he had to ride back home after 9 hills. To kill time while waiting for Lubecki's mechanical, Mark Nicoll rode up Canton (after placing 2nd in his little ring the first time up) in his big chainring. The most exciting challenge on Canton was a race between a runner and a cyclist, which made the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the next morning. Triathlete and IronMan finisher Joe Ross (who got his only point by placing 5th up Canton) would race 2004 DD winner & 2005 DD leader (future winner) Steve Cummings up Canton. They both started from a stop with Steevo doing a track stand at the bottom of the hill. Running in white socks on the cobblestones, Joe immediately opened up a slight lead, but Steevo took the lead in the middle of the hill only to see Joe sprint past him just before the top of the hill to win. Twas very exciting to watch. Joe told me that effort was easier than riding up any of the 13 hills he did all day. Perhaps I should turn this into a regular freak side show on all future DD's. 8 time DD finisher and triathlete Billy Kanarek has alreasy offered to bring his running shoes along next year. To make it more interesting, we could make the runner use the steps alongside the cobblestones which Pitt Cathedral of Learning stepclimbing guru Kanarek would probably prefer. Also, why not use top sprinter Mark Nicoll as the cyclist? The standing still start would most likely prevent Nicoll from using his big chainring. 2nd place overall shaped up to be a very close, interesting battle. After the 3rd hill, new leader Cummings forced old leader Mike Stubna into 2nd place. Mike held onto 2nd place until Joe Vallese (who placed 4th in his rookie DD last year) won his first DD hill (the 6th hill - Pig Hill) on which Mike was pointless. This gave Joe a two point lead, but Mike came back with a 2nd on the next hill (Suffolk) which Joe was pointless on. This gave Mike a two point lead. Joe fought back by winning the 9th hill (Canton) on which Mike was pointless. This gave Joe a one point lead. Mike won the next hill (Boustead), but Joe placed 3rd. Mike now had a one point lead with just 3 hills remaining. After the 11th hill (Welsh Way), they were tied with 30 points each, but Mike had one more hill win than Joe for the tie breaker. On the 12th hill (Barry/Holt/Eleanor) which I won, Mike was 2nd and Joe was 4th giving Mike a two point lead going into the last hill. Traditionally, I blow the whistle starting the last hill some 3-4 flat miles before the climb starts. Along the Monongahela River on PA Rt. 837, Stubna flatted out of the lead group. Leader Cummings offered Mike his wheel, but Mike did not accept. Vallese placed 3rd on the final hill (Flowers/Tesla) and poor Stubna was pointless. Joe beat out Mike by one measely point for 2nd place. It's a shame that a mechanical stole Mike's 2nd place finish, but hey that's bike racing. Rookie Todd Edmunds was the last finisher up the final hill. With such a large group and so many mechanicals, the ride took longer than usual. I led the last group of riders back to the Washington Blvd. Track at dark (5pm). Concerning official DD finisher status: In the early years when we had small fields (say 15 or less riders), I was able to monitor each rider up every hill and keep track of who didn't make it up. The rule was continuous forward/upward motion. This meant NO STOPPING! You were allowed to weave or tack as long as you didn't go backwards. If you failed to make the hill on your first attempt, you were encouraged to go all the way back to the bottom (fairly easy to do on short hills such as Canton Avenue), and start over. You kept doing this over and over again until you either conquered the damn hill, or admitted defeat - leaving the hill knowing that it BEAT YOU. Nowadays the field is so big that there is no way I can police every rider up every hill. So an honor system is used: Each riders knows if they deserve Chew official DD finisher status based on the above criteria. John Minturn (who won two hills again this year) held his 2nd annual post DD party at his South Side apartment. 2005 DD riders present were winner Cummings, Stubna, Nicoll, Bedilion, Dan Malic, Ed Krall, Jake Lifson, & myself. DD support people Amy Garbark & Paul Ricci were also present. 2001 DD 4th place finisher Charlie Chulack was also there, but he was harassed for not riding this year. When I reminded Steevo about my 66 consecutive, crash-free times up Canton Avenue, he suggested that he and team-mate Peter Culley may just go for that record. It took me just two hours to do using a 42x28 low gear back in the 1980's when I ruled the DD. I found it more terrifying to go down that hill so many times rather than up it. Back in the era of of toe clips & straps, I had to make the straps so tight (to keep from pulling my feet out) that my feet got bloody! The multiple climb record up Canton was a challenge against DD founder Bob Gottlieb who had briefly held the record of 30 times up - beating a previous record of mine. We were crazy young lads back then, and now we have to settle for the over 40 DD title which I won this year, but Bob won last year. What sort of crazy competition will we come up with next? . . Hill #  . STARTERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  9 10 11 12 13 Total 1 Steve Cummings 4 5 3 5 5 3 2 3 3 4 5 3 . 45 2 Joe Vallese 3 1 . 3 4 5 . 2 5 3 4 2 3 35 3 *Mike Stubna 5 5 1 2 1 . 4 4 . 5 3 4 . 34 4 John Minturn 1 . 2 1 . 2 . 5 . . 2 . 5 18 5 Mark Nicoll . . 5 . 3 4 . . 4 . . . . 16 6 Daniel Chew . 2 . . . . 1 1 . . . 5 4 13 7 Bob Gottlieb . . 4 . 2 . . . 2 2 . . . 10 8 Mike Culley . 3 . 4 . 1 . . . 1 . . . 9 9 *Steve Bedilion . . . . . . 5 . . . . . 1 6 10 Billy Kanarek . . . . . . 3 . . . . 1 2 6 11 Ryan Borcz 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 12 Joe Ross . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . 1 . David Petrou . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . 1 14 Ray Russell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Bryan Routledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Ed DeLuca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Steve Selig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Bob Andra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Eric Hodos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Jon Moro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Jeff Grimm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Eddie Delgros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Joshua Friedlander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Patrick Garrett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 *CAROLYN FISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 *PAM MILAVEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 *TRICIA INGRAHAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 *Lance Kennelty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 *Oleg Aminov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 *Bill Wozniak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 *Adam Slifko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 *Chris Popovic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 *Chris Hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 *Todd Edmunds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 *Jeremy Cornman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 *Kevin Madzia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 *Brad Best . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 *John Heffner 39 *Stuart Ferguson 40 *Bill Ehler 41 *Dan Malic 42 *Jonathan Fox 43 *Mark Bailey 44 *Nick Lubecki 45 *Brian Gierl 46 *Edward Kingsmith 47 *Ed Krall 48 *Jake Lifson 49 *Matt McHale 50 *Corey Lev 51 *Justin Kanter . ................................ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total  .  . Hill # * denotes a first timer or rookie ALL CAPS denotes a woman rider If two riders end up with the same point total at the end, the tie breaker is who has more wins, 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, & 5ths if needed.   Hill Wins Hill Wins  Steve Cummings  4  Mike Stubna  3  Joe Vallese  2  John Minturn  2  Mark Nicoll  1  Daniel Chew  1 Steve Bedilion  1   .