Drove past the Moon Township side of the Sewickley Bridge, observed this Ghost Bike memorial.
I like the way they did it. Just the first name and the years. Nobody can drive by, glomm the family name, call them up and be a nuisance. Good move. A lot of people will drive by that memorial every day. The position on the State Bike Route sign is all the more poignant.
Started to ride at the Bastille. Rode past the Casino, observed the Mystery Bike. The Mystery Bike is a mid-1970's road bike, labelled "ATALA". Decent steel frame. It was originally parked in a bike rack on the trail on July 11th with a knapsack and a helmet, and after a few days bicyclists started commenting on it in the local online forums. What's up with that bike?
Did the owner go into the casino, win big, emerge into a limo and never look back? Was he waylaid by robbers? Did the owner meet with foul play? Meet an old flame?
After a week, there were signs that people were rummaging through the knapsack. First the contents were obviously disturbed, then they were laid out on the sidewalk, then the knapsack was gone. When I rode by today, there were yellow signs on the bike which I took to be eviction notices, as in Hey move your bike or we're going to junk it. Too bad, it's a nice bike.
Rode down to South Side, stopped at Thick looking for a geegaw but they didn't have it. Continued south to the Waterfront, stopped at McDonalds to use their soda fountain for a water and ice refill. It started to rain fairly heavy so I invested in a cheeseburger and sucked their wifi for a bit.
Came back out and was very pleased to meet Marko near Costco, and we road together as far as the Hot Metal Bridge. There's a Pirates game this evening and the whole Station Square - Point - NorthSide complex was fairly crowded. As I rode around the Casino I was wondering about the Atala bike and wondered, who has authority over those bike racks, anyway, so I rode over to take a look.
This is something I love about Pittsburgh. Give them an indication that somebody might be in trouble, they'll get nebby and inquire about it.
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