Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb

Last updated
Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb
Race details
DateAugust
Region Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, United States
DisciplineRoad race
TypeOne-day race
History
First edition1973 (1973)
Editions37
First winnerFlag of the United States.svg  John Allis  (USA)
Most winsFlag of the United States.svg  Tyler Hamilton  (USA) (4 times)
Flag of the United States.svg  Aimee Vasse  (USA) (5 times)
Most recentFlag of the United States.svg  Phil Gaimon  (USA)
Flag of the United States.svg  Courtney Nelson  (USA)

The Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is an annual American cycle racing event held in New Hampshire. The event raises money for the Tin Mountain Conservation Center, which promotes appreciation of the environment.

Contents

Background

In August of each year, up to six hundred riders take part in the race which centers around a 7.6 mile (12.2 km) climb to the top of New Hampshire's Mount Washington—the highest peak in New England. The Mount Washington Auto Road has an average gradient of 12% and reaches gradients of up to 22%.

The race's most famous victor is Tyler Hamilton who got his fourth victory in the race in 2006 in a time of 52:21, beating out Ned Overend by 2:20. Jeannie Longo holds the women's record at 58:14, while Tom Danielson owns the men's record of 49:24.

In June 2011 race organizers announced that the times ridden by Tyler Hamilton of the United States and Genevieve Jeanson of Canada would no longer be considered official records. This decision followed the admissions by both athletes that during their professional racing careers they regularly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Past winners

YearMenWomen
1973 Flag of the United States.svg John Allis 1:15:05Unknown
1974 Flag of the United States.svg John Allis 1:01:39Unknown
1975Results unknown
1976John Howard Barbara Amburgey
1977 Mike Hogan 58:24 Ester Salmi
1978 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Martin Ernst Bruhn 1:03:21Unknown
1979 Steve Pyle 1:01:29Unknown
1980 Dale Stetina 0:57:41Unknown
1981 Steve Pyle Unknown Beth Heiden 1:16:30 (new wm's record)
1982 Matt VonWahzle 1:06:22 Murrie Green 1:14:24 (new wm's record)
1983 Gary Evans Unknown
1984 Flag of the United States.svg Chuck Canfield 1:03:45 Martha Tuttle 1:29:46
1985 Flag of the United States.svg Chuck Canfield 0:59:59 Martha Pitman 1:18:58
1986 Flag of the United States.svg Chuck Canfield 0:28:22Kathy Swanson0:31:52 (shortened due to weather)
1987 Dan Works 1:06:20 Kathy Swanson 1:23:12
1988 Dan Works 1:07:48 Debbie Jensen 1:21:31
1989 Tai Roulston 1:10:16 Megan Hayes 1:22:48
1990 Douglas Tanner 1:05:13 Kathy Swanson 1:19:25
1991 Flag of the United States.svg Andrew de Garmo 1:01:30 Mary Serreze 1:24:40
1992 Mike Nelson 1:02:47 Suzy West 1:16:17
1993 Flag of the United States.svg Joe Bucciaglia 1:02:33 Jodi Groesbeck 1:16:51
1994Race cancelled due to weather
1995Race cancelled due to weather
1996 Flag of the United States.svg Joe Bucciaglia 1:00:30 Marilyn Ruseckas 1:14:19
1997 Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Hamilton 0:51:56 Flag of the United States.svg Marilyn Ruseckas 1:11:38
1998 Flag of the United States.svg Robert Dapice 0:59:19 Flag of the United States.svg Dorrie Martell 1:11:56
1999 Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Hamilton 0:50:21 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Geneviève Jeanson 1:01:57
2000 Flag of the United States.svg Tim Johnson 0:55:46 Flag of France.svg Jeannie Longo 0:58:14 (record)
2001 Flag of the United States.svg Tim Johnson 0:53:31 Flag of Germany.svg Karen Bockel 1:09:20
2002 Flag of the United States.svg Tom Danielson 0:49:24 (record invalidated in 2011) Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Geneviève Jeanson 0:54:02 (record invalidated in 2011)
2003 Flag of the United States.svg Tom Danielson 0:51:05 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Geneviève Jeanson 0:59:58
2004 Flag of the United States.svg Justin England 0:58:50 Flag of the United States.svg Aimee Vasse 1:10:44
2005 Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Hamilton 0:51:11 Flag of the United States.svg Aimee Vasse 1:12:38
2006 Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Hamilton 0:52:21 Flag of the United States.svg Aimee Vasse 1:08:31
2007Race cancelled due to weather
2008 Flag of the United States.svg Phillip Gaimon 0:54:57 Flag of Brazil.svg Flavia Lepene 1:08:52
2009 Flag of the United States.svg Phillip Gaimon 0:54:37 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Sue Schlatter 1:07:43
2010 Flag of the United States.svg Nico Toutenhoofd 0:57:26 Flag of the United States.svg Marti Shea 1:05:42
2011 Flag of the United States.svg Ned Overend 0:55:03 Flag of the United States.svg Marti Shea 1:04:12
2012 Flag of the United States.svg Cameron Cogburn 0:52:28 Flag of the United States.svg Marti Shea 1:03:14
2013 Flag of the United States.svg Cameron Cogburn 0:50:48 Flag of the United States.svg Silke Wunderwald 1:09:56
2014 Flag of Denmark.svg John Kronborg Ebsen 0:52:53 Flag of the United States.svg Marti Shea 1:06:01
2015 Flag of the United States.svg Eneas Freyre 0:53:00 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Véronique Fortin 1:05:58
2016 Flag of the United States.svg Eneas Freyre 0:52:10 Flag of the United States.svg Victoria DiSavino 1:07:32
2017 Flag of the United States.svg Phillip Gaimon 0:52:10 Flag of the United States.svg Aimee Vasse 1:07:32
2018 Flag of the United States.svg Barry Miller0:53:34 Flag of the United States.svg Aimee Vasse 1:04:05
2019 Flag of the United States.svg Erik Levinsohn0:53:42 Flag of the United States.svg Stefanie Sydlik1:10:32
2020Race canceled due to Covid-19
2021 Flag of the United States.svg Erik Levinsohn0:51:59 Flag of the United States.svg Aimee Vasse 1:13:24
2022 Flag of the United States.svg Phillip Gaimon 0:50:38 (Record) Flag of the United States.svg Courtney Nelson1:09:35
2023Race cancelled due to weather

See also

44°16′52.9″N71°16′36.5″W / 44.281361°N 71.276806°W / 44.281361; -71.276806

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Washington</span> Highest mountain in Northeastern United States

Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft (1,916.6 m) and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ned Overend</span> American racing cyclist (born 1955)

Edmund ("Ned") Overend is an American former professional cross-country mountain bike racer. He is a six-time NORBA cross-country mountain bike national champion who became the first-ever cross-country world champion by winning the inaugural UCI Mountain Bike World Championship in 1990. Overend was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler Hamilton</span> American cyclist (born 1971)

Tyler Hamilton is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995 with the US Postal Service cycling team. He was a teammate of Lance Armstrong during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tours de France, where Armstrong won the general classification. He was a key asset for Armstrong, being a very good climber as well as time-trialist. Hamilton appeared at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2004, he won a gold medal at the individual time trial. The first doping test after his Olympic victory gave a positive result, but because the backup sample was frozen, no doping offence could be proven. After he failed further doping tests at the 2004 Vuelta a España, Hamilton was suspended for two years from the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hairpin turn</span> Acute curve (often one of a series) in a road, especially on a steep incline

A hairpin turn is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hairpin. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy with switchback railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Danielson</span> American road bicycle racer

Thomas Danielson is an American retired professional road racing cyclist who competed professionally between 2002 and 2015 for the Mercury Cycling Team (2002), the Saturn Cycling Team (2003), Fassa Bortolo (2004), Discovery Channel (2005–2007) and Cannondale–Garmin (2008–2015). He had been suspended twice for doping in his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Mountains Region</span>

The White Mountains Region is a tourism region designated by the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism. It is located in northern New Hampshire in the United States and is named for the White Mountains, which cover most of the region. The southern boundary of the region begins at Piermont on the west, and runs east to Campton, then on to Conway and the Maine border. The northern boundary begins at Littleton and runs east to Gorham and the Maine border. The region to the north is known as the Great North Woods Region, which should not be confused with the larger and more general Great North Woods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillclimbing</span> Type of competitive motorsport

Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the first known hillclimb at La Turbie near Nice, France, took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England, is the world's oldest continuously staged motorsport event still staged on its original course, having been first run in 1905.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Hamilton (California)</span> Mountain in California, United States

Mount Hamilton is a mountain in the Diablo Range in Santa Clara County, California. The mountain's peak, at 4,265 feet (1,300 m), overlooks the heavily urbanized Santa Clara Valley and is the site of Lick Observatory, the world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory. The asteroid 452 Hamiltonia, discovered in 1899, is named after the mountain. Golden eagle nesting sites are found on the slopes of Mount Hamilton. On clear days, Mount Tamalpais, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey Bay, the Monterey Peninsula, and even Yosemite National Park are visible from the summit of the mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erwin Baker</span> American motorcycle and automobile racer (1882–1960)

Erwin George "Cannon Ball" Baker was an American motorcycle and automobile racing driver and organizer in the first half of the 20th century. Baker began his public career as a vaudeville performer, but turned to driving and racing after winning a dirt-track motorcycle race in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in about 1904.

John Cotton Allis is an American cyclist who entered into international road cycling competition in the 1960s. He was one of the strongest competitive cyclists in the United States in the early 1970s, winning the United States National Road Race Championships in 1974. He is an inductee of the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Washington Road Race</span>

The Mount Washington Road Race is a 7.6-mile (12.2 km) road running event that follows the auto road going from the base of Mount Washington in New Hampshire nearly to the mountain's summit. The race was first held in 1936, and has been run annually since 1966. Women first participated officially in 1972.

The Mount Washington Auto Road—originally the Mount Washington Carriage Road—is a 7.6 mi (12.2 km) toll road in southern Coos County, New Hampshire that extends from New Hampshire Route 16 in Green's Grant, just north of Pinkham Notch, westward across Pinkham's Grant and Thompson and Meserve's Purchase to the summit of Mount Washington in the White Mountains of the US state of New Hampshire. The road climbs 4,618 ft (1,408 m) from an altitude of 1,527 ft (465 m) at the bottom to 6,145 ft (1,873 m) at the top, an average gradient of 11.6%. The road was completed and opened to the public in 1861.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equinox Mountain</span> Mountain in Vermont, United States

Equinox Mountain is the highest peak of the Taconic Range and the second-highest point in southern Vermont, after Stratton Mountain. It rises nearly 3,000 feet above its eastern footings in Manchester, giving Equinox the third-greatest topographic prominence among the state's mountains. A summit observation building is reached via a privately operated toll road, which passes near various towers used for broadcast and other purposes.

The Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, also known as the Climb to the Clouds, is a timed hillclimb auto race up the Mount Washington Auto Road to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It is one of the oldest auto races in the country, first run on July 11 and 12, 1904, predating the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The event was revived in 2011 and was held again in 2014 and 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim O'Neil</span> American rally racing driver

Tim O'Neil is an American rally racing driver, and the winner of five production-based North American rally championships. He has driven both as a privateer, and as a factory driver for Volkswagen and Mitsubishi.

The Mount Washington Observatory (MWObs) is a private, non-profit scientific and educational institution organized under the laws of the state of New Hampshire. The weather observation station is located on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The Observatory's mission is to advance understanding of the natural systems that create the Earth's weather and climate, by maintaining its mountaintop weather station, conducting research and educational programs and interpreting the heritage of the Mount Washington region. The first regular meteorological observations on Mount Washington were conducted by the U.S. Signal Service, a precursor of the Weather Bureau, from 1870 to 1892. The Mount Washington station was the first of its kind in the world, setting an example followed in many other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Gaimon</span> American racing cyclist

Phillip Gaimon is a former American professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2016. He is currently part of Jukebox Cycling, a multi-discipline team of six riders. He began his racing career while attending the University of Florida and competed in collegiate races as part of the University's Cycling Club. As a professional, Gaimon rode for Jelly Belly Cycling Team, Kenda–5-hour Energy, Bissell, Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies and Cannondale–Drapac. A noted blogger, Gaimon has written for VeloNews; he formerly posted at Bicycling, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated.

In the United States, hill climbs have a long tradition stretching back to the early days of motoring competition. Some are in the European-style and take place on long mountain courses, and in many cases spectators are either banned or heavily restricted for safety or insurance reasons.

Magali Tisseyre is a Canadian triathlete from Montreal who races primarily in long distance, non-drafting triathlon events. She took third place at both the 2009 and 2010 Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen House</span>

Glen House is the name of a series of grand resorts and hotels, dating back to 1852, in Pinkham Notch very near Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.