Marek Dittmann, Peripatetic Pedaler from Toruń, Poland

7/28/2013 36m 250#

Started off without much of a gameplan. Departed the neighborhood and rode to Moon Starbucks. Happily surprised to see some former colleagues there.

Departed and rode to the Sewickley Bridge, stopped to take a photo of the scene of last week's cyclist fatality. There was a car from 51-North waiting in the queue to turn right onto the Sewickley Bridge, and I was surprised when the driver rolled down the window and said, "We're really sorry about that." I thought that was really a gracious and unexpected effort on their part and I really appreciated it.



Continued to Sewickley. I really like the ride along Beaver Street in Sewickley (stopped at a kid's lemonade stand, 50-cent cupcakes FTW) and then Beaver Road in Edgeworth (and no, I'm not trying to SEO-optimize for puerile keywords) which flows into Merchant Street in Ambridge. Continued north on Route 65, stopped at the Baden Sheetz for some icewater.


Came out of the Sheetz and was surprised to see a fully-louded cyclist ahead, apparently travelling with a white-red flag aloft. I was able to catch up to him and I got to meet Marek Dittmann from Toruń, Poland. We rode along and stopped at Punk's Ice Cream for a moment.



Marek speaks Polish and German and I speak English so we didn't get very far in our conversations, but we pantomined and worked out way through a review of his bike and gear. He loves his Garmin GPS and showed me his route; he's going to St. Louis, Kansas City, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Then he's going to Los Angeles, Mexico, Panama, and eventually Argentina before he gets on a plane to go back home. Wow. wow wow wow wow wow.

Here's a photo of him where we parted ways at the East Rochester - Monaca bridge. He's doing about 140kms/day. Marek is the second cyclist I've met this year, that's my age, that's riding intercontinental. Just wow.



36 miles of a very interesting ride.