Bride of Penn Avenue, Destiny of Sand Sculptures, Risk of Bike Naps

07/12/12 #241 70m

Two rides today, one 45 miles and the other 25 miles.

Started in the morning at the Bastille, rode south into Point State Park where against all expectations the sandy mess of the previous day, the debris of the remarkable artwork of the previous week, had somehow not been cleared away but had instead become more organized into a pile, somehow resisting the famous forces of entropy.



Rode south on the Station Square Trail, Waterfront Trail, Kennywood Trail, to the Riverton Bridge. Reversed and rode north to the Hot Metal Bridge, Junction Hollow Trail, Fifth, Wilkins, Murray, and Forbes. Poked around at PghProBikes.

Departed Squill crosstown in search of the mural, The Bride of Penn Avenue, by Judy Penzer and Jill Watson. Coming within a few blocks of it, you can see the mural of a bride entering the building.


When you get closer, you can discern that the apparent building is a mirage painted upon a flat wall. The visual continuation of the row of buildings is a head-fake. Very impressive.



Tragically, the two artists died in the crash of TWA800 on July 17th, 1996.

Rode Penn Avenue to 24th Street and the Cork Factory, the Convention Center Trail to the Point once again, where the irresistable forces of PeopleWhoWantFridayOff eventually overcame Inertia and both the wreckage and the sand sculpture itself was just a memory.


Rode north to the Bastille and my car for 45 miles on the bike so far. Moved my car to Oakland for the afternoon's logistics, then proceeded to take a well-deserved bike nap. Taking a bike nap is not without risk; well-meaning passersby may assume you have passed out or entered a diabetic coma. Word: if you're bikenapping and wake up to the sound of somebody saying "CLEAR" in an authoritative voice, shout out NO! NO! NO!



Rode around town some more, then rode through the South Side Works River Front Plaza, which is almost too many words in one placename; saw that the cooling mist generators (CMGs) were active.



Rode to West Mifflin for a friend's celebration. 837/885 up the hill was a great workout; coming back down was a lot more fun. The day's second ride was 25 miles, for 70 miles total.

Squ'ill Latte, Two Murals and a Mystery

07/10/12 239# 38m

Rode from the Bastille at 0600 using the Ft. Duquesne Bridge to get to Point State Park, where a nondescript pile of beach sand sat in a mess, the remains of a once-brilliant sculpture. It was a bit early in the day for "this, too, shall pass" but we takes what we finds.

Crossed the Ft. Pitt bridge, Station Square Trail, Baldwin Trail to Keystone Metals. There was a well-written summary on the Bike-Pgh forum explaining the status of the Keystone-Sandcastle trail. Reversed, Hot Metal Bridge, Panther Hollow Trail to CMU.

Fifth Avenue, Wilkins, Murray, and Forbes into Squirrel Hill (aka Squ'ill). Commonplace Coffee for a lavender vanilla latte and Allegro Hearth Bakery for pastry. Doesn't get any better. Highly recommended.

Forbes, South Braddock, into Regent Square; found this mural, Bird's Eye View, by artist Kristin Williams in 2003.

It wasn't until I took a minute that I realized it was a bird's eye view of the neighborhood I was standing in, very effective.

Lancaster Street, Frick Park, Nine Mile Run Trail. (Why is it called Nine Mile Run? I don't know!) Intercepted Duck Hollow Trail, crossed the railroad tracks to Second Avenue.

At Second Avenue and Elizabeth Street, saw this mural called Piece by Piece, Step by Step, by artist Kip Herring, on the Elizabeth Pharmacy:

There's a lot to this mural and I'd like to understand more about it.

At Hazelwood Avenue, turned and joined the new Hazelwood trail segment. While riding along this brand new trail, I saw something that I couldn't identify, but it reminded me of an iconic image from my youth:


I think it looks a lot like the Apollo Lunar Module (LEM), but perhaps I am just getting into my dotage --



Continued on the Hazelwood Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge. Rode the Jail Trail to its northern end at Grant Street, was pleased to see some new signs offering guidance to itinerant bicyclists.


Rode to the Smithfield Street Bridge, ducked down the ramp to the Mon Whorf Trail, took the ramp to Point State Park - where I saw a mini-gaggle of DPW folks preparing to clean up a big wet sandpile.

Joined the Convention Center Trail along the Allegheny River. Rode out to 28th Street, reversed, back to the Point, and the Ft. Duquesne Bridge. Saw a group of very athletic people participating in either some sort of exercise-boot-camp or some sort of a hazing ritual, doing such things as climbing down the bridge walkways face-first, head-down - which looked really strenuous to do. Rode back to the Bastille for 38 miles.

Trying to Discern the Meaning of Wheeling Heliocentric Orrery

02/05/12 #238 34m 41F

A remarkably beautiful day in Pittsburgh. Started riding from the Bastille in Manchester, and as I rode around the Science Center I took the picture above. About one inch in from the left margin, you may note a Goodyear blimp loitering over the Lawrenceville-Bloomfield area.

I rode along the trail to Millvale, and then transitioned to the 40th Street Bridge and across to Butler Street, and turned east into Lawrenceville. At 49th and Butler I took a photo of this mural, by Eric Luden for Zombo Gallery:



Continuing further east I took this photo at 5165 Butler Street:

Wheeling Heliocenter Orrery by Kevinn Fung (sic) 2004

I like the mural but I'm not sure I can meaningfully correlate the work with the title, "Wheeling Heliocenter Orrery".

An orrery is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons. In 1704, the first modern device of this type was given to the Earl of Orrery — whence the name came. If the sun is presented at the center of the planets, it is considered a Heliocentric Orrery.

Does it intend to convey that the universe rotates around Wheeling, WV? Or, as I prefer to think, does it signal that the universe rotates around the center person wheeling on the bicycle? Insufficient info for conclusion, unable to find much via the Goog, I'd love to know more about it if anybody has more...

It seemed like two mural photos should be a limit of some sort, so I reversed and rode to the Strip, at the Cork Factory I joined the Strip Trail, and continued to Point State Park. It looks like major earth scraping is still in progress around the fountain.

I took Blvd of the Allies to Grant Street, which is a complex intersection, and then joined the Jail Trail south to Swinburne Street. I rode around the corner and took the Junction Hollow Trail up to CMU and refrained from shoaling a bicyclist at the light. Took Fifth, Wilkins, and Murray to Squirrel Hill.

From Squill I took Forbes and South Braddock around to the Nine Mile Run Trail, which showed signs of recent work on the southern half. Rode down to the River, and took the Duck Hollow Trail to the railroad tracks. Cross the tracks, Second Avenue to Greenfield Street, and back on the Jail Trail.

Took the Ft. Duquesne Bridge and the Casino Trail back to the Bastille, 34miles in 2h53m. All along this route there were a lot of people out enjoying the weather, bicyclists, joggers and walkers. An excellent outing.

Utility Bicycling: Running Errands

12/13/11 #237 35m 40F

Rode 35miles in 40F, running some errands by bicycle rather than in a car. This was utility cycling, Serious Cycling with a Purpose damn it, so I tried hard not to enjoy it but I screwed up and had a great ride.

I've had some problems recently using my helmet cover to keep my head warm, it's essentially a shower cap that builds its own moisture zone and it hasn't been effective, I've ended up with salt burning my eyes. Today I dug out one of last winter's new geegaws, a Halo Anti-Freeze, and it made for a much more pleasant ride.

I started at the Manchester Bastille, and rode the trails to Millvale, took the 40th Street Bridge, Butler Street to the 60th Street bridge, and then Main Street in Sharpsburg and Freeport Road to the Water Works complex.

Stopped to run my errand, which was a pickup at Barnes and Noble. Currently BikePgh has a forum theme on whether stores are permitting bicycles inside, I can report that I had no problem bringing my bike into B&N, a quick right turn inside the double doors and there was a place to park the bike. I did not ask permission, because I strive to not ask questions that I don't want to hear answers to.

My next errand was in Squirrel Hill, so I stopped enroute at Performance Bikes in Bakery Square and bought some more SmartWool socks, they usually only have a few pairs in my preference, so I scored two pair and got back on the road.

Rode over to Squirrel Hill, enjoyed the climb, and then I really enjoyed the descent out of Squill on Forbes. At Frick Park I was surprised to see a significant sheet of ice in the gutter for about a hundred yards.

Took the Nine Mile Run Trail to the Duck Hollow Trail, and on the Duck Hollow trail I was surprised to see another of the new trail markers (see above). I'm glad to see they're staking out the perimeter trails. I hope to see 10- and 20-mile markers on the GAP.

The sun was setting so I took Second Avenue to the Jail Trail. There's a lot of cyclists out on the Jail Trail at sunset sporting some really effective lighting rigs, I was really impressed. I think I passed by local commuter and bike-guru Kordite in the dark.

As I was crossing into Point State Park I saw a labor protest at Gateway Center, about 25 people chanting What Do We Want? A contract / When do we want it? Now! I wanted to stop and see what it was about, but it was dark and I needed to wrap up the ride.

It was seriously dark as I came across the Ft. Duquesne Bridge and proceeded along the Casino to the Bastille. At one point, I was fairly blind in terms of forward visibility because of a flood light in one of the industrial yards, and I almost intercepted a bike Ninja — black clothes, no reflectors, and no lights. Fortunately, I was able to hear him talking on his cellphone, and I pulled over to the side and slowed down just before he appeared out of the glare.

It was a magnificent ride, especially so because of the time of year.