Started at the Bastille with R and S, intent on Coffeeneuring at Cafe Cravings (facebook) (web) on Mount Washington.
It was a cold start, and I added to the clothing I had worn yesterday: heavy gloves, running tights and pants, shoes instead of sandals, and ear muffs under the helmet. We rode the Ft. Duquesne and Ft. Pitt Bridges, and departed the South Side Trail at 18th Street.
Before we started to climb 18th Street I stopped to lose a layer of clothing, because I was over-warm as it was and there was no way to be comfortable climbing in all those clothes. I lost the overpants and the earmuffs and that was much better.
The climb was excellent and I much prefer that hill in 35F than 80F. We continued around to Grandview Park EmeraldView Park, which seems to have been recently (2005) renamed.
Coming into the park there's a steep driveway, and I had stopped for traffic. When I hit the driveway I stopped for traffic and then, in way too high a gear and faced with the steep driveway, I really pushed down on the pedals to keep the bike moving forward. I generated a lot of power, I guess, and ripped the chain apart.
This action generates the sub-title for today's blog post:
With great power comes missing links.
The timing was fortuitious, because only yesterday, in the comfort of a coffee shop the three of us had reviewed the removing and restoration of chain links. And now, on a beautiful clear day, we had a chance for a field implementation, and it wasn't raining or dark (which was a good thing).
I fixed my chain, it took about fifteen minutes, and then we got back on the bikes and rode around to Cafe Cravings at 402 Bigham Street in Mt. Washington. This place is wonderful!
Between us we had breakfast sandwiches on English muffins and croissants, lattes and hot chocolates. It was all excellent. The presentation also rocked. This place really exceeded all expectations.
The shop is excellent, quite a bit of art (some for sale) and then the more standard coffeeshop fixtures.
Departed via Grandview Street and descended into West End Circle, which was a brisk descent, then used the downstream walkway on the West End Bridge to transition into Chateau Street and back to the Bastille. Not a very long ride mileage-wise, but there was a lot of climbing and a great meal at the top. 15 miles in 35F.
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