Tuesday Night at the Oval (Wherein I Do Okay)

There was a small-ish group for Tuesday’s race–only 21–and quite a few first time racers. A handful of riders promoted themselves to the B race, but a few of the fast guys were still around. I suspected that the quick Roomful Express rider, who is usually in the thick of things, would just go ahead […]

Riverview Criterium

“I was in the pain cave and I had dropped the flashlight, so it was pretty dark at that point.” Mike Friedman, describing his effort in the 2008 Het Volk.* The skinny on the race: 20 laps of a .8 mile on-street course in Oakmont for a total of a whopping 16 miles. Six corners, […]

Thursday Night Ride

Fox Chapel Loop I snuck out at 8:00 PM, after the rain passed, for a short ride through the hills above Fox Chapel. Through Sharpsburg, I made my usual navigational error of climbing to Sharps Hill instead of Dorseyville, meaning a bit of meandering through the neighborhood before I (re-)discovered the correct sequence of roads […]

Penn’s Corner, Week One

Today was our first pickup for the Penn’s Corner Harvest Share CSA. Our pickup location is down the street a few blocks, so Jen and boys took a walk before I got home from work. Apparently a local family is hosting a pickup, meaning the week’s share is in a box on their front porch–a […]

History

The Pittsburgh City Paper has an article about a house roughly 200 yards from where I grew up., designed and built by my uncle (who also built the first iteration of the dome houses mentioned in the article next door). The article doesn’t mention, however, that the house was seriously damaged by a fire roughly […]

Tuesday Night at the Oval

Reasonable weather tonight, with temps in the low 80s with a bit of wind, and a large group of 29 racers. The pace was, as usual, fast from the start, and within two laps, there was a selection, and I was not in it. A few laps later, my group decided to have a go […]

Saturday Ride

Saxonburg-Middle loop, with strada sterrata variation. Early, early start–6:00AM–to beat the heat. That tactic was only marginally successful. I decided to explore Schaeffer Road, which branches from Cedar where Church Lane begins. This was about about a mile of dirt and gravel, generally in good condition, with a few washboard sections. There’s a fine downhill, […]

Tuesday Night at the Oval (Wherein I’m Getting Better)

I left the house in the rain, reminded of why I prefer to ride with fenders when it is wet. Within a block, I was completely soaked from head to toe. At least it was warm. As expected, the rain kept some people away, and with only two women there, the C and Women’s fields […]

Sunday Ride

About 3 hours in Frick Park. So the “training” for the Wilderness 101 begins. The ride consisted of going up the double track from the hollow (ummm, Fire Road Trail, maybe?) to the Meadow, then riding back down via singletrack. Trail conditions were superb–dry, but a bit tacky. The top section of Iron Grate was […]