Doing good things... on bikes!

The morning was spent on a project Pinky coordinated asking cyclists to help clean up the several hundred pounds of glass, garbage and car parts all over the pedestrian walkways of our West End Bridge. Base is under the bridge, so this was a no-brainer: I'd spent the morning helping sweep glass and then embark on a ride.

Various pictures of the cleanup crew that included, srpit, Stu, Marko, Pistat and Pinky:

Photo pilfered from Stu

Pinky's photo of pounds and pounds of butts.

Pinky's shot of all the bags of waste.

I found some protractors while I worked:

While she was there on the bridge, I was able to give Vannevar's and srpits goody/thank you bags to her as a thank you from our non-profit for their help in taking down our route arrow markers. 


When we were finished about 2.5 hours later, I was ready to get on the bike. I tried my hand at the Gold Way/ Panther Hollow route again and missed my turn at Neville AGAIN. I think I'm concentrating on the horrible potholes there along Centre and I miss the street. Polish Hill is getting easier every time I go up there.

On the way through Schenley, I noticed my handlebar extender was very loose. It was thwacking my hand over every bump. The multi-tool I had wouldn't fit in the space needed to tighten it. I needed a set of allen wrenches. I recently misplaced my set, so I decided to head down to the Waterfront to Lowes (mega-big home-improvement place). I stopped at REI for the water fountain and bathrooms. It was a hot day by now and I was drinking a lot, but still not enough.  I sat, drank and ate fruit and Kind bars for lunch. REI does not carry allen wrench sets, BTW.

At the Waterfront, I decided to stop at the bookstore first and get the 2nd part of a an interesting trilogy of books that is a far cry from literature. I'm nearly finished with the first book. Sometimes fluffy brain candy books are good thing.

I caught my reflection in the windows there and I'm loving my new cycling skirts.

I need a full length mirror at home.

I worked my way down to Lowes and noted that there was no bike parking, in fact I would have been surprised if there were. One bike was already trussed up to a fake display fence. I broke a cardinal rule and looped my cable around a tree. Uck.

Sorry, tree. Can you forgive me?

 I looked everywhere for allen wrenches. It took 3 employees to find them too!

 I fixed my wobbly bar extender and I was back on the road. I was the only cyclist using the road too. The sidewalks were clogged with cyclists of all levels of experience. Everyone gave me plenty of clearance and I felt safer out in the road.  A strong headwind made getting back slow.

I'd forgotten sunscreen and now I have a bit of a burn. A cyclists' 'tan', I think: red knees, red forearms and red nose and chin. Aloe gel slathering time!

26 miles and a 2 hour broom workout, I'm pooped.