Halfway through the riding year, my mileage is almost exactly half of what I'd planned on. There are things I could blame reasons, some of them are valid, but boy I hope to spend more time on the bike - and not because of a number, but because riding makes me happy and who doesn't want to level-up on the H-meter?
Today's excellent ride started at the Bastille at 1630, in what seemed like the hot and steamy part of the day. Rode south with S to Point State Park in search of two things: the sand sculpture and the crowd-sourced EnviroMural.
There's a EnviroMural from ImaginePittsburgh and MLK being built in Point State Park. The underlying canvas is up and looked like this:
People are given their own bit of canvas with some lines drawn on it and some color guidance, and they're asked to paint their own squares which will be assembled into a larger mural.
Some people can't resist the opportunity to individualize their contribution.
We departed along Blvd of the Allies to Grant Street, rode the Jail Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge, and took the Baldwin Borough Trail past the eagle viewing area, Keystone Metals, and Sandcastle. Continued along the Waterfront trail, happy to see that the fish market restaurant still has two coolers of ice water out on the trail. That is so very nice of them.
Continued down to Marcegehalagehalagehala Metals. Reversed, rode to South Side, got something to eat. Broke out headlights and headlamps and decided to ride northwest via the Jail Trail rather than the South Side trail, just because of less vegetation, better straightaways, and general visibility.
I got to experiment with S's MagicShine headlight (my knockoff got knocked out in a recent bike fall attributed to operator error). Wow is that a bright light. I've got to get one of those. The ride along the dark Jail Trail was a lot of fun.
Hadn't planned on it, but we saw the illuminated fountain at Point State Park at stopped to check it out. It's really magnificent and they've done a very nice job.
We got to the North Side after the Pirates game had discharged the audience, and there were people and cars all over the place. Getting off the trails to get away from the people was attractive, but riding with the bumper-to-bumper exurbanites coming out of a baseball game wasn't charming so we stuck to the trails and attempted patience which I've read is a virtue.
The pedestrians were nice and helpful. Coming along one narrow and twisty bit of trail near the Science Center, and approaching a few clusters of older fans, I decided to not ring my bike ball and choose to just wait a few minutes and slow-pedal until we moved to a better place. Inevitably my cellphone rang, and the custom ringtone for that contact is the sound of a bike-bell. That was funny.
After the Casino the ballgame traffic was gone and it was a simple night right back to the Bastille and the cars that were still there and which started when asked. A great ride.
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