Orny's Cycling Journal

For cyclists, the acronym DNS stands for “Did Not Start”. That’s the result they publish if you are registered for an event but unable to participate. And for me, that’s how my 2016 season ended.

On October 2 I participated in the first of seven group training rides leading up to Pittsburgh’s Dirty Dozen race. I had already crawled up eleven of those infamous thirteen hills for a total of twenty ascents, and I was planning on seven more weeks of hard, focused training followed by a memorable event.

Four days after that first training ride, I flew to Maine to care for my 90 year-old mother, who had been hospitalized. With one very short exception, that’s where I’ve been ever since, and where I’ll remain for the immediate future.

I’ve only managed one easy ride in the past six weeks, and I missed the Woiner Cancer Foundation’s 321 charity ride, which I had registered and fundraised for. I was away from home for my birthday and missed the introduction to Japanese taiko drumming that I’d excitedly signed up for.

More importantly, I’ve been unable to train for the Dirty Dozen, and missed all of the remaining six group training rides (the final one, which does all thirteen hills, is taking place today). I haven’t built up the leg strength and stamina to take on Pittsburgh’s thirteen steepest hills; and my prior fitness level has plummeted due to six weeks with no exercise at all.

Realistically, even if I could fly to Pittsburgh over Thanksgiving weekend, I’m not in physical condition to ride my first Dirty Dozen this year. There’s just no way.

For several years, I watched the live video stream from the Dirty Dozen, trying to learn what I could about it. When I moved to Pittsburgh last fall, I arrived in town a week after Thanksgiving, just missing out on the opportunity to spectate, if not participate. But 2016 was going to be my year; my fitness was right up there, and I was excited to face the hills. Plus there was added incentive this year: to support ride founder Danny Chew, who was paralyzed in a crash a few months ago.

So you can imagine how disappointed I am to withdraw as a rider, plus be relegated to watching the internet broadcast rather than cheering the riders on from the roadside. It sucks, and it’s a lousy way to end an otherwise successful first year in Pittsburgh.

Not that I begrudge it. Family responsibilities obviously take priority over a bike ride. But it’s still a huge disappointment. The Dirty Dozen is Pittsburgh’s signature event, and it would have been one of the most noteworthy accomplishments of my cycling career.

Hopefully things will work out better next year.