PittsburghLand and Serenity on a Bike

I set out early and was on my way for a day without any agenda. I was just riding aimlessly.

A domestic goose has taken up with the Canada geese.

Bathrooms still closed at the Millvale trailhead. Booo.

Stopped for air at BikePGH!

In Lawrenceville, I stopped at LaGourmandine. I love that place. I got a raspberry tart and an apricot croissant to snack on throughout the day.

Rode up through Allegheny Cemetery and admired the shark headstone again.

 I thought it would be a good idea to find out where the WheelMill is because I want to take the Fundamentals of City Cycling class with Karen Brooks sometime soon.

Dodged potholes and other interesting things in the road.

I stumbled on the Cheryls at Friendship and Negley!

I found Serenity on my bike.

In addition to Serenity, I also eventually found The WheelMill after getting lost in East Liberty a few times. Not really a big deal, this is how I learn routes, getting slightly off track and re-orienting myself.

Am I going the right way?

Had lunch at Amazing Cafe: miso soup and a clean-green juice

I headed out to the Waterfront, used the facilities and got some cold Mitchell's water. On the way back, I ran into Marko who was meeting Yale to ride around aimlessly too! Wow, 3 people aimlessly wandering meet up and wander aimlessly together!

Marko clued me into a Tag-O-Rama tag and we all claimed a group tag!

Yale threw out some ideas of places to ride to and when he mentioned RandyLand, I got excited, I'd heard about it, but hadn't yet trekked over there. Yale took us on a tour of the North Side Millionaire's Row and the place of the Immaculate Reception.

Then, we hit RandyLand. Wow.

I need to return and deposit one of my negative thoughts

He also took us by a new Little Free Library and the owner just happened to pull up as we were admiring it. Excellent guy.

I was promised to Hubby for dinner and they were kind enough to keep me company on my way there, I offered to treat them both to dinner, Marko had to depart (but not before trying to entice my spouse into a life of cycling), but Yale took me up on the offer and the three of us had an Indian buffet dinner in Oakland. Yale noted how many bikes were locked up outside the restaurant.  We had no room to lock up and were forced to hitch our steeds across the street. It's a cyclist hotspot.
Hubby departed in the car and then the skies opened up on the way back to base, which Yale escorted me back to. I had to don the raincape.

A great day, 55.3 miles.

A Noob, a NewYorker and a New Climb

I must look like I know where I'm going. 
I went out for a morning ride Wednesday and encountered a young man new to commuting by bike on the North Shore. He asked me how to get over to First Ave. Ironically, I was going that way and offered to show him. He expected there to be a connector between Point State Park and the Mon Wharf, but I explained that was in the planning stages. He said he was reluctant to get out in traffic and rode the sidewalks mostly up the Boulevard after he got his bearings. *cringe*
I've never been on the Eliza Furnace Trail early in the morning, so it was interesting to see all the Oakland and South Side commuters coming in to town and observe the makeup of this group. Some had lots of bags and panniers, some were already dressed in work clothes.
On the EFT I saw BurghMan rollerblading. We gave each other hearty greetings. I've only seen him in his full suit and cape once. He was just wearing a BurghMan tee shirt today. I like the fact that he wears a rear-view mirror on his helmet and waves you past on his left. Most rollerbladers couldn't give a hoot about anyone trying to pass them and weave all over the trail with earbuds in.

Under the Smithfield Street Bridge, a man on a nice road bike stopped me and asked how he could get to the GAP, he explained with an accent that he was here on business from NewYawk and wanted to ride our trails while he had down time. I gave him his options and wished him well. Afterwards, I was kicking myself for not giving him my BikePGH map! Arrgh!

On my way back between the Science Center and the Casino, there were two idiots on motorized dirt bikes. I gave them a "WTF are you doing?!" gesture and I hope I don't see them again.

On my agenda for the day was to practice riding up 18th Street on the South Side after work. It was part of an upcoming Critical Mass ride that I was considering going on. I knew 18th Street was steep and looking at the altitude stats for that climb raised an eyebrow with me. I would definitely need to practice this climb.
Then, I saw a Facebook post by an experienced, strong rider that said "I was huffing and struggling up 18th Street". Jeez, what am I getting myself into?
I looked at the Strava info on the 18th Street climb vs a climb I'm used to: Polish Hill.

• 18th Street is 1.1 miles of 6% grade
• Polish Hill is .4 of a mile on a 7% grade.

I calculated this would take 16-17 minutes to climb going by my Polish Hill time.
Dang, this is going to be hard.

The weather was set to downpour on me. I rode over to the OTB cafe in my raincape and pondered the rain and if it was such a good idea to ride an unfamiliar hill in a thunderstorm or, at best, a hard rain. I noshed on seitan wings safely ensconced in the back of the bar and watched the baseball game and stalled while the storm blew over.

Encouraged by "Riders on the Storm" and a radar map with not so many red blobs on it, I set out to climb that hill.

I didn't feel a burn in my legs until I stopped to take a picture of the South Side Slopes mural:



My time was 14:41. It wasn't so bad a climb, actually. It just took forever...

I'm not in last place!

If it were warmer, I might not be saying that. The downhill was... WHEEEEE!

'Volunteerism' needs a 'U'

Left early today to head down to Friends of the Waterfront and help with the GASP/RASP program only to find out that it was postponed due to the weather. No worries, I just rode in the rain. It was torrential at times and rather windy. The cape didn't do too much blowing around. I got a "Nice cape!" from another cyclist also out in the rain. That brought a big smile to my face.

Waiting at the Terminal building when the rain started.

On my lunch hour ride I was happy to see that the casino has installed water-filled plastic Jersey barriers! This is a step up and in the right direction in keeping cars off the trail.
Excellent work, Rivers casino! 

The bufflehead ducks were back too. I spent a few minutes watching them. Why couldn't they have been there yesterday when I had the good camera ready to get shots of them?



My co-workers think I'm insane to ride in the rain. I love it. I aimed for puddles like a 5 year old splashing about in her galoshes. Wheeee!

More volunteerism:

At the non-profit I work for, fundraising season is fast upon us. We've got a Walk event coming up soon. It is very hectic around here. Volunteers abound!

So, for the heck of it, here's two bikey folks I know who are participating in upcoming charity rides:

LINK: Daniel's Cure De Tour page!

LINK: Terry's MS 150 page!

Kudos, gentlemen!
My only experience with charity rides is working them: a sea of 800 men in spandex bike shorts. I love my job.

It pays to ride in the rain...

... because: BUFFLEHEADS!

I noticed out of the corner of my eye this morning on a rainy ride a bird I've never seen before. There was an entire raft of them cavorting in the river in front of the casino. This isn't even their normal range, this was a rare event. They were just passing through on a migratory route and would be gone in a day or so.

A stock photo of this gorgeous bird.

What the cellphone camera captured. (ugh)

I'm in awe of these beautiful, tiny ducks. 

The daffodils are blooming! 

This was a good day.