I got a new bike over Memorial Day weekend: a steel frame Trek 520. It’s actually very old, but it’s new to me — and it’s my first road bike. I was using a mountain bike heft to my bus stop, which was certainly workable but not ideal in suburban/urban terrain. It was also a loaner from my brother-in-law and I wanted something I could call my own. Plus if I really jacked it up I would only have to answer to my own stupidity, which is pretty vast.
Monday I broke in the (old) bike by shooting it down to the Southside, right below downtown Pittsburgh, with Sean, his wife Erin, and colleague Hal: three academics and a wannabe writer. It was my first real team ride and I wasn’t sure how I would hold up, both endurance-wise and being able to avoid vehicular or bicycular (?) death. I’m in pretty good physical condition (doctor’s words, not mine), but not necessarily pretty good “hey I’m going to be moving a whole lot for a long time in moderate-to-heavy traffic on this long bike ride” condition. But I made it to the end and didn’t die, which isn’t a whole lot to ask for a maiden voyage.
The weather was awesome up near the end, when we all got dumped on by a torrential downpour literally half a mile from home. It was literally like we submerged ourselves underwater and came back up, which is actually something I pondered doing while riding some of the downtown trails that paralleled the Allegheny river.
Here are some photos. There would have been more but that involves a lot of stopping, and I haven’t mastered the art of snapping decent photos one-handed and not planting my coccyx on concrete.
Here’s the ol’ ride. Name suggestions are welcome
Sean and his.
Hal and his. He lugged that load the whole time. What a trooper.
Sean and Erin at a light in beautiful, scenic downtown New Kensington. In the distance is the New Ken Bridge.
We stopped at a gas station. While Erin was inside I guess I thought it was a good time to get a shot of Sean’s butt?
Cranberry oat bar from Big Dog. Nice place! Not pictured is the iced mocha coffee that I sucked down like a champ — exactly what I needed for the trip back.
2 Comments
That looks like fun! I’d like to go biking more someday. Or hiking. Whatever comes first.
I would say biking is easier because you don’t really need a trail or mountain. But it’s more expensive. So it’s a dead heat. Flip a coin?