Icicle Bicycle 2013

1/1/13 239# 15M

On January 1st we are fortunate in Pittsburgh to have an Icicyle Bicycle Ride at the civilized hour of 1100, so that even in the harshest of conditions we might gather with like-minded people and begin the year with a pleasant, social-paced ride.

My own ride began under the Burmingham Bridge which seemed a likely parking place given the snow-covered state of many roads and trails. I met S. there, and we were early so we rode across the Burmingham Bridge to see how Sir Samelot was dressed for the holidays and we were not disappointed:


Then we took a turn around Gist Street to see if there was any new art on display, reversed and crossed the bridge again and rode over to SouthSideWorks (I'm waiting for the designator SSWx to catch on) and REI for the start of the Icicle Bicycle Ride.

REI provided cookies and coffee and hot chocolate and more to the point, a heated indoor space and rest rooms and a place to purchase snap-on fenders for those who realized the need at the last moment.

It was nice to see so many people there, probably 90 or 100 125 (I'm told) bicyclists on a cold morning:


I got to say Happy New Year to several BikePgh folks I've met before, and I got to meet a few people I've only interacted with online - Jon and Terry, and that was very nice.

We rode north along Carson Street, the pack split at Smithfield Street Bridge and we stayed with the group riding north. We crossed the Ohio using the West End Bridge, rode east and took River Street to the 16th Street Bridge, took Grant Street and then rode through the Armstrong Tunnel (which was new to me, that was fun) and over the 10th Street Bridge, back to REI. It was a very nice route on a day when the trails weren't usable and a lot of side streets weren't clear of snow yet. The WPW always runs a great operation.

video courtesy of Reddan's helmet-cam:



After the ride we stopped at Fox Way hoping to take a photo of a mural without any cars in front of it and we were lucky to get this photo of 2331-2333-2335 Fox Way.



Although it was cold, it was a nice day for a ride, and it was good to start the year off on the bike.