The HILLARIOUS Ride: Rules 

•The HILLARIOUS Ride is a spin-off from Pittsburgh’s Dirty Dozen ride, which takes place on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year.  Atlanta can’t match Pittsburgh for super-steep hills so we will try to match them in spirit and camaraderie and beer.

•Rules??? All rules are subject to debate and change during the ride.

•HILLARIOUS is an informal club ride.  There is no entry fee.  It isn’t organized, really.  There will be a minimal effort to control car traffic while cyclists are riding the hills but we have not asked for permission to close roads during the KOM’s.

•EVERYONE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY AND JUDGMENT!  This being the USA, we will probably ask everyone to sign a liability waiver prior to riding. 

 •If cyclists other than known Virginia-Highland Velo members or friends show up, we will provide a handwritten number to each rider—to be attached to your bike’s top tube—so our eagle-eyed finish line officials can record the order of finish for each KOM.

 •Speaking of eagle-eyed finish line officials (whose judgment is final, by the way):  they may be of any age greater than 9 or 10, and they need to be appreciated .  Thus we ask all riders to come with $2 ready to donate to ride officials.  No additional bribing allowed.

 •KOM start/stop lines will be painted on the road for each hill.  We may have some rolling starts, but most starts will be from a full stop.

 •Given that the available road won’t be wide enough for everyone to start abreast, current point leaders will be allowed in the leading row, with next-highest point leaders in the second row, etc.  The ride and competition is for fun and RIDER SAFETY MUST BE EVERYONE’S HIGHEST PRIORITY.

 •Take your own food, water and gear.  There will be a water and toilet stop at Chastain Park and a store stop in Vinings.  There is no SAG available.

 •If you plan to ride, an RSVP is appreciated.  Should we have more than 20 riders, we may need to make additional preparations.

 •There is no parking available at Aurora Coffee.  We recommend you ride your bike to the start if possible.  In not, park at the BACK of the lot behind American Roadhouse Grill (next to Osteria 832) and ride the 3 blocks up N. Highland to Aurora Coffee.

The HILLARIOUS Ride: Specs

 •We believe these to be the dozen hardest hills inside 285 and north of downtown.  It has grown to a baker’s dozen (13) for additional mirth--and because we wanted to break up the ride between Emory and Brookhaven and therefore decided to include Curtis Drive.

 •Hill ratings:  hills are rated 1 – 10 by consensus of Va. Highland Velo riders, with 10  being most difficult.  Being later in the ride may add to the perceived difficulty rating of a hill apart from any measurable physics.  Slopes are based on actual field measurements and are believed to be highly accurate, meaning more accurate than your GPS or Google Earth.

 •Hill List (in order of ride, with rating and max. slope)

            1. Houston Mill Rd.  -6-  [12.5%]

            2.  Curtis Drive   -4-  [8.5%]

            3.  Glengary Drive -5-  [12.5%]

(Water Break—Chastain Park)

            4. Whitner Road -8-  [14.5%]

            5. Errol Place  -8-  [14.5%]

            6.  Northside Drive -7-  [10%]

            7.  Cochise Drive 9  [19%]

            8.  Stillhouse Lane -10-  [23%]

9.  Overlook Pkwy -9-   [14.5%]

(Vinings Store stop)

    10.  Riverly Road -8- [18%]

            11. W. Wesley Ridge -9-  [22%]

            12. Mary George -9-  [20%]

            13.  Hillpine Drive -7-  [10.5%]

 • We will ride at a comfortable group pace (16 mph) between hills and will be aware not to split the group at stop signs, red lights and key turns, but it is each rider’s responsibility to keep up.  In other words, it is a “neutral ride” between hills but NOT “no drop”.

 •KOM Points:  10 KOM points will be awarded to the first place finisher of each hill, 9 for second, 8 for third, etc.  KOM points equal to 0.1 x [hill difficulty rating] go to any rider completing a hill after the first 10 riders.  The rider with the most points after all 13 hills is the Virginia-Highland Velo Hill Champion 2008 and will receive the grand prize supplied by Atlanta Cycling.  All others successfully completing the ride receive the title of Hillarious Gutbuster 2008.

•Upward Bound Rule:  to receive the honor of Hillarious Gutbuster 2008, each rider MUST complete each of the 13 hills via a continuous climb. You may traverse, but you must continue upwards at all times.  You are allowed 2 attempts at each hill.

 •Age Groups:  age and gender groups will be decided by the riders at the start of the ride.

 •After-ride Party:  Immediately after completion of HILLARIOUS, all riders are invited to Osteria 832 for beer, food, awards and camaraderie.  It will be BYO$, although we can look forward to special treatment as Osteria 832 is part of Homegrown Restaurant Concepts, Virginia-Highland Velo’s primary business sponsor.  Thank you, Rich Chey!