Southside Roof Dachsunds

5/3/13 21m

Started at the Bastille, tarried a bit at Market Square to see some Marathon kickoff glitziness, crossed the Smithfield Street bridge and rode the SouthSide Trail down to the Tenth Street Bridge.

Exiting the trail I was surprised to see this bit of roof art on an abandoned building at 901 Bingham Street in Southside, adjacent to the historic Oliver Bath House at Bingham St. and South 10th Street.

It looks very much like an abandoned factory or warehouse. I'm kind of surprised there's such a large, unused space in the middle of so much development and economic vitality but I think that's still going on in Pittsburgh.

Continued down Bingham to Thick Bikes, they had ordered an Ortlieb bag for me. They have an shop of interesting and engaging mechanics that seem to be quite busy.

Rode down to the riverfront plaza by HofBrauHaus, then down to Keystone Metals. Reversed course, enjoyed the tailwind and stayed on the Station Square side of the river since it was Friday afternoon, crossed the Ft. Pitt bridge and the Ft. Duquesne bridge back to the Bastille.

A very nice day for a ride.

Meanwhile on the Montour: Big Things

5/2/13 36m

So much local bike news is focused on Sandcastle developments that I went out to the Montour Trail at Morganza Road where the new Tandem Connection has opened shop. I pedaled over to Farmhouse Coffee to meet local trailmeister CF, and then he showed me around that part of the Montour Trail where there are also some big things being developed.

This is what the at-grade crossing at Valleybrook Road is beginning to look like.


This is what the South Park Connector looks like, I had not even heard of this.


This is a new trail segment (not yet open) replacing the Triphammer Road detour. This looks like a beautiful trail segment, with a pond and a stream, it's probably very scenic if one was to go beyond the barriers.


We rode out to the Large Hotel, then returned back to FarmHouse. This is how nice the people at FarmHouse are: we went in for cold drinks at 5:55, unaware they close at 6pm. We sat down and started talking trails. At 6.20 they said to us, Hey you're good there but if you don't mind we're going to vacuum over here. Slowly it dawned on us to ask, what time do you close? Oh, six o'clock, but you're good don't worry. Extraordinary. Very nice people.

A very nice ride, and I really enjoyed a chance to ride with CF.

Homestead to Dead Man's Hollow

4/30/13 23M

Escorted some transient Rivendell riders, Ed and Ann, from their Waterfront hotel out to the GAP at Dead Man's Hollow.

They were a little apprehensive about threading the needle through McKeesport and it was a nice morning for an early start and a chance to show off Pittsburgh. I think they were impressed at the local trails (if not at the signage).

Very nice people, they're planning on taking five days to get to DC.

North Star Junction to Santiago and Imperial

4/27 24M 244#

24 miles on the Montour Trail's north-east end, which I haven't been on in at least six months.

Started off inauspiciously, as my trunk bag on my rear rack lost the connection between the straps and the bag, causing the bag to depart the formation and calling for a return to the car. That bag has gained some weight, and when I went rummaging through it to extract anything essential for the ride the answer was: not much, really. Seems like a self-teachable moment.

Back on the bike, rode MP0 in Groveton to MP11.5 in Boggs round trip. Took a nap in the sun at Boggs. Curious that a man in disheveled dirty clothes with his possessions in bags taking a nap at the Point is a problem, but a man in high-viz with his possessions in panniers taking a nap at the Trailhead is a sign of successful advocacy.

Also pleased to see a new historical marker at MP9.1, the North Star Junction at which the Montour Railroadtrain line once split to go to either Santiago or Imperial (the latter being the course followed by the Montour Trail). What I really liked about the marker was it includes a historic photo. The track switch in the photo is at the same position as the historic marker is today, so you can compare the photo with the layout of the land and see where the other train line used to go. It's pretty cool.

Talked with a couple at Boggs, the gentleman is prepping for a Canada-to-Mexico ride along the Pacific coast on his Surly LHT after his upcoming retirement. He seemed to have it well through out, it was nice to talk with them.

Sad to see the Enlow Station ice cream shop closed and for sale. They had the best pistachio soft serve I've ever had. Nice folks and I wish them well. It's a good location but a seasonal, weekend business.

Saw a new-to-me switchback ramp connecting to the Montour Trail at MP2.9, seems to connect to a housing development. Pretty steep, not bike friendly, but it was probably all they could do given the terrain.

A very nice day for a bike ride.

Firehouse Mural and Sandcastle Bike Lane

4/23/13 35m #245

Beautiful day. Started at the Bastille, rode south, very pleasantly surprised to see the Fountain at the Point in operation. (details here).

Ft. Duquesne bridge, Ft. Pitt bridge, southside, rode up 18th Street to the top of South Side. This was complicated by my bicycle's inability to stay in the small chainring, so this ascent kicked by butt.

Searched for a mural near Arlington Street, never found it. Found some great views of Pittsburgh.

Rode toward Mt. Washington, stopped for a snack at GrandView Park. I think that's the best view of Pittsburgh. Found a mural on the side of the historic Company 27 firehouse, which has been at that location since 1908. The mural sits over a mini-park dedicated to Charlie Lewis (originator of the national fill the boot campaign), who has a unique resume of being both a union leader and the Pittsburgh fire chief (1980-85)and was highly respected.

One of Pittsburgh's Bravest came out and said Hello, a very nice gentleman who offered to refill the water bottles. He said, What does a policeman and a fireman have in common? They both want to be a fireman.

Descended McCardle Roadway, which was much faster and much cooler than the climb. Rode south toward Homestead for a meeting. I saw trail guru Yale C. on his bike but I couldn't stop, I only had a few minutes extra before the meeting.

After the meeting, took a look at Sandcastle after work was done for the day. Very impressive work and clear progress being made. This is what the separation between the tracks, the trail, the road, and the waterpark looks like:

I think that's excellent. Until now, I thought that the Marcegaglia bike lane was the best segregated bike lane in the Pittsburgh area, but this is going to be much better. I think it's going to be a very safe way to put bikes and cars in close proximity. They're really doing this right.

Further down the trail, closer to Keystone Metals and after the roadway veers away from the trail, the trail-in-progress looks like this:

Legends of Pittsburgh v3, Keystone Metals Progress, Earth Day Dino

4/21/2013 22m

Glorious day for a bike ride. Got out in the late afternoon, met S at the Bastille, rode south to downtown and saw the Art Institute Dino, all ready for Earth Day:

We checked to see if they've replaced the Legends of Pittsburgh mural (Second Ave. under Grant Street) yet and were pleasantly surprised to see a new one in place. This is the third incarnation of this artwork:

Met Pittsburgh cyclist and bon vivant Marko on the Jail Trail, went to see what the Keystone Metals project looks like and it. looks. good.

photoshop artist representation of what future trail might look like

A lot of people on the trail this afternoon, especially birdwatchers with some impressive equipment looking at the eagle's nest by MM5 at Keystone Metals. There was actually a crowd on the trail, an ice cream cart would have done real well.

Reversed and rode north to REI for some shopping and Marko kept riding. Came out of REI, rode Station Square, Point State Park, North Side and then around past the Heinz Complex to seek a mural we'd seen recently on Twitter from PittsburghIsBeautiful via PghGraffiti:

This 1984 installation was commissioned by the Heinz family to commemorate the role of the nature and the role of labor in the modern world. A tableau closer to the river depicts more of the nature themes, and this upper presentation suggesting a temple depicts the labor theme. I must admit I don't get it; why have they chosen to depict the face of labor as tragic and suffering?

It was a pretty day, lots of people on bicycles.

Bicycling the Natchez Trace Parkway: Afterthoughts

A few after-thoughts or lessons learned after bicycling the Natchez Trace Parkway.

• Boy, that was great! Excellent road conditions, the cars played nice, not a single significant negative.
• The National Park Service map is the best map, but it really only shows NPS campgrounds and omits several others (probably the way it should be).
• First time I've camped for several consecutive days with others. You can see the need to consistent good will and good humor.
• There's really very little privacy in camping, and zero privacy in hammock camping.
• Sunscreen; how did I only discover it in my mid-50's?
• Planning: it's not effective to plan epic days without resources-in-depth and next-day contingency options. Absent that, I'm beginning to think: 45 mile days (loaded) with a rest day every fifth day.

I would so ride this again in a heart-beat. South-to-north, unsupported, 45 miles a day.

 

 

Future Bike Camp Designers: I love what you've been doing with the traditional primitive campground: grass, trees, picnic bench, secure trash can, fire circle, water source, restroom or porta-john. Moving forward, would you please consider:

• plumbing the rest-room waterpipes (if any) to an exterior showerhead
• exterior electric outlets to charge phones, tablets, cameras, MiFis, etc.