Green building, bikes, art, and happiness

Small risk taken, wonderful reward - beautiful hour on the water

2009-08-19T22:09:00.008-04:00

Last week, I started rallying the folks at work to bring in their boats and do a quick trip on the Allegheny River near the office one night this week. That day turned out to be today. It was a great site to see a three kayaks and a canoe (mine) on vehicles in the company parking lot. One other set of friends with their canoe I don't work with intended to come as well. However, life decided to not cooperate with everyone's schedule. One guy was unable to go for personal reasons, another couldn't because he's a slave to the Company and worked late. The couple decided to call it off because the weather was pretty terrible all afternoon, and it was still raining steadily at 5pm when I talked to them.

Nonetheless, my coworker, Bruce, and I figured we had the boats on our cars already and that it wouldn't hurt to check out the water and maybe get out for a little bit. If it got bad, we'd not be far from the cars.

We put in the Allegheny at a nice launch in Lawrenceville, under the 40th Street bridge. It was raining, but not very hard. This was the small risk I spoke of in the title to this post. Within the first 15 minutes, though, it stopped raining and got progressively sunnier.

What started out as a marginal day for paddling became a beautiful experience out on the water. This was our wonderful reward for avoiding the gumption trap and getting on the river. The river's surface was smooth and calm. The lighting was great. There was a slight breeze. Pretty much perfect weather for paddling.

We came across a great blue heron in a tree near a factory.

I ended up disturbing it, and it flew upstream, allowing for more photographs in different locations.

We turned around near the 62nd St bridge.

Looking at downtown Pittsburgh in the distance. It's only four river miles to the buildings from where this picture was taken. This is one of my very favorite things about Pittsburgh.

Harvest!

2009-08-18T23:57:00.005-04:00

We harvested our first wave of tomatoes from the garden today. Not a bad haul for only two plants of red heirloom tomatoes and one unstaked yellow plum tomato plant. The basket holds some basil, which we've been harvesting for a while.

There is a single bull-nose bell pepper and a single Anaheim pepper on their plants looking pretty close to ready to remove. I'm optimistic the flowers on the upper part of those two will produce another round. It's probably not going to come to fruition, but I can hope.

It's been a bad year for tomatoes in this region. Many farmers and backyard gardeners are losing their plants and fruit to the Late Blight fungus. Evidently, it's the same pathogen that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840's. One of my plants doesn't looks so healthy, but the fruit are looking fine so far. After pulling these today, there are only a handful of immature tomatoes on each. I'm crossing my fingers and will wait and see.

I made insalata caprese tonight with the tomatoes and basil (with mozzarella, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar) as an appetizer Bethany could eat as soon as she got home from teaching her yoga class. I also made a big bowl of pico de gallo to adorn our dinner of nachos with chicken, refried beans, red pepper, and cheese. There are still more than 10 good-sized tomatoes left to make vodka sauce for tomorrow night's dinner.

Clean Energy for America - Strip District

2009-08-18T13:24:00.003-04:00

Here are some of the Shepard Fairey posters in the Strip District. I have others from other places in town, including the big installation across the street from the Andy Warhol museum, bu they're all trapped on my computer at home (shhh...I'm throwing this post up from work right now). I'll post those later.

Guest post - sign grammar

2009-08-17T15:28:00.004-04:00

My friend Zen sent me this picture of a sign he walks by on his way to work in New York City.

This is one of my favorites on the way to work. This sign is on a building where most of the block is abandoned.

Thanks, Zen!

Car-free Friday and the start of Bike Fest in Pittsburgh

2009-08-14T09:47:00.006-04:00

It was a wonderful morning to be out on the bike today. It wasn't too hot. It was nice and sunny, but there was a bit of fog hanging around to give some sense of distance as the sunlight filtered through it.

Pittsburgh (and other places) has an ongoing group of folks promoting the concept of car-free Fridays. The biking, public transit, and environmental (for lack of a better all-encompassing term) communities are trying to get the idea out there that there are a lot of reasons to avoid use of a personal motor vehicle when it's unnecessary. If we take one day a week and use some alternative form of transportation, it can help reduce traffic congestion, pollution, energy use, stress, and other bad things. I don't mean to leave out the other forms of transportation by talking about bikes and buses. The in-line skating and kayak/canoe communities are represented in groups promoting friendlier forms of commuting.

Anyway, today's a Friday, but it's also the start of Bike Fest! Bike Fest is an annual cycling celebration in Pittsburgh that sees a wide array of celebratory events around the city for about 10 days. The events are grass-rootsy in that most are organized by various groups, clubs, or companies. However the overall coordination and some of the events are done by the local bike advocacy group, Bike Pittsburgh. This morning, the Neighbors in the Strip business association sponsored a car-free breakfast event outside the office of the advertising company, Mullen. From the Bike Fest description of the event:

There will also be a host of businesses attending as well including Enrico Biscotti Co. (with free biscotti samples), Right by Nature (with Give Water and Streaz drink samples and bike raffle), Schoolhouse Yoga(with free yoga breathing sessions) and Three Rivers Inline Club (info on inline skating as a commuting option), just to name a few.

Pittsburgh Pedicabs was present, letting folks try out the bike.

Four of us in our office rode in today. Our count is between 2 and 8, depending on weather and what's going on at work. There are only three of us who ride regularly year-round. Below is a picture of the new location of our bike rack. The HVAC testing area caused the first move of the rack to the larger research bay. But then, the building envelope/thermal enclosure mock-up took up that space, and the bike rack got moved to the area outside the former BuildIQ cubicle area. I'm happy the company has continued to try to keep the rack indoors.

Two parting shots of cyclists I encountered on my way into town this morning. Both on Penn Ave. Note the correct name, Becky. :)

Penn Ave Shepard Fairey mural update

2009-08-14T09:35:00.002-04:00

I rode through downtown on my way to work to see the finished Shepard Fairey mural at Penn Avenue. I couldn't stay to see it complete yesterday, as I was already late to meet Bethany, Silas, and a friend for a hike at Frick Park. Here is a photo of the piece.

Shepard Fairey murals in Pittsburgh

2009-08-14T00:00:00.004-04:00

Shepard Fairey is in town for the unveiling of a piece of work (Clean Energy for America) this weekend as part of a Netroots Nation event. He is, of course, to date probably best known for his Obama "HOPE" poster. A number of murals are going up around Pittsburgh.

I ran across one going up in an alley off Penn Blvd between 8th and 9th (I think) and watched them work for a while. Then I rode over to the one at 1st and Wood St, as shown below. I think this is a very exciting series of events for Pittsburgh. I'd like to see the mainstream media pick up some of the issues and talk about them. We'll see.

I'd love to go to the Clean Energy for America unveiling, but I'll be watching the Decemberists play at the Byham Theater. It's tough to have such difficult choices.

Here are a few links discussing the murals, the event, and the organizations.

Bus organ donation

2009-08-13T23:48:00.005-04:00

I rode by a sad hull of a city bus partially through the process of being stripped of useful parts. I wonder if it's completed yet or if its carer is on his/her way to help their charge... (give "Never Let Me Go - by Kazuo Ishiguro a read sometime if you haven't for my lateral allusion).

Casino friction and poop engineering

2009-08-13T23:06:00.004-04:00

Here are a few pictures from casual ride around the North Side last week. I'm trying to catch up a little bit. The picture above is of the riverfront along the new casino. They originally wanted cyclists to dismount in front of the casino. However, that was met with outrage by the cycling community. The city responded fairly and appropriately, asking them to remove the signs. There were articles about it in the local media. Bike Pittsburgh has a good summary article, here. I'm happy with the city's response and that the casino agreed to remove the signs. I'm sure there will be times where it is too crowded to ride safely, and that's ok. We can all get along.

Below are two shots of ALCOSAN, the county wastewater treatment plant on the Ohio River. A civil engineer I know who consults with ALCOSAN considers himself a "poop engineer". It cracks me up. I like it when people don't take themselves too seriously.

North side trail reopened

2009-08-07T09:15:00.004-04:00

The riverfront trail on the North Side downriver (west) from the Carnegie Science Center has been closed for a long time due to the construction of the new casino. The trail has finally been reopened. I only had my cell phone, so the pictures are all terrible. I'll get back with a better camera soon.

I'm pretty neutral on the casino. I don't know enough about how such a thing affects an area to form a strong opinion. I'm not too excited about the increased traffic potential, though. The riverfront area is a nice outdoor space that is a nice addition to the North Shore.

Little helper

2009-08-07T09:08:00.003-04:00

Silas helped make sure I had all the parts I needed to pipe in our new gas grill.

Cheap grapes

2009-08-07T09:06:00.000-04:00

Killer sale on grapes at Giant Eagle the other day.

More on the sharrows in the Strip

2009-08-07T08:53:00.002-04:00

The sharrows are indeed on Penn Ave between 31st St and 26th St. The 23rd St to 16th St is a very crucial section that still needs to be painted. Evidently, the plan is to go all the way into downtown.

Of course, they're no silver bullet. We all still need to try to get along. The problem cyclists and motorists are still going to be out there, but this helps validate cycling as a serious mode of transportation and hopefully helps garner a greater feeling of safety for those riders who are unsure about riding in traffic.

Sharrows in the Strip!

2009-08-06T22:40:00.002-04:00

According to the Bike Pittsburgh blog, the city painted sharrows in the Strip District today. This will link the bike lane on Liberty Ave to Penn Ave and head into downtown. My office is in the Strip District, but I don't think they'd made it down to 21st St by the time I took my lunchtime stroll at 11:30 today. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

More at: http://bike-pgh.org/2009/08/06/fresh-sharrows-on-penn-ave-in-the-strip/

A year of being a dad

2009-08-05T23:27:00.002-04:00

It's been a whirlwind, wonderful, and important year. Silas was born to Bethany and me last year on this day (about 10 minutes from now to be exact). This was the best and most fulfilling adventure I've ever embarked on, and I'm happy to have had Bethany to go on it with (nevermind the other crucial biological role she played that I was incapable of). Happy birthday, little kid. I and we love you. Thanks for putting up with your silly old dad and a house with plywood floors and peeling linoleum.

Bethany also wrote about his birthday today as well in her blog: The Life of Silas

Ghost bike ceremony

2009-08-05T22:13:00.005-04:00

The Pittsburgh bike community memorialized Rui Hui Lin tonight. He was hit and killed by a hit-and-run driver two days ago in Oakland. Today that driver turned himself in, thankfully.

There were 60-70 people at the event, perhaps more. It seemed that most of those in attendance were from the bike and/or college student communities. It was interesting that the Asian/Asian-American community wasn't better represented. I don't know how much was communicated to Rui Hui's family, friends, and workplace about what was happening. Perhaps they are grieving in their own way and this was not helpful to them. Nonetheless I hope they feel the support and inclusion in the greater Pittsburgh community, and that their loss is felt by us all.

My guess is that most people there did not know him. I didn't. It doesn't matter. He was a cyclist. He was a father. He was a friend we didn't know yet. This incident took away the most important thing he could give his 5-year old daughter, his unborn child, and his wife...his presence and his love.

It's been a sad couple of days for me. This could have been me, Bethany, or anyone else that rides a bike, walks on the sidewalk, or whatever. We're soft and prone with no chance against the horsepower, mass, and inertia of a car or truck. We all take our modes of transportation for granted. I'm happy that the 0.5% of our brainpower we use to propel ourselves around in our cars is normally enough to prevent this sort of tragedy. Sadly, none of us pays enough attention and this is the sad consequence. I'm happy to have survived being hit by a car. I happy for my family that I'm still here to be with them and love them. But there is a statistical chance that every time we walk out the door, it'll be for good.

Let's make a deal. I'll pay more attention on the bike and in the car and try to get along better. Can everyone else do the same? We'd all be better because of it.

Biker down

2009-08-05T11:22:00.005-04:00

We lost a biker two days ago in a hit and run accident in Oakland. I'm sad for him and his family. He had recently received US citizenship and leaves behind a pregnant wife and 5-year old child.

There is a ghost bike ceremony tonight to memorialize the rider. Urban Velo tells a bit more.

WTAE article about the accident.

*Update: The driver turned himself in today.

Easterly ride

2009-07-19T22:42:00.003-04:00

I got out early for a 25+ mile ride out east of Pittsburgh and then back north through Oakmont and along the Allegheny River. My cell died before I got too far out of the urban areas, so I didn't get many pictures of the winding, forested roads. Nonetheless, I got a few on my way out. I couldn't figure out if the lot above is private or a community garden, but they're growing a lot of food for being in the city. Those are rows of corn.

I also admired a beautiful abandoned bridge with trees growing on top.

And a bit further, there was a former gas station with two old-time pumps without their protective shrouding.

Voyeur

2009-07-19T22:27:00.003-04:00

I found this guy waiting for me in shower room at work Friday. It's a house centipede (or scutigera coleoptrata). They eat insects, usually the ones you don't want around. Sorry for the poor picture, it was the best my cell phone camera could do with the low light levels in the room.

Hawk too

2009-07-16T23:18:00.002-04:00

On my run this evening I saw this hawk on the pole below a bridge outside of Schenley Park. It was a good day for wild birds in the city. My previous post was about turkeys I saw on my way to work in the AM. This bird was beautiful and my crappy cell phone camera did a poor job of capturing any of its splendor.

Turkeys in Pittsburgh

2009-07-16T23:11:00.002-04:00

I ran across turkeys again on my way to work today. My office is just past the bridge in the lower picture and about a mile to a mile and half from the downtown buildings off in the background. I think they're usually more commonly seen in the spring and autumn. This is the same meadowy area (to the right) that sees many families of killdeer spawn every year. It's fun to watch the young run around. It's also fascinating, but sort of disturbing, to see the adults do the injured bird gig to try to draw you away from the nest.

Light bulb follow up

2009-07-16T23:07:00.005-04:00

Nothing has come of my disappointment about not recycling the fluorescent lamps at work. I need to corner the two guys who did it, so I've at least talked to them and find out if management told them to throw them away or not. Bethany called this a pretty funny passive aggressive move, but I added a line to the working list whiteboard regarding the failure to recycle. Obviously, they don't go back over it very often, because they'd surely know who wrote it if they had.

It does seem a bit silly, but I think it's more funny than anything. I get worked up about this stuff, but in the end try not to let it get too serious. I have mixed results at that, of course, but I try.

PS. I opted to highlight some of the text on the board with a 'black highlighter' like the CIA does. The company gets weird over things, and if they find this post, I don't want to give them the easy rationale for firing me of disclosing company secrets. :) I doubt they'd do it, but it's best not to push my luck.

Oakland runabout

2009-07-15T00:08:00.005-04:00

Silas and I went on a nice hour-long run around Oakland today. We parked by the Cathedral of Learning (on the University of Pittsburgh campus) and ran over to the Allegheny County Soldier's Memorial, also known as the Soldiers and Sailors National Memorial.

There, Silas found the propeller of a WWII torpedo highly fascinating.

Then we ran over the bridge over Panther Hollow and looked at the steam plant and the Carnegie Mellon University building in the background.

From the next bridge, we watched the sun start setting over the city.

We did some loops through Schenley Park and popped back out with a nice evening view of the building at CMU we looked at before, but this time, there is a handsome parking lot in the foreground.

Running behind the Carnegie Museum of Art, we spent a little time in their open-air art courtyard and gawked at the waterfall.

Opposite the waterfall are the stairs from the lobby up to the galleries.

Just after this point, Bethany called and said she was on her way home. We didn't beat her there, nor have dinner ready. That's really my fault for forgetting to buy rice noodles at one of the Asian stores in the Strip District during my lunch break at work. It was a beautiful night for a run and well worth the consequences of eating at Ritter's Diner instead of my home-cooking.

Homebrew electric-assist recumbent bike

2009-07-14T00:07:00.003-04:00

During our stroll tonight, we ran across this handsome DIY electric-assist recumbent bicycle outside of Armand's (yes, of the famous fish sandwich). We didn't see the owner. Alas.

Wonders of remodeling

2009-07-13T23:50:00.004-04:00

While Bethany was at yoga tonight, Silas, Guthrie, and I took a stroll around Bloomfield. The Bloomfield Bridge Tavern has undergone some interesting renovation in its years. It is sad that the stained glass window no longer ever sees the light of day (in photo above).

The picture below shows a great faux-bricked in doorway as well as a brilliant retrofit set of windows. I wonder if the board was intended to keep the rain off the mailboxes or if it has some other purpose that's unclear to the casual observer.

Warhol Museum

2009-07-11T21:36:00.000-04:00

Silas and I met up with some friends from work to spend a little time at the Andy Warhol Museum on Friday. Bethany was at a yoga teacher event at the studio she at, so it was another nice boys night out.

We all thought the Silver Clouds installation would be really fun to watch Silas take in. However, I think he thinks much in this world is pretty crazy and mylar balloons aren't that much more clever than all the other great things he sees every day. He was pretty neutral about it all. Evidently, he's not developed such rigid expectations for the world that it was all that remarkable. He didn't not enjoy it, but it didn't elicit much of an emotional response.

He was particularly fond of Debbie Harry.

And staring at a film of a three-foot eyeball proved pretty interesting for him.

He was also very curious about Mick Jagger flailing around wearing eye makeup in a some Rollings Stones concert footage from the mid-1970's. Although, it's possible he was fascinated by the cathode ray tube used to play the film. He'd probably not seen a CRT before.

Disappointment and embarrassment

2009-07-11T21:15:00.003-04:00

This is what I found in my company's dumpster after work Friday. That's right, 30 or so six-foot T12 fluorescent tubes. I saw the two people replacing them during the day. One actually participated in the greeening of the company meetings when we were having them last year. I'm not surprised they threw them away instead of recycling them, but it still tears at the small amount of soul left in me. Pretty impressive for a company with a vision statement that includes six mantras, two of which are "health" and "environmental responsibility."

These guys know about the mercury content. They know the tubes are suposed to be recycled. They also couldn't care less.

I'm also pretty sure it's against city ordinances to throw them away like this. Not that the city enforces this sort of thing.

Brake replacement

2009-07-11T15:41:00.005-04:00

The rear brakes on my road bike have been acting up for a while. I suspected the brake pads were worn, but hadn't really taken the time to pull them apart and check them until yesterday. Turns out that they were less worn than I feared. I was worried I'd blasted all the way through the brake material into the metal substrate. Luckily, that hadn't happened yet, but you can see in the first picture below that it was very near at hand on the inboard pad. The big problem was that the retaining/return spring had broken. This forced the outboard pad into misalignment and allowed the grab tab on that pad to rub on the rotor. The wear on the rotor is visible, but it doesn't appear to be seriously grooved. I'll be keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't warp or rust out.

For comparison, here is the set I pulled from my parts bike to replace the pair shown above. The spring has much more spread to it, not to mention is still whole. The pads have a little wear, but I didn't have many miles on that bike before I got hit on it and destroyed the frame.

For reference, these are for an Avid BB7 road mechanical disc brake. The pads have something like 1,500-2000 miles on them, including this past winter's commuting.

Downtown kayak rentals (and canoes)

2009-07-09T23:23:00.004-04:00

Venture Outdoors rents kayaks and canoes on the Allegheny River at the base of PNC Park. It's a wonderful way to see the city from an uncommon perspective. The rivers were the key to Pittsburgh's growth and persist as probably the coolest thing about the city (sorry, Steelers fans).

Beauty in the mundane

2009-07-09T22:55:00.004-04:00

At the Korean War memorial, Silas found the broken electrical box much more interesting. He knew the two were supposed to be connected, but couldn't figure out how to get them together.

Similarly, he found the sprinkler head and the surrounding wood chip mulch fascinating, completely ignoring the flowering tree sculpture in a courtyard in the Cultural District. The trees are well made and sort of interesting to look at in the dead of winter. However in the summer, it's a little sad to see man-made trees when real plants have been flowering like mad for the past few months. Maybe if I worked downtown, the perpetual blooms would brighten my mood on the overcast and rainy days, and I'd be more appreciative. The ivy is real, I think.

Civil engineers

2009-07-09T22:49:00.003-04:00

I wonder if they're thinking, "wow, I wonder how beautiful this area was before our kind concreted it all over with roads, buildings, and parking lots." Was it then that the wicked witch of progress came and froze them where they stood as penance for such anarchist thoughts...?

Pittsburgh robot

2009-07-09T22:44:00.004-04:00

We visited the robot down by the Allegheny River. He's got parts made of bridges and is Pittsburgh yellow. Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure what the inspiration is. We do have a robotics lab and Carnegie Mellon University. Perhaps that's it.

I love in the picture above that there is a bird perched on the robot's bridge head.

I have heard that the yellow used to paint the bridges over the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh is a specific yellow and that perhaps it's been trademarked. I can't find anything about it on wikipedia nor from a quick internet search. So, I'm just spreading unsubstantiated rumors here...

More from yesterday's art stroll with Silas

2009-07-08T21:49:00.003-04:00

After we strolled around the North Side riverfront for a while and then over to the Warhol Museum to find it was closed, we wandered over the Warhol Bridge into downtown. There is a courtyard in the Cultural District with a water feature and these crazy eye benches. There are also chessboards. The guy in the hat was playing air drums for a long time and then asked the monk if he wanted to play chess. I don't think they played much chess. From the bits of conversation I overheard, it was a pretty metaphysically heavy discussion...

The walk back to the car provided a nice parting view of the city on a fine evening.

North Side mosaic sculpture

2009-07-08T00:17:00.006-04:00

Silas and I admired some art during our travels along the river. These mosaics are from a sculpture near PNC Park (where the Pittsburgh Pirates play) between the Clemente and Warhol bridges on the North Side.

Playing in the fountain

2009-07-08T00:11:00.005-04:00

Silas and I spent about three hours tonight after work tooling around by the river on the north side as well as some downtown. These shots are from a water feature that teems with families and dogs during the hot weather. I was actually headed to the Andy Warhol museum with him, but it was closed. Being outside was by far better this evening.

Bitten

2009-07-08T00:07:00.004-04:00

This bad boy bit me on the toe the other day while standing on the sidewalk in the back yard. I didn't die, so it was either a warning shot or the beast is pretty harmless to a big creature like me. Nonetheless, it got my attention.

Vista Street, Pittsburgh

2009-06-25T23:09:00.005-04:00

I did some hill climbing after work yesterday. I did a casual 10 miles before work and 11 after work on some of the hills on the North Side. The picture was taken from the appropriately named, Vista Street.

My camera is in the shop being repaired (I'm hard on things), so I'm stuck either borrowing Bethany's camera or, as in this case, using my cell phone. The pictures are sort of ok, as long as nothing is moving, there isn't too much contrast, and there is a lot of light...

0.75 cent muffins

2009-06-25T23:06:00.004-04:00

Yay! This handwritten sign is sort of hard to find in the picture. The nice little dairy bar provided some good calorie replenishment after the race last weekend. Cheese fries with bacon, a vanilla milkshake, and a large cola!

Evening run with the boys

2009-06-24T00:14:00.004-04:00

Silas, Guthrie, and I went for a casual 5 mile run on the north side trail along the Allegheny River. Guthrie did some wading. The mother duck was very upset I let Guthrie into the river where she was paddling around with her two young ducklings. She quacked up a storm and put herself between him and the young ones. It was sweet, but I felt bad for causing her alarm. She didn't know Guthrie won't go any deeper than a half assed wade... We ran down past the stadiums (stadia?) and to the Science Center before turning around.

We had parked near the bridge to Washington's Landing (aka Herr's Island), so we jogged over to a nice vista point to look at the city. The sky was really nice and the city well lit.

First mountain bike race

2009-06-23T23:26:00.009-04:00

Bethany and Silas supported me during my first mountain bike race. It was the Fat Tire Challenge outside of Sigel, PA. The sport category was 14 1/2 miles of single and double track trails in the wonderful forests of northwestern Pennsylvania. There were some nice technical sections and lots of mud. I survived my first flight over the handlebars after solidly planting my front wheel in hole dropping down from a large boulder. There was a long (reputedly 2 mile) climb in the middle that didn't turn out so bad, but the mile-long climb near the end was pretting grueling.

My goal was to finish within 2 hours, because I had no idea of what to expect. I missed it by 10 minutes (2:10 total). I'm ok with that. I didn't get hurt (which was my highest priority goal) and did lose 3+ of those minutes due to thowing my chain off the small chainring and wedging it good between it and the frame. I was almost to the point of giving up on fixing it and running the bike the rest of the way to the finish.

I think if they'd have normalized the field by either inverse cost of the bike or bike mass, I'd have been in the running for a medal. My bike was probably $400 new and cost me $150 used. The guy I was talking to setting up next to our car was riding a frame that cost $1,800. That's without the components and wheels and whatnot. Granted, he was good enough for that to make a difference. He placed 2nd in the expert class single-speed division.

Silas checked my gear over for me.

Setting up the group start. The expert riders were already 20 minutes into their race.

Transition to a jeep road about 7 miles into the race.

Beautiful part of the world to be riding!

Survived with a smile.

Final gear check by coach.

First adventure race

2009-06-23T22:56:00.005-04:00

Between our kid's blog and facebook, it's hard to keep up on this blog as well. Nonetheless, I wanted to document some of the fun I had in my first adventure race. It was the HVAC race put on by Grass Roots Racing, a group out of Pittsburgh that runs a series of entry-level adventure races that don't require the crazy levels of skill and dedication of the multi-day big events. Besides the 'orienteering' and whatnot, the race was about 15 miles on the mountain bike, 100-200 m swim, and about 5 miles of trail running.

It was my teammate, Arn's, first adventure race as well. We had a brilliantly fun time. We didn't intend on winning or coming close to being competetive. It was more about the exploration into this type of racing. I'd like to do the next in the series, but have a schedule conflict. Hopefully, I can do the August one in Pittsburgh with Bethany, and then the last two with Kevin or Arn. Kevin is by far the best runner I know, and I think we'd work as well as a team as Arn and I did. We've talked about doing this for more than a year now, without getting our schedules to work out.

I bought a very low-end, used mountain bike to get me through the race a week before. It's an ok ride for this, but can't put up with the beating for too long.

Behind at this blogging thing

2009-06-15T11:47:00.005-04:00

I've taking a pretty good hiatus from the interactive side of the world of the internet for the past month or so. I still don't have time to write now, but ended up writing a piece for my long-neglected HGTVpro blog about the solar conference I went to in Buffalo, NY, last month. That post is:

SOLAR 2009 conference

Since my last post, much has gone on that I am incapable of finding the time to write all about. On the fun side, I acquired a mountain bike and competed in my first adventure race this past weekend. More about that when I can sit down and write about it tonight because it isn't that stale and was a great time.

2009 YTD GPS map

2009-05-31T23:27:00.005-04:00

Just for kicks, here is an image of the 2009 GPS data overlaid onto the map of the greater Pittsburgh area in GoogleEarth. Cycling routes are in yellow, running in red, hiking in green, and canoeing in blue. The icons sort of overlap when coincident, so frequently traveled areas come out sort of jumbled.

There are runs, rides, and hikes in West Virginia, New York, Indiana, Nevada, and other parts of Pennsylvania that are not shown. It is pretty addictive to get to track where you've been with the GPS. When I miss logging an event due to a variety of reasons, I always curse myself because it feels like the ride/run/etc wasn't really validated without the GPS data. I know, it sounds like I need to get a life.

2009 mileage through the end of May

2009-05-31T23:02:00.006-04:00

Ok, I haven't posted in forever. Much has happened. I'll try to catch up. In the meantime, I was working on this tonight, so I figured I'd share. Here are my mileage totals (measured by GPS) for each month for several activities.

	January	February	March	April	May
Cycling	0	70.0	136.0	231.4	252.6
Running	0	27.0	26.6	49.8	60.1
Canoeing	0	3.4	9.4	3.2	4.7
Hiking	4.4	14.3	8.9	3.1	15.1

Training is going well. Running has been really, really good for me...physically and mentally. I like the time on the bike, but running clears my head so much more, and I have less likelihood of negativity resulting from intolerant drivers on the roads. Plus, in general, when you're running and smile or say 'hi' to someone, they respond positively. That's much less common on the bike. Mostly because on the road, you're in you own little bubble of reality and nobody seems to like to be yanked out from behind the veil of anonymity that being in a car gives you (and by extrapolation, all other vehicle types).

My general overall leg strength is much more balanced now that I have a significant running component to my training. My knees hurt less from the bike and running is no longer feeling like I'm killing myself through joint pain every time I go out. I think all the time on the bike has made some muscles too strong for their own good in relation to the other leg and joint connective muscles that aren't being exercised on the bike. That's just my unscientific hypothesis, though... Don't go reporting it as truth just because you read it on some blog.

My May mileage on the bike would have been more, but my bike is disintegrating under me. As my friend, Dave, mentioned, the Shimano engineers did a killer job on value engineering the drivetrain parts. Two months after the 2-year warranty on all of the Shimano parts ran out, the damn thing fell apart. I replaced the cassette early in the month (and the chain). Now, the bottom bracket bearings are failing rapidly. I'm looking to buy tools to tear it apart, so I can overhaul the bottom bracket with the parts from the bike I got hit on (with about 50 miles on it). Like I've mentioned before, I'm not convinced that a 10-speed rear cassette and associated skinny parts are worth it. My mountain bike with 7-speed system (3 front x 7 rear, 21 total gear ratios) rode through rain, snow, and whatnot for 10 years before I got the fancy idea to make it a single speed bike.

Crush the Commonwealth

2009-05-08T07:57:00.012-04:00

This morning, twenty-some riders took off on the annual, no-prize, Crush the Commonwealth race. It's a self-supported race between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Odd years, it starts in Pittsburgh (as it did this year), and even years in Philly. My friend, Kevin, and I got out early to see them off on their 5AM start.

Running in the rain

2009-05-01T21:36:00.005-04:00

Bethany met up with Becky to do yoga on the South Side. Silas and I went for a pleasant 5 mile run on the trails and streets. The city is always pretty at night. And we also stopped so Silas could watch choreographed fountain at Station Square.

Then we all went to the Library for dinner. Here was Silas sharing an inside joke with Becky. Maybe he was just hitting on her. He is pretty suave at times...

Mourning dove turns into morning doves

2009-05-01T21:08:00.003-04:00

The mourning dove's nest is getting a bit crowded. The picture above was taken today by Bethany. The one below was from the morning of 27 April, four days ago. They seem much bigger in such a short time. An earlier post was this one: Mourning dove family.

Thomas Edison bike tricks

2009-05-01T20:55:00.005-04:00

The father of the light bulb and other inventions was also into film and perhaps an admirer of bicycles. He filmed a friend doing freestyle bike tricks. The landing at the end wasn't particularly elegant... Despite the comments, it looks like Edison did the filming, not the riding. Alas.

Mural and a Sunday ride

2009-04-30T23:47:00.002-04:00

We had a nice brunch with friends on Sunday. Riding back toward Bloomfield with Maya and Ryder, I saw this interesting mural on an interesting building. It a much nicer experience than that corner would have been without the scenes painted on the plywood.

Art All Night

2009-04-30T23:31:00.005-04:00

Art All Night was this past weekend. I'm finally getting around to posting a few pictures. The event is an annual art show where anybody can bring and show a single piece. It's held in the Lawrenceville neighborhood and is generally in a space that has been recently renovated and is hoping for some exposure.

It was pretty warm outside to start out with, but it was insane hot inside the warehouse.

Silas stopped to rehydrate.

This is Ryder's piece. It's a good work, but had a very unfortunate location. There was no light on it at all and a big beaming light just over and beyond it, so the contrast made it impossible to see any detail, let alone tell what the scene was. It was definitely in the top-tier of art by quality in the show. It's pretty sad he got such a bum draw on location.

Saturday ride

2009-04-27T10:38:00.006-04:00

Warm weather really hit us this weekend. I went out for a 20+ mile ride around Highland Park and across the Allegheny River to Aspinwall/Fox Chapel, then back up the steep incline around 57th St. I met up with Bethany and Silas at a park in Bloomfield on the way out to play. I didn't get many pictures worth showing, just the entrance of a church on lower 57th.

North Side heating and cooling plant

2009-04-26T23:52:00.002-04:00

Riding around a bit before heading home on Friday, I ran into a heating and cooling plant on the North Side. I always stop and admire machinery, especially when it's nicely painted.

Crappy GM part, but nice run

2009-04-26T23:17:00.009-04:00

The brilliant engineers at GM designed the plastic thermostat housing to last past the warranty period and not much longer. I hear it's a known problem with the Aveo.

Guthrie and I were on our way to go running at the park. I know, we were driving the car to go running, so maybe it was a suitable penance. Bethany called in the disabled vehicle to the Better World Club, and Guthrie and I ran the 4 1/2 miles back to the house. The Better World Club has been good for the past 2 or so years we've had it. I'd been a gold member of AAA for 19 years (started under the parents), but they lost my patronage because of their anti-bike positions.

Anyway, the light was nice on the Cathedral of Learning on the Pitt Campus.

The light was nice for viewing the new Children's Hospital towering over Bloomfield and Lawrenceville.

This is the Gully. It was probably once a nice valley with some sort of stream at the bottom. The stream has been replaced with trash and car-fluid runoff from Bloomfield, Oakland, and Polish Hill. A dedicated busway, railway, and a road do use the bottom.

Hey, where's your stoker?

2009-04-26T22:39:00.004-04:00

I caught up to this person riding a tandem bike solo climbing the Liberty hill the other day. I didn't get to talk to him/her because I met up with my turn just as I caught up. I wonder what the story was. I've ridden our tandem some by myself, but not in the city yet. It's a funny sight to see. Maybe I should do ride it to/from work one day, just to give people something to talk about.

Not a chile relleno

2009-04-20T12:22:00.001-04:00

After spending the day at Moraine State Park, we drove to Butler for dinner. The item at the left in the picture was billed as a beef chile relleno. I gave it a go because we've been confronted by the addition of beef to all chile rellenos we've had since moving to Pittsburgh. Even by local standars, this one doesn't come close. I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be breaded and fried. Bethany and I have been eating them for years, but mostly when we lived in Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon. Our experience is that they are only filled with cheese, not beef. The mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh we frequent stuffs them with beef. They do have a cheese-filled relleno, but they call it chile poblano. In any case, it matches up with our experience out west. However, the wikipedia page for chile relleno does mention a very different meat content, but sort of says the cheese versions are traditional.

I can't say this one wasn't tasty. It was also probably healthier, but it didn't quite meet expectations. Overall, though, the food was good. Thanks to my friend/coworker, Butch, for the recommendation.

More bad signage

2009-04-20T09:56:00.002-04:00

I found some more pictures of signs written by people confused by cents and dollars and decimal placement.

This last one is a spelling problem in a printed flyer.

Moraine State Park canoeing

2009-04-19T22:49:00.007-04:00

We were all feeling sort of pent up, so we decided to spend the day at Moraine State Park. We attempted to get out in the boat for a while, but Silas was uncomfortable in his PFD when he tried to bend in the middle. So, he and Bethany went for a hike while Guthrie and I did a little paddling and then some trail running to catch up to them.

Guthrie really wants to be in the boat when it's leaving the shore, but then changes his mind and would rather be running on land instead. I think he also was sick of being in the sun with his black fur. There's nowhere to escape it in the canoe.

View of one of the spurs of Lake Arthur.

Checking out trailers

2009-04-19T14:13:00.002-04:00

While Bethany was teaching yoga the other day, Silas and I checked out some bike trailers. This one wasn't quite to his liking. He didn't like the solid plastic/nylon wheels. He did like playing with the paperwork in the side pocket. The search continues...

birds

2009-04-19T14:07:00.004-04:00

Frick Park is alive with springtime bird activity.

15 years gone by

2009-04-15T20:36:00.002-04:00

Kurt Cobain died 15 years ago. That's a long time.

Zen told me the news when I stopped in Jimmy John's to see him at his work that day in 1994. The only other musician I remember where I was when I heard was John Lennon. I was in the back seat of my parents' car, riding home from church. Cobain and Lennon.

His music reached me at the time. It was exactly what I wanted, needed, at the right time. There are other timeless classics of their respective eras in my life that I appreciate all the time, such as Led Zeppelin, the Cure, Modest Mouse, etc, but none hit me the same.

In any case, Pitchfork did a nice write up and linked to a collection of YouTube videos of diverse covers of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Take a look through the videos. They are great, every one in its own way. They are a testament to the power of the song and his being the voice of that time.

http://pitchfork.com/news/35054-kurt-cobain-rip-april-8-1994/

Irma Freeman Center

2009-04-15T20:15:00.000-04:00

The building renovation for the new Irma Freeman Center for Imagination is progressing in Garfield/Bloomfield. I don't know much about it beyond the website and admiring the exterior work, but they have an interesting series of classes lined up for the summer. Their goal is to make art and sustainability accessible to the diverse community that lives in Garfield, Bloomfield, Friendship, and greater Pittsburgh.

Hot dog dam

2009-04-14T22:55:00.001-04:00

During our run at Frick Park, Guthrie and I stopped at 'Hot Dog Dam' for some wading. It's one of his favorite places. The second photo is looking down on the impounded area from the bridge on Forbes Ave.

Guthrie likes to blow bubbles...

Frick Park outing

2009-04-14T21:54:00.001-04:00

I'm a little behind on this outing, but Guthrie and I enjoyed a good 4-mile run through Frick Park on Saturday. On one trail was a cat. When we jogged around the corner, it stopped in the middle of the trail and proceeded to swell to about twice its normal size. Once it saw Guthrie defer to it, its fur relaxed, and it came over to me to be pet.

When Guthrie was a puppy, we got a mature cat with claws from the Humane Society. Buck had lived with dogs before, so he was confident and calm with Guthrie. Of course, he set the limits quickly. Guthrie has an incredible respect for cats still.

Guthrie and the groundhog

2009-04-14T21:53:00.000-04:00

Saturday, I stopped by the office with Guthrie to get some things with the car. There's an entrance ramp adjacent to the building for the busway with a meadowy hill that Guthrie loves to run around on. This day, there was a groundhog (aka woodchuck) at the top of the hill peering down at him. He/she is on the upside of the brown brush patch by the wall at the top. Guthrie, keen of eye and nose, never noticed...

Spring blooms in Shadyside

2009-04-14T21:46:00.000-04:00

Springtime!

Eating is good

2009-04-14T10:41:00.000-04:00

Silas loves to eat. He also loves to touch his food and then touch you and your camera.

Below, he's eating aloo saag (creamed spinach and potatoes) at People's Indian restaurant in Garfield.

Bike commuters take over the research bay

2009-04-13T22:47:00.005-04:00

We had six bike commuters today! The seventh bike has been abandoned since the weather got wet and cold in the fall. The offending person says she'll get the bike home and start riding again soon. We're going to need to build another rack to accommodate the few more riders we'll likely pick up when the weather actually gets nice. This one is Kevin's handwork.

The flash sets off the reflective sidewalls on Dave's and my bikes nicely. John's got a good reflective strip around his seatpost tool bag.

Downtown

2009-04-13T22:16:00.003-04:00

From Green building, bikes, art, and happiness

Random neat shot while riding down an alley downtown.

Banff Mountain Film Festival

2009-04-13T21:48:00.006-04:00

Friday, I went with some friends to the first night of the 2-day traveling Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. It was a nice collection of films this year, but much less of the adrenaline pumping craziness of years past. I love that type of thing, as I usually find it very inspiring, even if it's over the top nuts.

This year (at least for the first day), there were two long films that took up most of the night. One was an interesting story about world champion paraglider Louise Crandal and her boyfriend falconer training an eagle to fly with Louise. Eagles are the kings of the updrafts.

The other long film, Red Gold, was a touching movie about the people who subsist, intentionally in two river areas that flow into Bristol Bay, Alaska. It's a story about the salmon and the people who inhabit the region that is the most prolific sockeye salmon spawning grounds in the world. At the headwaters to these two rivers, a huge deposit of copper and gold has been found. Evidently, it's the second-largest copper deposit ever found. The film shows all that is to be risked, if the mining project goes ahead. It's interesting to see people who have chosen or been born into a lifestyle that provides satisfaction and wholesomeness, regardless of the monetary income. The mining company is right in one way, these folks could likely make more money with other jobs, but they're completely shortsighted in that money's not the point of the fishing and living from the land of the people who choose to live there. Subsistance isn't just about surving. It's a philosophical and cultural ideal that is satisfying when all is in balance.

Pedicabs in Pittsburgh

2009-04-13T20:47:00.003-04:00

I forgot to post this from a few weeks ago. Green Gears isn't the first pedicab company I've seen in the city. I chatted for a while with a guy near Penn Brewery about his almost four years ago. I haven't seen him since. I hope they make it. I think the timing is good, as the city seems more accepting of something like this than it was in the past.

I saw the one above in the Strip District. The other night, Dave and I were admiring another giving folks rides between the Cultural District (downtown) and Station Square on the South Side. It's hiding in traffic outside the Byham Theater.

Bloomfield church

2009-04-09T22:48:00.004-04:00

I love the temporal nature of the interaction of glass and light. I work with stained glass at times and am very fond of how it changes character with the time of day or night and with artificial light sources. Religious themes aside, churches frequently have some very amazing craftsmanship in their architecture, and many have wonderful glass art. This is the church at the catholic grade school in Bloomfield. Maybe it's just a chapel, as there is a catholic cathedral down the street. I haven't been in either yet. This style is very similar to that of the church I attended with my family growing up. The architecture is also similar, so they were likely built around the same time. I'll check the dates sometime and also post some pictures of the glass back in my hometown when I make it back there.

Sunny morning commute with Dave

2009-04-09T22:41:00.005-04:00

Dave from work and I ride the same route to work (for the most part). We were both late coming in this morning. This is a shot over my shoulder of Dave as we rode down the hill in the bike lane on Liberty Blvd. Note the conscientious driver giving us a nice wide berth. I appreciate the sentiment.

Sargent Electric murals

2009-04-08T22:56:00.004-04:00

The new Sargent Electric Company building on Liberty Ave has a series of murals on the ground floor. They're unfortunately challenging to see because the road is such a raceway for cars and few people actually walk past. However, I see them daily on the bike and stopped to photograph them (less than professionally, I know) one day when I walked to work instead of having ridden the bike. The theme follows the region's progression of power generation and artificial light from the early days of the industrial revolution to the current push toward renewables and into the future in the last pane. The murals were done by students from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and more info can be found on Sargent Electric's webpage for the murals: http://www.sargent.com/mural.

More Pittsburgh murals

2009-04-08T22:39:00.004-04:00

The first is on East Carson between Station Square and 10th, on the north side of the road, but facing East. One probably needs to be going toward Station Square to see it.

The next two are at Station Square at the entrance to the Gateway Clipper landing. They give a nice, short pictorial history of the city.

Cream-braised fennel

2009-04-08T22:26:00.005-04:00

I was inspired by a post on the Kitchn blog to buy and cook fennel for the first time. I've used fennel seed before, but never the bulb (is that what the bottom part is called?). It turned out really tasty. The strong nature of the plant receded with cooking, leaving a very warm and earthy flavor. The link above has the full recipe, but here's the quick visual run-through.

But first, I want point out how pretty it is in cross-section.

Trim and quarter the bulbs and brown both cut sides in butter and olive oil.

Add some water, put on the lid, and cook slowly for something like 20 minutes.

At the end, add some heavy cream and simmer until it thickens, at which point, I squeezed half a lemon into the skillet and mixed it gently.

...and enjoy!

I like this last picture. The little whisp of steam trailing off the back edge seems to have directed itself into Bethany's nose.

Snowy Spring morning

2009-04-07T09:04:00.003-04:00

It was a pretty Spring morning with snow. Fluffy and sticky snowfall made for a fun ride in with only wet pavement. I bet that's "clean coal" being carried in the train I passed on my ride.

Chicken in milk

2009-04-06T22:56:00.007-04:00

Yes, it sounds sort of disgusting, but I was intrigued by an article on Apartment Therapy describing their success with this dish, as laid out by Jamie Oliver. I would not have thought that slow cooking the chicken in milk, lemon zest, garlic, sage, and cinnamon would turn out so nice (sorry to the vegetarians and vegans). It cooked while Bethany was teaching a yoga class. I used a lower heat setting because she was to be gone 2 1/2 hours and the recipe called for 1 1/2 hour bake time. It worked out really well. The meat was super tender and very flavorful. As the two sites above mentioned, the milk did make a nice custardy sauce during cooking and was a good sauce for the mashed potatoes.

Don't make fun of my lack of sophisticated presentation in the picture below. We're pretty practical in this house and don't generally go all out to serve our family dinners with any fanfare. Good, organic ingredients and lots of love in the cooking constitute the bulk of our goal. Oh yeah, and maybe a fancy plate to nibble on while we're waiting for everyone to be seated so we can start eating...

Crazy, loveable college kids

2009-04-06T22:47:00.002-04:00

This is a wonderful way to pass a sunny afternoon instead of doing homework. I love the reckless abandon of youth. Either I've taken too many hard falls or have just gotten old and stodgy, but I can't do this sort of thing anymore. Give me a nice soft lake to fall into, and I'm in. I can't do the land on the stump and bracken on the downhill landing possibility anymore. I appreciate that these folks can.

Upcoming tribute ride for the slain Pittsburgh police officers

2009-04-06T11:46:00.004-04:00

It's been in the news. I have nothing to say that's anything more poignant than what you can find in other media. I'm just sad. Not that it changes things, but the officers were from the Zone 5 station in East Liberty, which also serves our neighborhood.

The Major Taylor Cycling Club and the Western Pennsylvania Wheelmen are organizing a tribute ride in remembrance of the three men who lost their lives. There is a little more info here, on the Bike Pittsburgh blog.

Saturday April 11
10 AM
Meet at the Highland Park Fountain
Riders asked to make a donation to the victim’s families

There is also a memorial service being planned on a city-wide basis. Follow the link for more info from the Post Gazette.

Dead cassette too

2009-04-06T01:37:00.001-04:00

Despite my relatively frequent chain changes, my rear cassette has died. I've put either 3 or 4 chains on the bike in 2 years at 800-1,000 mile intervals. I guess the winter riding and all the crap on the roads that sticks to the drivetrain takes it toll. I really don't think I'm a believer in the recent craze in 10-speed cassettes. It makes the chains very narrow and much less durable. There is less tolerance all around. They're fine for fair-weather training and for racing, but as a commuter, I feel pretty ill-served.

After changing the chain this last time, it's been skipping in the middle gears. I checked for a seized link and for the correct chain length. They check out fine. I measured the last chain, and it's not that bad. Not quite the 1/8 inch stretch over 12 inches that most references suggest doing a cassette change at the same time. On closer inspection of the sprockets, it's pretty clear the teeth are worn badly on the sprockets I tend to use the most. I had the mechanic at the Trek store swap out the cassette with the one on my parts bike (the one I got hit on a month after getting). While it was sunny, I went for a 20+ ride in the hills and didn't experience any skipping.

Mourning dove family

2009-04-05T23:25:00.002-04:00

Spring is really here. The mourning doves have returned to the nest in our back porch awning. If you look at the strata in the nest, this is at least the fourth year they've been using this particular nest. The woman dove has laid her eggs and won't leave the nest, even with Guthrie running back and forth under her as he goes outside a million times a day. The picture doesn't do it justice, but she has a beautiful ring of teal around her eye. I hope we don't stress her out too badly.

You can see our neighbor's magnolia tree blooming in the background too!

Chicken paprikash

2009-04-05T23:14:00.004-04:00

I bought a nice Hungarian paprika recently for a recipe. Then I realized that I really didn't understand how to use paprika as a spice and what it really tastes like when it's the dominant flavor. I have tended to use it casually because it's there.

I was flitting around the cooking blogs I read looking for some sort of large, slow-cooked meal I could make and have leftovers for lunches for the week when I came across a description of chicken paprikash. I took the liberty of making my own hybrid of several recipes I found on the internet. The attempt is documented above. I used chicken thighs with bones, but I removed the skins. Aesthetically, I think I should have mixed the sour cream in prior to serving, but it tasted just fine anyway. The Wikipedia article mentions an interesting alternative for a vegetarian version using mushrooms. I'll try that or perhaps use tempeh next time. The sum total of all organic ingredients (except the Hungarian paprika, sadly), was about $12 for enough for two dinners and four lunches. Very tasty and filling for about $2 a meal!

Broken chain

2009-04-05T22:29:00.004-04:00

My chain broke this past week. It failed at the link that I had opened it up to clean it a month or so ago. Darn. So much for my confidence with the chain tool. It probably had 1,000 or more miles on it, so it was time. I had wanted to get more of the rainy spring weather behind me before I changed to the next $60 chain.

In any case, a bike drivetrain overhaul needs few tools, but requires some good company. Silas and Guthrie hung out with me. The sum total of tools needed was a chain tool (to add/remove links), a rag, a bit of lubricant, and a bottle of decent beer (Lake Louie Milk Stout, in this case).

Silas is pulling himself up on everything, including things that rotate. I put my trust in the bike, why shouldn't I encourage him to? :)

Getting into the garden

2009-04-04T13:23:00.003-04:00

This past week, I started getting the garden set for the spring. I pulled finished compost from the bottom of the bin. The sticks aren't decomposing all that fast, but the kitchen and yard scraps do just fine. Well, eventually just fine. The outer material against the bin walls is dry and dessicated. The upper core spent the winter in nasty anaerobic mode and smells really, really bad.

I still have to remove what's grown up and to turn the compost into the soil.

I also pulled a really beautiful wasp nest from the awning.

For posterity and embarassment's sakes, here is a larger shot of our downtrodden back yard before I did any work. I wish I could say it looks much different now, but it doesn't. I hope the grass seeds I sowed take and fill in some of the patches in the grass.

Earth Hour

2009-04-04T13:20:00.002-04:00

It's a little after the fact, but we spent Earth Hour hanging out with candles, poetry, and a little guitar music.

Bridges, the Run, and the Hollow

2009-04-04T13:05:00.006-04:00

There have been some nice evenings to ride after work this week. I finally remembered there is a sidewalk on the Fort Pitt Bridge (shown above). It makes for a nicer, albeit longer ride over the Monongahela River to the South Side than fighting rush hour traffic from the Point to and over the Smithfield Bridge. The next picture is crossing the Allegheny on the Fort Duquesne Bridge. The Fort Pitt Bridge can be seen in the distance.

Riding home from the terminus of the Eliza Furnace Trail takes one through 4-mile Run. Big Jim's resides in the Run. In true Pittsburgh fashion, the serving sizes are enormous and are dirt cheap.

Continuing toward Oakland, in Panther Hollow, is this building. I think it's a CHP plant for the university, but don't quote me.

2009 Q1 mileage update

2009-04-02T22:29:00.009-04:00

Nobody really cares, but at least I can watch my own progress as the year goes by... The image is just of the Pittsburgh area. There are runs, hikes, and canoe trips not shown on the map above. First quarter of 2009 logged distances:

Biking:
* January - 0 miles (surgery recovery)
* February - 70 miles
* March - 136 miles

Running:
* January - 0 miles (surgery recovery)
* February - 27 miles
* March - 27 miles

Hiking:
* January - 4 miles
* February - 14 miles
* March - 9 miles

Canoeing:
* January - 0 miles
* February - 3 miles
* March - 9 miles

Max-the-cat memorial ride

2009-04-02T21:28:00.005-04:00

Our cat, Max, passed away a couple of weeks ago. He had a gritty life, fitting for coming from Pittsburgh. He spent much of his life either feral or being handed down from person to person before we were given him. He was uncoordinated and had a gravelly meow, but he was kind and generally a nice little friend. He went through several severe bouts of sickness last year that he pulled out of, but the vets couldn't figure out what was wrong. This last episode was an order of magnitude worse, and it was pretty clear that it was the end. We're sad to see the little bugger go. We gave him a solid and comfortable home the last two or so years since he came to us.

We had his body creamated. The day I went to get his ashes was a gorgeous crisp spring Saturday, so I rode my bike. It was only 16 miles round trip, but there were some substantial hills to climb to get out to the crematorium (different than a creamery!). That meant that the ride back home had some very fast, winding downhills. It was a nice ride and therapeutic to have him with me in my backpack. It felt really good to use my own muscles to get him, instead of driving a car. He never drove a car. He just strolled everywhere he went.

Flying down one of the downhills somewhere around 40 miles an hour, I could swear I heard a gritty "whee!" I think he enjoyed the ride.

While we were paddling...

2009-04-02T21:20:00.005-04:00

Alongside the Youghiogheny River is the Great Allegheny Passage trail. The trail goes from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC. Maybe the latter part is called the C&O Towpath. Bethany, Silas, and Guthrie had a nice hike while Kevin and I were on the water.

Guthrie was actually pretty upset he wasn't in the canoe. Normally, he'd rather be out of the boat running on shore. This time, when he wasn't invited into the canoe, he wanted to be in it really badly. The first picture is at the put-in in Dawson. The second shot is of Guthrie sprinting back and forth on shore when we caught up to the three of them near the take-out.

Youghiogheny River day trip

2009-04-02T20:52:00.006-04:00

On 22 March, Kevin and I did a nice section of the Youghiogheny River from Dawson to Whitset. It was a really nice spring day, despite how cold it looks in the GoogleEarth image of the route below.

Canoecopia: Wenonah canoes

2009-03-21T12:18:00.003-04:00

Ok, this has been sitting in the unpublished pile for too long. I'm just going to blast through a few things that have been going on the past couple of weeks and catch up to real time again...

These were some of the Wenonah Canoe offerings at Canoecopia. Nice boats for lakes, mostly. Our solo canoe is a Wenonah Vagabond. It's a great boat, but not the most ideal for the rocky rivers in SW Pennsylvania.

Canoecopia: Nova Craft canoes

2009-03-21T11:49:00.005-04:00

I am deeply in love with the canoes from Nova Craft. They're a canoe company from London, Ontario, Canada. They recently ran a graphic design contest at Fanshawe College for the students to generate graphic designs for the hulls. The three winning designs are shown above. My favorite is Lurking Octopus. There is more info about the contest and the three winning designs here.

This next canoe is the Centennial Edition Cronje. It's in honor of the opening/protection of the Quetico Provincial Park (in Canada) and the Superior National Forest (in the US). Also at that time, the Chestnut canoe company released their Cronje hull. P.A. Cronje was a general in the Boer War in South Africa.

Canoecopia: wood kayaks

2009-03-21T11:32:00.005-04:00

The closed-deck compliment to the previous post. I've never actually paddled one, so I can't speak to how they may or may not function better than conventional poly or composite kayaks. They are pretty, though. However, kayaks just don't pull up the same emotions in me as canoes do.

Canoecopia: wood canoes

2009-03-21T10:44:00.010-04:00

I didn't end up getting much time to walk the floor at the show. I was processing kayaks in an active area of 'kayakland' and couldn't break away. Here are a few pictures of some sexy wood canoes. Nothing feels like a wood canoe on the water. The materials also have a wonderful dampening quality on the vibrations that cause the brash noises that travel over long distances from other canoe materials. Someday, I'll be able to afford a beauty like one of these. In the meantime, I'm happy enough to have a pair of nice paddling canoes that get me out on the water when I can make the time.

Madison trip

2009-03-21T10:18:00.004-04:00

We went to Madison, WI, last weekend for Canoecopia. It's a huge canoe, kayak, and outdoor extravaganza thrown yearly by Rutabaga, the paddlesport shop I used to work at when I took a hiatus from engineering for a while. I worked the show (~24 hours in 2 1/2 days in Madison), so I didn't get to do all that much in the city outside of the Alliant Energy Center.

We did go to one of our old favorite breakfast haunts, Monty's Blue Plate Diner. Bethany already had brunch plans for later that morning, so she only had the fruit plate. I'm not one for static patterns in general, except when going to restaurants I rarely get to go to. So, despite the broad selection of good food, I ordered their version of eggs benedict, which I get every time. Silas ate some of Bethany's fruit and a selection of cheerios and some food we brought for him.

No trip to Wisconsin within 6 months of Winter should be without a picture of the avid ice fishing culture! Sorry for the crappy shot. The light was gorgeous both mornings I drove by on my way to the show, but I was marginally late and didn't take the time to stop. I love the fact that these guys will still be out there when there are open sections of water 50 feet away. It makes me a little sad that I've not used my auger and ice fishing rod in four years, since moving south to Pittsburgh. I hear there are places to do it in SW PA, but if I'm going to drive out of the city to do it, I'd prefer to hike.

Screw Sherwin-Williams

2009-03-21T10:02:00.004-04:00

Sherwin Williams should be ashamed of their logo. Terrible. Awful. Appalling. It ruins the fact that they do make a decent low-VOC line. Despicable.

Not in PA anymore

2009-03-21T09:54:00.004-04:00

This picture captures why moving to Pittsburgh was such a culture shock for me. It was taken at a highway rest stop in Wisconsin last weekend.

I am happy to report that recycling has finally reached SW PA, and one can commingle much of their recycling, requiring the use of few receptacles.

Boys running video

2009-03-20T00:05:00.004-04:00

Here is a brief video of how much Silas enjoyed running with me and Guthrie in Schenley Park yesterday. I can't believe he decides to try to put his foot in his mouth while he's bouncing down the trail in the jogger.

Running with Silas and Guthrie

2009-03-18T23:18:00.004-04:00

Guthrie, Silas, and I went for an evening run in Schenley Park today. The weather and temperature were great. Bethany was teaching yoga, so the boys got to go outside and play. I'm still getting used to running with the jogger and dog leash. It was better than last time, in that I didn't get the leash wrapped up in the wheels and didn't almost topple the whole thing over.

Our route is shown below. The outer loop, all on trails, was 2.0 miles exactly, per my GPS watch. So we ran up the hill to do two loops of the running course around the track and tennis courts, as well as a couple of detours into other areas to bump it up to 3.8 miles. We're still building mileage, because of my poor old sore joints can't take much more yet. Plus, I can't keep myself from sprinting up the hill from work home, so my thighs are trashed. :)

There is a nice vista of the city, including a disc-golf course that Guthrie was eyeing.

The prenatal yoga class that Bethany teaches is longer than it takes to get to the park, run, and get back, so we hung out for a bit and played in the grass.

Silas found a dried tree seed pod, the name of which I can't remember right now. I looked up what I thought it was, but I was wrong. I'll add the name when/if it ocurrs to me.

Sunny spring, back to riding to the Point

2009-03-18T23:09:00.003-04:00

Despite knowing that it would delay getting dinner cooked and served, I rode down to the Point to see how it's been. I haven't gotten much of a chance to get down there between the medical hiatus from the bike and the less than ideal cycling weather during the winter. People were enjoying the early evening outside everywhere I rode. It was nice to see so many so happy to be outdoors. There is/was a physics conference of some sort going on at the convention center. Maybe I was seeing what I wanted to see, but there were lovely physics geeks all over Point State Park. It was nice. Sorry, no pictures to document the experience. Just some of the city.

More trail repair. The work shown below is on the north shore of the Allegheny River in front of PNC Park. As I've mentioned before, I love the trails along the rivers in Pittsburgh. They've done a good job on them.