Mr. Roboto, Occupy, Joe Hill, Mile Markers

12/12/11 21m 40F

Rode 21 miles in 1h42m at 40F around the city. Started at the Bastille, rode around to the 31st Street Bridge, and stopped at Espresso A Mano for a cafe-a-lait, a blueberry muffin, and some sort of a fruit-nut-pastry wrap; they were all excellent. The barista's handiwork at E-a-M is always impressive, which is in keeping with their "a mano" (by hand, artisanal) claim.


Saw a poster about Mr. Roboto celebrating the upcoming anniversary of Beethoven's birthday (12/16) with music by Burnout Warcry with collaborations by Ian Bonnet, Matt Wellins, and Brad Kline. Other performers are Michael Johnsen & Margaret Cox, Mousy Razor, and Ken Kaminski. (facebook). I'm glad to see people remembering Ludwig's birthday.


Rode around Lawrenceville, joined the Strip Trail at 24th Street, rode under the Convention Center and popped over to Occupy Pittsburgh to see what was up. Today was the day that BNY Mellon told the Occupiers to get off the property. Everything there was very calm.



Two television vans were on location in case any news broke out. At first I thought there were small pockets of people-vultures waiting to see a crisis, but then I realized they were the normal smoker-addicts huddled around their approved smoking areas.

There was one policeman in evidence, and he was keeping a very low profile at the corner T-station. I got to hear a few "mike-checks", that was interesting. The Occupiers that I spoke with were positive and courteous, very effective presenters.

They had a poster proclaiming "Joe Hill lives here" and I was happy to see that, I thought people had forgotten Joe Hill. The rest of my ride, in my head I heard Joan Baez singing "I dreamt I saw Joe Hill last night".



When I ride around town I see where people are living under bridges and overpasses and that really doesn't get too much attention, but when a few people publicly challenging the status quo go camping without a license it's a major issue.

Took the Jail Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge, crossed to the Southside Trail and Station Square Trail, took the Ft. Pitt and the Ft. Duquesne bridges. Along the trails today I saw newish mileage markers giving distance from "the Point" along the Casino Trail, the Strip Trail, the Jail Trail, and the Station Square Trail.



It does seem as if the markers are giving mileage to "the Point" based on whatever side of the rivers you're on. For instance, I'd think "the Point" is at Point State Park, but you can be at Mile Marker 0 north of Station Square and be across the river from the Park. It seems like "the Point" is the general nexus of the confluence of the rivers.

Today was warmer than the previous ride, started at 38F and ended at 42F. I skipped the helmet cover but did wear neoprene "booties" (overshoes) and I was nice and warm for the whole ride.