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Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb facts for kids

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Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb
Race details
Date August
Region Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, United States
Discipline Road race
Type One-day race
History
First edition 1973 (1973)
Editions 37
First winner  John Allis (USA)
Most wins  Tyler Hamilton (USA) (4 times)
 Aimee Vasse (USA) (5 times)
Most recent  Phil Gaimon (USA)
 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.

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 held the women's record at 58:14 prior to the records being reset in 2022, while Tom Danielson owned the men's record of 49:24 prior to the records being reset in 2022.

In June 2011 Mount Washington Auto Road 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. Both Jeanson and Hamilton admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout their career, which led to the record loss.

As of 2022, the road is completely paved, whereas previously portions of the climb was gravel. The process of paving the road began in the 1970s. Due to the road change, race organizers chose to reset the records in 2022. Because of this, the current male record is 50:38, made by Phillip Gaimon in 2022, and the current female record is 1:09:35, made by Courtney Nelson in 2022.

Past winners

Year Men Women
1973 United States John Allis 1:15:05 Unknown
1974 United States John Allis 1:01:39 Unknown
1975 Results unknown
1976 John Howard Barbara Amburgey
1977 Mike Hogan 58:24 Ester Salmi
1978 Canada Martin Ernst Bruhn 1:03:21 Unknown
1979 Steve Pyle 1:01:29 Unknown
1980 Dale Stetina 0:57:41 Unknown
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 United States Chuck Canfield 1:03:45 Martha Tuttle 1:29:46
1985 United States Chuck Canfield 0:59:59 Martha Pitman 1:18:58
1986 United States Chuck Canfield 0:28:22 Kathy Swanson 0:31:52 (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 United States Andrew de Garmo 1:01:30 Mary Serreze 1:24:40
1992 Mike Nelson 1:02:47 Suzy West 1:16:17
1993 United States Joe Bucciaglia 1:02:33 Jodi Groesbeck 1:16:51
1994 Race cancelled due to weather
1995 Race cancelled due to weather
1996 United States Joe Bucciaglia 1:00:30 Marilyn Ruseckas 1:14:19
1997 United States Tyler Hamilton 0:51:56 United States Marilyn Ruseckas 1:11:38
1998 United States Robert Dapice 0:59:19 United States Dorrie Martell 1:11:56
1999 United States Tyler Hamilton 0:50:21 Canada Geneviève Jeanson 1:01:57
2000 United States Tim Johnson 0:55:46 France Jeannie Longo 0:58:14 (record)
2001 United States Tim Johnson 0:53:31 Germany Karen Bockel 1:09:20
2002 United States Tom Danielson 0:49:24 (record invalidated in 2011) Canada Geneviève Jeanson 0:54:02 (record invalidated in 2011)
2003 United States Tom Danielson 0:51:05 Canada Geneviève Jeanson 0:59:58
2004 United States Justin England 0:58:50 United States Aimee Vasse 1:10:44
2005 United States Tyler Hamilton 0:51:11 United States Aimee Vasse 1:12:38
2006 United States Tyler Hamilton 0:52:21 United States Aimee Vasse 1:08:31
2007 Race cancelled due to weather
2008 United States Phillip Gaimon 0:54:57 Brazil Flavia Lepene 1:08:52
2009 United States Phillip Gaimon 0:54:37 Canada Sue Schlatter 1:07:43
2010 United States Nico Toutenhoofd 0:57:26 United States Marti Shea 1:05:42
2011 United States Ned Overend 0:55:03 United States Marti Shea 1:04:12
2012 United States Cameron Cogburn 0:52:28 United States Marti Shea 1:03:14
2013 United States Cameron Cogburn 0:50:48 United States Silke Wunderwald 1:09:56
2014 Denmark John Kronborg Ebsen 0:52:53 United States Marti Shea 1:06:01
2015 United States Eneas Freyre 0:53:00 Canada Véronique Fortin 1:05:58
2016 United States Eneas Freyre 0:52:10 United States Victoria DiSavino 1:07:32
2017 United States Phillip Gaimon 0:52:10 United States Aimee Vasse 1:07:32
2018 United States Barry Miller 0:53:34 United States Aimee Vasse 1:04:05
2019 United States Erik Levinsohn 0:53:42 United States Stefanie Sydlik 1:10:32
2020 Race canceled due to Covid-19
2021 United States Cameron Cogburn 0:50:48 United States Silke Wunderwald 1:09:56
2022 United States Phillip Gaimon 0:50:38 (Record) United States Courtney Nelson 1:09:35
2023 Race cancelled due to weather

See also

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