And Dave Wanted to Ask for Directions at Mile 6 With the River In View
Of course, he got shouted down, and in any event, the woman he hoped to stop seemed fearful of five cyclists in lycra and shorts and messenger bags. This was on the cobbles at the foot of Logan, one of the Dirty Dozen and so steep that several of us decided that rather than burning through our brakes in one ragged descent it would be more prudent to walk our bikes down. The thought of climbing the hill was almost comical. If it isn't the worst or second worst (after Rialto) of the Dozen, especially given its length (first half miserable; second half so steep I was worried I'd somersault over the handlebars before I dismounted the bike, at which point I started worrying that my feet would slide out from under me), I'd really love to know what rates higher.
Yesterday's ride was a bit of a mess. More than once we stopped to regroup and dither about whether we were heading the wrong way, more than once one or two of us found himself out of sight of the others and had to wait, twice phone calls were required to reunite, and several times we doubled back on our path to get back on track. The roads north of the city were entirely unfamiliar to me on a bike, and only marginal more familiar from driving expeditions, though our jaunt through Millvale did recall my very first weekend visiting Pittsburgh, between eight and nine years ago, which got me wondering about moving here.
With only one of the more notable doubling's back recorded, the tally is just about 30 miles, the last mile or so ridden by Dave and me alone after two beers and some minor carb loading (potato skins; no bacon) at Lot 17. But it was a hard 30 at an aggressive pace, notwithstanding a certain amount of hurry up and wait.
Messy or no, it was a lot of fun, Andrew, Aaron, Dave, and new riding partner Nathan, powering through the slight chill of a moist and cloudy April Fools Day, the wind playing us like big brass instruments.
UPDATE: Just thought I'd add, as much for me as for anyone else, that with standard 4-mile each way commutes factored in to last week's perfect five days of riding, my week's mileage came to 79 miles.
Yesterday's ride was a bit of a mess. More than once we stopped to regroup and dither about whether we were heading the wrong way, more than once one or two of us found himself out of sight of the others and had to wait, twice phone calls were required to reunite, and several times we doubled back on our path to get back on track. The roads north of the city were entirely unfamiliar to me on a bike, and only marginal more familiar from driving expeditions, though our jaunt through Millvale did recall my very first weekend visiting Pittsburgh, between eight and nine years ago, which got me wondering about moving here.
With only one of the more notable doubling's back recorded, the tally is just about 30 miles, the last mile or so ridden by Dave and me alone after two beers and some minor carb loading (potato skins; no bacon) at Lot 17. But it was a hard 30 at an aggressive pace, notwithstanding a certain amount of hurry up and wait.
Messy or no, it was a lot of fun, Andrew, Aaron, Dave, and new riding partner Nathan, powering through the slight chill of a moist and cloudy April Fools Day, the wind playing us like big brass instruments.
UPDATE: Just thought I'd add, as much for me as for anyone else, that with standard 4-mile each way commutes factored in to last week's perfect five days of riding, my week's mileage came to 79 miles.
posted by Moon | 4/02/2006 09:34:00 AM
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