Bonus Coffeeneuring, Winter Sphinx and popcorn pursuits.

Another sunny but cold Sunday: I had to get out there.

I rode out to Lawrenceville and on the North Shore, passed a couple getting what I figured was a "We're getting engaged and smooching in front of this spectacular city skyline" photo shoot. I zipped passed, hoping not to interrupt the shot, (sadly, I think I did) and the photographer called out to me (oh jeez, I've really done it now!) "Hey, Colleen!"
Wha!? He knows me? It was NoahP! I turned back briefly, said hello and went on my way.

Stopped at the Dero repair stand at BikePGH! for some air in my tires and walked over to Crazy Mocha for a bathroom and refill of some Brown Gold.

Dancing goats at Crazy Mocha.

My ultimate mission today was to find some bulk organic popping corn and I was meandering towards the East End Co-Op for some. I had prepared and brought containers for it. I discovered that Marty's Market in the Strip removed their bulk foods section, which was distressing. I'd have to go to Whole Foods or the Co-Op.
I found it a greater challenge to get out to the Co-Op and decided to go there. I'd not been out that far on my own; on group rides, yes... but doing it by myself would be a challenge to not make a wrong turn and get lost.

I cut through the cemetery and as I entered I knew it would be glorious with the changing leaves. It didn't disappoint.

I'd wanted to visit the Egyptian-Themed tomb of Mr Emil Winter
The blue skies and vibrant leaves made a nice contrasting background for the white granite of the mausoleum.

I had generally pleasant travels with the exception of this NY state Volkswagen getting much too close for my liking.

I've been seeing "VOTE!" scarves all over the city. I found this one in Homewood

I made it to the Co-Op and by then, I had worked up an appetite. I needed food. For the record: the Co-Op's 'Terrific Tofu Salad' is so incredibly garlicky that even with 2 toothbrushings, a gallon of water and a stick of gum later, I still reek of garlic. It was very good though. Well worth it.

Hippy lunch

Popcorn objective: achieved!

I rode back through Squirrel Hill and Oakland and then out to the Waterfront and back.
I stopped at Target and actually found a bike rack there. It was buried in the shopping carts.

By now I was getting cold and tired and it occurred to me that today was the first day of that wholly nonsensical tradition of Daylight Savings Time and it would be darker earlier than anyone's used to. Every year, I'm caught off guard by how early the sun goes down. Every day for the next week, I'll say at sundown: "OMG, it's only 5:30!"


Again, I'm finding myself in the midst of football tailgating mayhem.
I decided to take the RiverWalk instead of the streets this time, but they're partying ON THE TRAIL?
How is this permitted? I had to squeeze through a line of people getting fixins for their burgers and hot dogs!
Ding! Ding! DING! DING!

I was half tempted to cut in line and grab a burger as I zipped passed.

35 miles and I didn't get lost once!

Coffeeneuring run-dahn n'at

What the heck is a 'run-dahn' you ask? Here in Pittsburgh they pronoun down as 'dahn' or 'daaahn' if you want to exaggerate the accent of the natives, sometimes called 'yinzers'. Pittsburgh was recently voted "Most Ugly Accent In America"
Accents are funny things. I love hearing them. I grew up in the Philly area and I'm told my Philly accent sometimes rears its head: usually in the form of 'wooder' or 'dawn'. I lost much of any accent I had when I moved to Pittsburgh 25 years ago.
Huh, it just dawned on me that I've spent more of my life here in Pittsburgh than Philly.

Anyhoo, enough about our funny accent; you're here for the breakdown, the rundown, the roundup, yes?

Yaaaa for Coffeeneuring! Here's all 7 trips' tweets, all over Pennsylvania, one was out of state too!

You'll notice my Precious insulated coffee mug makes an appearance in several of the shots. I nearly lost Precious on Sunday when the mug fell off the bike on Grant Street.  It's a testament to how durable this mug is. Love that mug.

Coffeeneuring #7 and "Nice rack, officer MILF!"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Bicycle Licenses, Coffeeneuring #6, TourTalk, PINK! and a Solar Eclipse

Our conference in State College wrapped up mid-afternoon and I had another opportunity to ride around town before heading back to Pittsburgh.
I decided to head back onto campus and get a Coffeeneuring trip in. Saint's Cafe was my destination.

My natural inclination is to check out the other bikes at racks. I noticed two of them had the same green sticker on them. Bicycle Licenses? Further investigation needed!

I stopped at the coffee shop and got a refill for my mug. Every table, stool and chair was occupied by a student and an Apple laptop. No seats for me!

While I was adulterating my coffee with half and half and sugar, a man walked up to me and asked "Are you touring?" YES! I look the part! WIN!
We spent a great deal of time talking about touring around PA and MO, mayor Peduto, trips I'd wanted to take, trips he suggested for me, RORO on Amtrak. Very nice conversation. Before we parted ways, he told me about a bike shop around the corner called FreezeThaw.

This would be a great place to ask about the bike licenses. An employee, Paul greeted me and complimented Fizz and answered my question about the licenses: they're 'strongly encouraged' (AKA: not legally required) by the University so they have some idea of who's locking up on campus. He also told me that my locking to a sign post was a no-no and that the City would cut my bike lock and haul the bike away for locking to a street sign. Yeesh. The racks nearby were full too!

I thanked him and asked him which way Park Ave was. He told me I could cut through campus to get there. Riding on the sidewalks there is very common; heck... even the bike shop told me to do it!
Weird.... riding on sidewalks is OK, but locking to a streetsign is verboten?

So, I rolled through campus, slowly.

Lots of foot traffic.

I encountered a cyclist in soooo much hi-viz pink: pink helmet, pink bike, pink water bottles, pink tires, pink jersey. My eyes! 

I gave him a "Love the pink!" shoutout and he acknowledged my greeting with a smile and a point... It must be the secret handshake variant for the Hi-Viz Pink Cyclist Club.


I loaded Fizz on the car and drove back to Pittsburgh. The sun was low on the horizon and I need the visor and sunglasses badly. But there was something odd about the sun... I kept staring at it....whoa! An eclipse!

Not my photo, but this is what it looked like.

I never get to see solar eclipses due to weather or some conflict, this was my first! Yes, I blinded myself for a while, but I got to see a solar eclipse!

Balanced loads down a mountain= very good.

Yesterday was rough and I slept off my aches and weariness.
I woke up early at the Levi Deal and wondered: when was breakfast? I neglected to ask Jan, the innkeeper about breakfast... I had inquired about dinner having heard that Jan serves an excellent dinner... but alas, she had only made dinner for guests when the Morguen Toole was closed for the fire. I heard she had served polenta and I had polenta on my mind. I grew up having polenta on a regular basis. Polenta and sausage with (tomato) gravy is a Sicilian dish I loved as a child in a home where my mother of Irish heritage tried to learn to cook Italian dishes for my father of Sicilian descent. Her polenta and sausage was very good, the bragiola excellent too. The lasagna: not so good.
I dressed and looked out the window to see Jan working feverishly in the kitchen. Maybe soon? I also saw SNOW. Good lord, it was sleeting and snowing! Are you kidding me?

I went over and Jan had coffee ready. Yaaa! This would count for Coffeeneuring#5

The Mansion is simply gorgeous inside. I poked around while Jan made breakfast and I chatted with the other cyclists staying in the main house who were by now, coming downstairs from their rooms.
It turns out there were 2 other parties staying there and we were all heading down to Cumberland. There were 3 tables set up in the dining room, one had 4 settings, the other had two and there was a third table with one set of silverware. Gee, I wonder who that table's for? The couple from Tuscon invited me to their table so they wouldn't have to talk across the room to me. It turns out they were using Sara P's Bike the GAP services and their bagged lunch was already waiting for them. Gotta love that service!

Jan brought out a breakfast of freshly baked bran muffins, a vegetable egg quiche and (drumroll.).....polenta! It was fantastic. I scarfed down the eggs and polenta and wrapped up the bran muffin for lunch.

I loaded up Fizz and was underway, but the other cyclists got on the road before I did as they didn't have as much baggage. Yes, they poked fun at me for having so much stuff.

I loaded the third pannier on the top of the back rack instead of the front rack today and this was a vast improvement.

I played leap-frog with the other two parties most of the day, but in the end, I was the first one to reach Cumberland. I win!

Sometimes, I watch where I'm going. I'm looking out for things that might puncture a tire, etc...
In my head, you might hear this: "Rock, stick, hole, rock." Today it was "Rock, hole, rock, baby snapping turtle, rock..." Wait, what?
OMG! How cute!

"Lady, one day I'll grow up and have the ability to bite your fingers off. Now, put me down! I'm formidable!"

I replaced him over to the side of the trail he was heading in the hopes he wouldn't get crushed by a bike. I think I came within a millimeter of squishing him.

It was cold, but bright and glorious.

We all helped one another get pictures in scenic spots along the way. I made sure Fizz photobombed all their shots.

I remembered to bring pickles.

This is my "I made it!" pose

I remember this nursery rhyme. I had an ear worm for a while today!

Cumberland was reached quickly.

At the Fairfield Inn, nice amenity!

Damn kids! You're ruining my self-timer shot! Go away!

Much better.

Another 32 miles, but much more comfortable, more 'wheeee!' and much better weather.

I took lots of photos, you can view them at FLICKR

More of the GAP gaps are getting filled in!