Pittsburgh had Margo Lovelace and Puppets way before the Duck

9/29/2013 #225 28m

We've been fortunate to have eight days of magnificent weather. Would be great for a multi-day trip.

Started at the Bastille. Having learned that the mural we photographed the other day at 5583 Ellsworth is titled "Remembering Margo Lovelace", we stopped at the Children's Museum (on free-RAD day!) to photograph the portions of her collection that are on display. Margo Lovelace was a major factor in American puppetry.

Pleased to encounter P-B on the NorthSide and his #WhipperSnapper bike. Took Federal Street to the 6th Street Bridge. In downtown, a driver in front of us was holding his camera up and out of the moonroof to take pictures of us, then he explained he's a diabetic and liked my RedRider jersey.

Took Sixth out to Grant, and then Grant Street around town to the Jail Trail, avoiding the fairly large crowd at the Point for the Duck.

Crossing the Hot Metal Bridge, was very pleased to see a 45' boat and about a dozen people walking around the new lower levels by the river. When we rode over there, somewhat displeased to see that the lower level is fenced off and you can't get there, except (1) you can access the space from the park under the Birmingham Bridge, and (2) people have cut a big hole in one of the fences. They should open this space.

I subsequently contacted the URA, and they say this area will be open for next spring. They don't have a contract or procedure for operating the dock yet. I think reality is out in front of their procedure.

Continued along the Baldwin Trail, Sandcastle Trail, down to the Pump House. There were a lot of people on the trail, as you'd expect on such a pretty weekend, but it wasn't congested.

Stopped at Mitchell's Fish Mark for calamari and mussels, very good. Saw Joanne-P as she rode by.

Returning via the west bank of the Allegheny, met Marko who rode with us up to the Ft. Pitt bridge. Took the bridge into Point State Park, saw the throng and got out of there. The NorthShore across from the Duck was pretty packed, with parked cars blocking a lane of traffic.

My only concern as a cyclist is all the drivers and pedestrians are Duck-watching and not really focusing on Not Killing Me, so it's a sub-optimal environment.

Pie in a Jar: Walden Trailside Cafe on the Panhandle Trail

9/28/2013 #225 17m

Rode with K from McDonald to Burgettstown along the Panhandle Trail on a beautiful day.

Stopped at Walden's Trailside Cafe, adjacent to the Panhandle Trail. Omelettes and sweet potato fries, and then apple pie in a form factor I haven't seen before: Pie in a Jar

We arrived at the conclusion of the Homecoming Day Parade, so there was a bit of a flurry going on. Everything was excellent. I think that every staffer there asked if they could fill our water bottles as they passed by our table. Signs up, "cyclists always welcome - charge your cellphone, fill your bottles, etc". Wow.

17 miles.

The Howling Mob and Drone Surveillance at the Three Rivers Opticon

9/27/2013 #227 28m

A magnificent day for riding. Started with S at the Bastille in the early afternoon.

Stopped in the Strip District, encounted this historical marker. I had never heard of the Howling Mob or the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 (aka the Great Upheaval) before. The marker is rather interesting, I don't think it's an official State of PA writeup.

This is an image from the Aug 11, 1877 Harpers magazine, "Steeple View of Pittsburgh Conflagration" of the burning of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Union Junction, which took place in 21-22 July 1877. The phrase "the howling mob" was written by the Harpers writers, as explained by the Howling Mob Society.

The things you learn in Pittsburgh!

Rode to Lawrenceville and the BikePgh office to make a delivery and pick up some t-shirts. Checked on the ongoing Doris the Sea Serpent sculpture at the Octopus Garden.

Went to Shadyside and located this new mural at 5583 Ellsworth:

Quite by surprise, encounted this mixed-mural-sculpture on the side of the Mendelson Gallery, 5874 Ellsworth:

Saw something remarkable, my first exposure to a game changer while on the bikepath on the Ft. Duquesne Bridge, overlooking this scene:

And what caught my eye was a tiny object that flew out from the shore and over to the Duck. It was a small hobby drone, and a very nice one, even had an anti-collision blinkie. This fellow was operating it from the shore:

And this is a close-up of the device:

There were photographers scrambling to get into a good position to take pictures of the media event, but this gentleman just stood on the shore. He sent the drone out over the Duck, to a position astern the Duck for some pictures, and then he sent it out in front of the duck for the front view. I don't know if people in the crowd understood that this thing was flying over them, it really didn't make any noise.

It was my first brush with Independent Citizen Drone Ops. Certainly the local television stations had larger aircraft circling overhead a little bit higher, but this was just different to watch. It was amazing how the drone moved over crowds and the people never noticed it.

Boggs, Burgettstown for Walden's and a bikenap, Oakdale

9/24/2013 39m #228

OK, first: 90 days until Christmas. You're welcome.

Started at Boggs, my favorite Montour Trail trailhead. Exited at MP17/McDonald and switched to the Panhandle Trail, which does not require a transfer. Looks like they're rebuilding part of the connector trail.

Rode the Panhandle west to Burgettstown. Saw a rafter of turkeys (had to look that up) and an unexpected number of little yellow butterflies. Stopped at Walden's Cafe for an omelette, they have excellent food there and it's adjacent to the trail. Very bike friendly.

Departed Walden's, rode a very short while on a beautiful, cloudless, sunny day and saw a bench. A bikenap ensued for about a half-hour, very pleasant.

Resumed riding, continued east beyond the Montour Trail and rode to Oakland. Oakland is very car-busy at 5pm. Reversed, and in MCDonald I departed the trail and used the local roads to go directly to the Montour Trail entrance.

An uneventful six miles back to Boggs and the car that was still there, and done. 39 miles and a very nice ride.

Escort Service For Two

9/22/2013 #228 46m

Had the pleasure today of riding with J&K, a pair of cyclists from the Baltimore metro area. They came to Pittsburgh, spent four days exploring the city, and departed on the GAP today. #TrailEconomicImpact

We rode from the Point, out Blvd of the Allies, the Jail Trail, Hot Metal Bridge, and thence the GAP. I think that Pittsburgh, the trails, and the local riders all showed well. They seemed pleased at the trails and the sights.

We rode together to the top of the Durabond Bypass, parted ways and reversed. Stopped to eat at Mitchell's Fish Market, just because they've been awesome about putting out water coolers on the bike trail behind the restaurant and you've just got to support that kind of thinking.

Noticed that AEO-Southside has it's annual October bra display, commemorating Breast Cancer Awareness Month by advertising their Aerie line of adolescent hyper-sexualized brasieres. (just saying).

Coming back across downtown and the NorthSide, encountered lots of tailgaters and Steelers fans but it was still a pretty easy transition, just slow. 46 miles and a very nice ride.

Parking Day with AGoNiPoBi, Flock Picnic

9/20/2012 #226 48m

Today is PARKing day, when people Occupy a parking space and instead of putting their personal property (automobile) in it, they use it as - well, as a park.

Started riding at the Bastille on the North Side, and rode Forbes out to Oakland. Passing through Uptown I noticed a new coffee shop at 1919 Forbes, River City Java, that's not yet open and stopped to check it out. This may have been open a few years ago, closed, and is re-opening. They're still installing and establishing, and expect a grand opening in a month. Always good to see another coffee shop, especially good to see an investment in Uptown.

A group of riders from the BikePgh message board was going to ride to all the PARKing Spaces together, and Salty volunteered to map the route, so we mustered at Dippy in Schenley Quad. Started off with nine cyclists (three LHTs!), added two, lost two, it was a nice group size. There's two things I love about PARKing day: (1) it invites you to imagine other uses for public space besides car parking, and (2) it demonstrates how easy it is to get around town on a bike. You wouldn't want to have to drive to all these locations, park a car, etc.

All of the PARKing spaces were interesting. This one on Forbes really rocked, it was a group of CMU design students emphasizing sustainability. They built a very impressive green space, which really looked natural and integrated. They asked people to write down their aspirational or affirmational statements on post-its which they hung up on strands between the saplings, sort of like Tibetan prayer flags carry their message on the wind. This gets a five-star award, it was extremely well done and they carried the message well.

I thought the CMU team would take Top Awards, but the Best Parking Spot of the Day Award has to go to Rothschild Doymo Collaborative, hands down, far-and-away the best.

The photo doesn't convey it, but the R-DC PARKing spot flows as an extension of an existing green space adjacent to their building. It didn't seem like a temporary arbitrary intrusion into the parking lane, but instead it seemed like a very organic continuation of the greenspace out a little bit further. It was just tremendous.

The measure of it's excellence is this: this was the only PARKing space that didn't need anybody to explain it. You could see the thing, understand it, interact with it, and enjoy it. A few of us said, I could stay here all day. It was just that good. Very nice done. Chapeau!

Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville, which is a new art-house film theater being built in an old space, did something that was clever, creative, and commercial yet completely within the PARKing day philosophy of an alternative use of a parking spot: they built a movies-in-the-park space. I really liked that. They also offered hard-hat tours of their construction within the building, this is going to be very cool.

The Western Pa. Conservancy had something unique in that it was a permanent rather than a temporary installation. Their parking space draws attention to the living wall and the landscaped green space in a parking lot (completely on theme!) that's been there for two years. They were pleased to point out that the improvements did not cost the loss of any parking slots, so no negative business impact. This type of living wall is apparently much less expensive than the showcase wall on the PNC building, but returns many of the same benefits.

As we pulled up to each PARKing Space, the people would ask us, Who are you guys? Who are you with? What's your group's name? The first few times, I felt a bit stymied at this friendly stop-and-frisk, and slightly at a loss for identity. So when the next people asked, Joanne said "we're a group of nice people on bicycles", which works out to AGoNiPoB. So there's that.

Swag from the day included two T-shirts, a new-fangled light bulb, and a bagel. Ended at OTB Cafe with black bean cakes, totally excellent.

Logistics had me driving around and happily dealing with loved ones and cars but then later in the evening, at about 8.30 pm I found myself at CMU about to cycle to Coraopolis. I was so pleased to see a group of 30 bikes at the Schenley Quad and quite by chance stumble upon the Flock after-ride picnic. That was a very pleasant surprise, and they fed me too - turkey and ham and cheese, whoo hoo.

It was a very pleasant night for a dark-ride and I got another 20 miles in. 48 miles for the day, and rain tomorrow.

Rockwood - Confluence - DNF

9/19/2013 20m

Great day. Encountered unexpected mechanical at Confluence and abandoned rather than take dubious gear into the woods. Got a shuttle from a kind lady with a big pickup truck. Still had a lot of fun.