Rode to the Casino, past the stadiums, and out River Road. All the drivers were very cooperative, as they usually are in substandard conditions - except for one fool with PA tags FLY-1419, who seemed to think that with no opposite direction traffic, he still needed to provide a tight pass with his horn blazing. I tried to overtake him to correct his misunderstanding of the 4-foot rule - he seemed to think it was four feet between the cyclist and the driver of the passing car - but I wasn't able to catch him. I sympathize with the unfortunates who have to spend time in proximity with this misbegotten blackguard. I did enjoy the sprint.
Rode across the 31st Street Bridge, and started out on Penn Avenue and checked out about a dozen murals to update the inventory on pghmurals.com. Rode out on Penn and Friendship to East Liberty and Larimer. I love the Persephone mural, and it really stood out against the snow-covered ground.
Rode into Homewood and checked two murals there, and then over to Point Breeze, the Food Co-Op and the nearby World Headquarters of Fiks:Reflective to check my favorite green-woman mural.
Took North Braddock to Regent Square, and Forbes into Squirrel Hill. Turned left onto Murray and right on Bartlett in a bit of an area navigation experiment. Was very pleasantly surprised to learn that Bartlett and Greenfield was a very pleasant way to get from Squill to the Jail Trail at Swinburne Street, I really enjoyed that transition.
Joined the Jail Trail at Swinburne Street and it had been wonderfully plowed, a beautiful wide span of dry pavement. Passed the Hot Metal Bridge and I was just reflecting on my good fortune, that somebody had paved the Jail Trail for me. Came upon this scene and realized that the glass was only half-full.
Abandoned the Jail Trail in favor of riding on Second Avenue inbound. Yo guys: you don't want to clean the Jail Trail, that's OK; I can take the lane on Second Avenue, no problem. It was an exhilarating inbound transition and (consistently) all the drivers were very courteous.
At Grant Street we transitioned to First Avenue inbound to the Point. The sun was out, there were blue skies, it was all good. Crossed the Ft. Duquesne bridge and rode around the football stadium. One of the traffic lights was kaput and there was a police officer directing traffic, looked like she'd been out for a long time so we gave her a snack bar. Took Western Avenue and Chateau back to the Bastille.
A really enjoyable ride. 24 miles.
You forgot to mention your chance encounter with a fellow cyclist (walking at the time) and sharing information on new infrastructure in the region. Very educational. Thank you for including that in your ride!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara, I had that on another post along with pictures of the ramps-- check out: "Pleased to see cycle-bud and citizen-exemplar SaraW downtown, dressed to the nines. I think it's the first time I've seen her in hashtag-normal clothes."
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