Saw this Pittsburgh Police Officer on Patrol in Shadyside. I just loved watching drivers make decisions about passing or staying behind him. I am so glad they're out in the street.
Saw this major E-Cargo bike on Walnut Street: wow just WOW. So many cool little bits that I don't completely understand.
As I descended 40th Street, I encountered a group of young cyclists all on similar bikes, marshalling up for a ride outside of Arsenal Middle School / Junior High. It looked like an after-school bike riding program, maybe it was Positive Spin?
Coffeeneuring's sixth season starts in a few weeks, and may I say I love the emphasis on the Spirit of Coffeeneuring and the repositioning of Rules 3 (Home coffee shop), Rule 4 (relaxed weekend), 9(Spirit of Coffeeneuring).
My first impulse is to #AddTheR and weave CofFREEneuring into the season as a personal mini-theme. CofFREEneuring involves riding your bike to free coffee. Places like: waiting rooms, hotel lobbies, car dealerships, coffee tastings. It seems a bit priviledge-sketchy (a person who needs free coffee wouldn't presume to do it) but it has a small hold on me.
I'm also tempted to try to Coffeeneur at Bike Cafes - in other words, Bike Shops that are also Coffee Shops. The ones that come quickly to mind are
Thick Bikes becomes a coffee shop for Coffeeneuring events
Beautiful day for being outside, the best kind of weather Pittsburgh can offer. I met my party (which self-identifies as F.O.G, Friends of Gerda), at their Homestead Hotel and escored them out on the GAP.
On the solo return leg, I passed the back of the McKeesport Roundhouse just like I've done n-teenth times, but today I thought: I'd like to see the other side of that place.
Thursday and Friday I biked around town running a few errands and chasing cold-brew coffee.
Saturday I got to ride with a group of 9 cyclists from Portland, 8 of them on Bike Friday folding bikes. None of the Bike Fridays were the same. One was a retrofit e-bike. There were great variations in handlebar rigs, racks, lighting etc. Very cool equipment.
During the ride, they got to see an Uber auto-auto, some Segways, and a DUKW boat-car. Very multi-modal.
9.14 Day1 Wed Pgh-Ohiopyle 81m
9.15 Day2 Thur Ohiopyle-Frostburg 58m
9.16 Day3 Fri Frostburg-Little Orleans 62m
9.17 Day4 Sat Little Orleans-Williamsport 41m
9.18 Day5 Sun Williamsport - White's Ferry/ Leesburg 67m
9.19 Day 6 Mon Leesburg- Georgetown DC - Herndon, VA 61m
Miles bicycled this trip: 370
mtd:494 ytd:2024
This week's adventure was escorting a family bike ride from Pittsburgh to DC - or more importantly, from Allegheny County PA (ie, Pittsburgh), to Allegany County MD (ie, Cumberland), thence to Georgetown, DC.
The trip takes on a County-level subtext because one of the riders is an elected official in Allegheny County - which has 1.2 million people, thank you for asking, rather dwarfing the County Seat (Pittsburgh) which has 300,000 people. You could look it up.
I see politicians at ribbon-cutting events. I have never seen a politician commit to riding a bike for 335 miles to encourage economic development before.
I have seen people start the Pgh-DC ride and DNF (that is, Did Not Finish) for a variety of reasons. I have never seen a public official announce his plan publicly and go out and try it while live-tweeting. I thought that was pretty leading-edge.
I'm not going to write much about my clients for this trip - for political people, public exposure is their livelihood, and I'm not sufficiently astute to be confident of causing no harm (The First Rule). There's official info here, and photos here.
Day1, Pittsburgh - Ohiopyle
This was a fine first day, although the mileage plan was more aggro than I'd recommend for casual cyclists on their first bike tour. Great weather, good surface, low winds. We stopped at a few places to meet local trail builders, some corporate people, some government people. We got a tour of the new McKeesport Hostel and it's a lot like the Rockwood Hostel (who advised McKeesport on the project).
Lunch in West Newton at the Trailside. Frozen Yogurt at New Haven Trailside Treats, adjacent to the bike shop. Pulled into Yough Plaza Motel a bit before sunset. Dinner at River City Cafe, which was really very good food in a no-pretention setting. We discussed the man-buns among the staffers, and I suggested one would do well in a Utilikilt, which I think was a surprise to my companions. (related, NSFW) I'd like to try a Utilikilt but in a different fabric, something like SilNylon instead of Carhardt barn-coat canvas.
I was a little surprised that the entire cohort made Ohiopyle. The Hero Of the Day was definitely Mrs.F, who had not planned on riding with us all day - but she was enjoying herself, so instead of riding the first ten miles and getting extracted from the trail, she rolled a little more, and a little more, and ended up riding 78 miles. No preparation - zilch; no gloves; wrong shoes; no complaining. I was amazed.
Day2, Ohiopyle - Frostburg
We were joined by some other folks for the first part of the ride. Breakfast at Ohiopyle Bakery was awesome. We departed on time. Stopped to go down to the river proper.
We stopped in Confluence for a confab with some local folks, which gave me the chance to scoot over to Bill Metzger's house to say hello.
We were fortunate to be joined by Linda Boxx for the Pinkerton Tunnel and Rockwood segments, which is kind of like going to Rome and getting a tour from both Michelangelo and the Pope. At Rockwood we encountered a couple of cyclists who planned their trip with Golden Triangle Bikes (my employer for this trip) and I had to take a picture of her kit.
She and her spouse are riding because: she got a bonus from her job in Denver, which is an amount of money. Recipients are required to spend their bonus on "fun". Can't take it in cash, can't buy a washing machine, has to be fun. So they're riding Allegheny County PA (Pittsburgh) to Allegany County MD (Cumberland) and it looked like they were having fun. In this County-level-themed ride, we began referring to this as the A-to-A ride.
Arrived Frostburg. I love Frostburg - university town, great restaurants, got their own NPR station. But it is a steep hill from the Trailhead to the Train Station, and another major climb from the Station to the Town. I think they'd really benefit from a shuttle-van w/trailer.
Dinner at Shift Frostburg, which was awesome - a bike-theme, localvore farm-to-table restaurant. Just amazingly good. For lodging the group stayed at Allegheny Trail House, which was mega-wonderful. A curious high-tech feature was: you order your breakfast, and choose your breakfast time, via a text-message App. Kind of unexpected in such a wonderful old house. Excellent bike parking in a secure room. Fast Wifi. Totally recommended.
The unexpected development was the presence of Mrs.F, who did not prepare for the trip and hadn't planned on joining us. She had a good first day, and chose to continue Day2 which she killed. Totally impressive.
Day3, Frostburg - Little Orleans
The ride out of Frostburg and the first 16 miles are downhill and it was a welcome change from the previous day. We did see a railroad crew installing a new-to-this facility at GAP MP009 - a refurbished Cumberland bus stop, re-purposed as a shelter at the temporary stopping place for the Western Md Scenic Railroad.
This year's interruption of WMSR service because of a mine-subsidence landslide is the type of thing that (IMO) continually points out the fragile nature of the GAP- it's one long peice of spaghetti, and if it gets cut off anywhere the whole network suffers. There's no funding source or insurance policy for natural disasters, and these things do happen.
Descending into Cumberland a group going opposite direction gave me a shout-out by name but I didn't recognize them so: hey! let me know if that was you!
Once we get out on the C&O I deliver my briefing - this is less forgiving than the GAP, you've got to pay attention. Physician, heal thyself! I caught a stick in my front wheel which crumpled my front fender all around my front fork. I was very pleasantly surprised, my client was eager to help with my mechanical issue - turns out, a CMU mechanical engineer who started his worklife in boiler rooms was happy to turn a wrench.
In Little Orleans we had dinner at Bill's, then shuttled up the mountain to Town Hill B&B.
Day 4 , Little Orleans - Williamsport
Totally awesome breakfast at Town Hill. Shuttled down the mountains, started on time in Little Orleans. This was a shorter day, 43-ish miles. Mrs.F was still killing it and by this time in the trip I'm becoming afraid of her, because I suspect that in her youth she was like a Spetsnaz commando because usually, no-prep riders don't last this long, let alone make it look smooth.
We picked a few Paw-Paws on the trail, and the innkeeper at Elmwood Farm was able to tell us which were ripe.
Stayed in Elmwood Farm B&B which was like an 11. You call or text them two miles from the trailhead, and they're waiting to pick you up with a van and trailer. They wash your bikes. They wash your laundry. They give you tubes and beer. They drive you to dinner. This is an awesome B&B, run by a woman who's a retired pro-golfer and a cyclist herself. It's had a remarkable restoration including individual key-card access control for each room. Breakfast was awesome. Definitely recommend Elmwood Farm B&B.
Day 5, Williamport - Leesburg
This was the last long day, and it was hot and humid (as the DC area can be). Lots of Civil War history. Some riders made good use of the water pumps.
Saw a few blue herons, like this one:
This is one of the Snyder's Landing Caves at about MP75, near the Killiansburg Cave.
Also, I was pleased to see Barron's Ice Cream at 76.7 open on weekends.
Rode into Shepherdstown for lunch at Blue Moon Cafe, always a great stop. Saw Colleen and Cindy as we left town - always nice to see bike buds.
This limestone kiln is at about MP65.5:
At Harper's Ferry:
At the Catoctin Creek Aqueduct, the family met some cyclists they knew (riding opposite direction) from Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon:
We rolled into Brunswick, Md, for our penultimate stop. As we entered Beans in the Belfry we encountered the local bluegrass-strings orchestra enjoying their Sunday practice session, which was the coolest thing ever.
Got off the C&O at White's Ferry, took the Ferry to Leesburg, stayed at a Leesburg Hotel. Had an excellent dinner at Del Rio. I am left convinced that Mrs.F is some kind of an assassin in the witness protection program, she's just killing this ride beyond all expectations. I think a rider like her is what the Adventure Cycling philosophy is all about; you don't tell anybody they can't do this, or that this won't work - you allow them the dignity of trying.
Day Six: Leesburg to Georgetown
We encountered two issues at Leesburg - the hotel couldn't provide a shuttle until 0930, and it was raining heavy. So we made a decision and took the paved W&OD Trail into DC (which, btw, is page 43 of my Trail Guide, available on Amazon.
We rode in heavy rain from Leesburg to Herndon, where we stopped for espresso and home-made Pop Tarts at Green Lizard Cycling, which is a bikeshop-slash-coffeeshop and does very well at both of those.
After GreenLizard we just kept rolling. We did stop at Whole Foods to use real bathrooms, and I think there's a law in DC that you can't pass a Whole Foods without stopping. At MP4 we turned onto the Custis Trail, and that has quite a bit of up-and-down work as the trail serpentines over I-66. Finally we made it to the Key Bridge, crossed and transitioned to the last bit of the C&O.
Achievement Unlocked
After the ride, I went back west to Green Lizard Cycling for my pickup home. This was a great ride with good people, and I really enjoyed getting to ride with them.
Wednesday 9/07 I did a bike fitting with Matt Tinkey at the UPMC sports medicine facility in Cranberry. Excellent experience. Made a few small tweaks, then added a spacer to my left pedal which produced a real improvement into a mechanical leg issue I've been experiencing. A few more tweaks and we tightened everything up. I really recommend Matt Tinkey for bike fittings.
Thursday 9/08 I did a few loops around town, errands and meetings. 19 miles
Tuesday I rode with about 215 fellow travelers in a Ghost Bike dedication / protest ride regarding the killing of cyclist Dennis Flanigan, 49 years old, of McKees Rocks. This was a very well-run operation, considering it brought together a lot of people who don't usually ride together, for a night ride on a dangerous road. BikePgh (the organizer) and Major Taylor Cycling (the ride marshalls) really did a nice job.
Post Gazette coverage. This is the fourth ghost bike I've delivered, I'd like to not need any more ghost bikes.
The Liberty Tunnels are closed.
Pittsburgh says: Oh no, what about the cars?
Some of us say: Oh yes, let's ride through the closed tunnels.
My wife Karen and I joined a few like-minded miscreants (Colleen & Marko, Joanne, Ben) at the RedWhiteBlue store on 51 and rode into the closed tunnel. There was a gendarme on station watching the car traffic, but we managed to turn into the closed-inbound tunnel without arousing him. Fortunately, the taxpayers provide webcams that assist in planning:
The ride though the tunnel was excellent. Cooler than the outside, a bit of a breeze, well-lit, clean surface. In fact, I should ride there more often.
We stopped in the middle to take a picture:
When in doubt, the guidance is: Ride Toward the Light:
Out of the tunnel, Turn Right on McCardle, Turn Left on Arlington, descend to East Carson Street. It was as pleasant as could be. Highly recommended. I really appreciate a tribe that comes out to break laws together.
Started riding from the North Side, had to swim upstream against the flow of Pitt football fans who did a fair job of letting me continue. Rode to Golden Triangle, met a group of PhD candidates for a Pittsburgh tour.
It was a great day to ride around town. We were all wondering about the Liberty Bridge shutdown and whether it would affect the trails, but it doesn't seem to.
Rode to Southside, Big Dog Coffee, always a hit.
Returning to the car I met BN+3 which was an unexpected treat.
Today I met two cyclists at their Penn Ave hotel and escorted them out on the GAP to Boston, PA where they continued riding toward Cumberland (and I RTB'd).
It was a tremendous day for a ride: clear, cool, blue skies with bright-white cottonball clouds. Pittsburgh really shows off well from a bicycle.
This is a video of their transition from the hotel, under the Convention Center, along the Allegheny River to Point State Park. Thence via Blvd of the Allies, Grant Street, the Jail Trail, and the Hot Metal Bridge. We weren't all that fast; the video is accelerated.
