Leap-frogging through Pedal Pittsburgh and Serenity 2.0

Today was Pedal Pittsburgh, a large, supported event bike tour of Pittsburgh.

This would be my first Pedal Pittsburgh and my first experience as a cyclist in a large scale ride. For the past 12 years, I've been on the Staff side. It would be strange to be She Who Must be Served.

There are 4 choices of routes.  I had trouble deciding which route to take, I would definitely have trouble with the 62 mile route, both in stamina and the hour at which one had to start. There was a 25 mile route with a 45 mile option. I'd have to tack on the 13 miles to get to and from the start line, so I would wind up doing 60+ miles anyway! There was also the 25 mile route, but that didn't include much territory that I hadn't already seen. I wanted to hit new places, like... Highland Park, Riverview Park, Frick Park. These were all places I'd not yet been, so I gritted my teeth and chose the 45 mile route.
It was hilly; really damned hilly.

Today's efforts earned me my first 30K steps badge at Fitbit! W00t!











Would you believe I wore wool? It's August and I'm wearing wool. I'd understood that wool is awesome to cycle in even in the summer, so I took the advice of seasoned cyclists and invested in some wool. They have nice summer sale on right now, so I got some winter base layers and some summer shortlseeves, a dress and a skirt. They're no warmer or cooler than the synthetics, but they cause you to slide around on the seat much less. They dry quickly too. Love the wool skirt. I'm somewhat anxious to wear the longsleeve wool dress and baselayers, but I don't want to rush the seasons.

At the start, I crossed paths with VB and Mrs Q. I got hung up at waiting for a train to pass through the South Side before we could continue, so I thought I'd never catch up and we wouldn't cross paths for the rest of the day, but I kept running into them in an accidental game of leap frog. I'd catch up with them, they'd ride ahead, I'd catch up and get ahead of them and they'd come up from behind and leave me in their dust again. I think it happened at least 4 times, funny. Naturally, I ran into Yale because: he's everywhere. I also played leap frog with Dan Y, he was at EVERY rest stop I stopped at except the first one in Riverview Park. Goes to show you how hard event staff work. Met Ms Garrison of BlackGirlsDoBike who was volunteering at a water stop and said hello to Mr Woods of Major Taylor again while he was running SAGs. He looked at Fizz and said "I see you've upgraded!". Waved at Mikhail while he barked from his marshalling station. Marko kindly drug Fizz out of the poor position I'd dropped her at the finish line where he was volunteering... she was just too heavy at the end of a long day to try and prop up. Volunteers are awesome.

Along the way, I got some nice shots of the new bike against some interesting scenery.

Flocker Street!

Needed to get the Trucker in front of the Serenity sign.

Another day in paradise

I'm hoping the top tube pad will be covered in patches one day.

I'm finding that the Trucker is prone to depositing grease on my right inside calf. I'd show you a picture, but I'd already scrubbed off the grease.

Imagine it looks something like this:

...But on a bruised, chubby, oddly-shaped Popeye calf sporting lots of red and blue spider veins.

I'm having a hell of a time scrubbing it off too. I spent quite some time scrubbing away and some marks just weren't coming off no matter how hard I rubbed. Then it dawned on me: that's not grease, those are bruises and spider veins. Soap ain't fixing those!


The ride was rough, but fun. Everyone was friendly... like this couple:

The day's mileage was 60.29. I hit 60 at the casino on my return to base. I wanted to get a shot of the 60.00 on the computer, but I overshot it. A record!

I noticed today that I have FI'Zi:k bar tape on FIZZ. Huh.

¡Dios mío! Mishaps and Mistress of Myself

This is video of me nearly getting slowly smooshed by a pickup truck at Station Square because the driver was ogling a woman on the sidewalk. I had to employ the brakes and verbal horn to get him to take his eyes off her and look where he's going.

Apparently, a blinky, a 50LUX headlamp and a bright orange/pink shirt are no match for the bewitching power that a nice pair of breasts has over certain drivers.

Gesticulating pedestrians

I knew it would happen one day: I would get whacked by the arm of a pedestrian that I was trying to pass who was engrossed in conversation and waving their arms about in semaphore fashion. Generally, I steer clear or hang back from these folks, they never hear a bell or an 'on your left' because their own conversations are the center of the universe and everyone and everything else pales. She jumped out in front of me and gave me a good whack on my forearm that smarted for about an hour, no bruises though. She apologized through her giggling and I just shook my head, rolled my eyes and went on my way.

Skirt Mishap

I was surprised to have my skirt get caught in the rear brakes having ridden many miles in skirts much longer than this one. A hole was created where the skirt, tire and brakes all had a disagreement.

Bloomers and cycling:  Cosmo Magazine was once relevant and poignant. 

I think the last time Cosmopolitan Magazine had a worthwhile article was 1895.

http://www.digitalhistoryproject.com/2012/03/bicycling-for-women-in-1890s-bloomer.html

I found the last paragraph particularly fitting and significant to today's cyclist.

"The woman who dons her knicker­bockers and her gaiters and spins out into the open country, will find her mind opening to the wonders of sky and air, the beauties of the fields and streams; she will learn to take comfort in the world about her, will find her mind soothed and her spirits uplifted; she will forget troubles and anxieties, real or imaginary; she will become mistress of herself, as of her wheel, no longer a victim to hysterics, no longer seeking for unhealthy excitement, a rational, useful being restored to health and sanity." 

¡Ay Dios mío, plátanos!!

Conflict Kitchen recently switched the menu to Venezuelan cuisine. Oh. Mah. Gawd. Plantains!! There were fried plantains in nearly every dish on the menu!  I love a good fried banana. I went over to Oakland after work to get me some pabellon criollo.

Noooooooooo!

Soon.

Really? They close at 6? ¡Dios, estoy estúpido! Alright, I'm going to try again later in the week and not lollygag on the way there this time. I need a fried banana in a bad way now.

Bike to Work Day!

I'd volunteered to help at the PNC Park Commuter Cafe hosted by BikePGH! I got a chance to meet Erok, BikePGH's advocacy director and fellow volunteer Dorothy. Another volunteer showed up later to bring coffee and it was Lauren, a former co-worker of mine! We spent much time catching up as it had been a few years since she left us.

We were warned that Pirates management might come out and shoo us away, but I debated that since Lauren is also a part-time Pirates employee (she's on the "Bucco Brigade" those that launch hot dogs and tee shirts into the crowd during inning breaks)... I'm a season ticket holder and Erok was wearing a Pirates cap. How could they possibly evict us? Thankfully, they never even came out to sniff around at the tent.

We spent the morning flagging down cyclists and I strong-armed a few into renewing or becoming members of BikePGH. There was coffee, fruit, sweetbreads and nutrition bars available. It was very enjoyable but the weather was very chilly. I did a lot of shivering and tried to keep moving. I recognized a few cyclists that stopped by. Marko came by and Paul B rode by just as we were breaking down the tent. The Sewickley Train rolled through right on time, with a passenger too! We had just enough leftover sweetbread that I was able to take a piece of zucchini bread back for lunch. Good stuff.

Feedback about the membership drive: 
"Thanks to you, we recruited over 70 new BikePGH members today and got some renewals too! This is a Bike to Work Day record, and perhaps a record for any single day event at BikePGH. WAY TO GO!

Have a great weekend : )
-Jane"

I had received in the mail just the day before a new 'Bike-to-Work' skirt. How convenient!

"This office-friendly pencil skirt converts into a cycling skirt when you unzip the two front godets – these panels allow for a wider range of motion and better coverage when on the saddle."

 It worked great and I was able to ride back to work and not waste time changing clothes, it'll even work great for the fancy dinner we're going to tonight, no changing clothes... all day long!

My ass is reflective! Bonus!

And now for some tweets and photos!

The Sewickey Train arrives!

Marko in the yellow vest, Erok in the Pirates cap, Lauren in the hoodie and me on the right.

(Cuteness alert!) I hope the kids aren't biking to work!