Moon Shadows are Evil
- Thread starter stb222
- Start date
I like @Mountain Bike Mike s name tag
He has been trying to make that one stick for awhile now.
Nice picture Iggy!
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Nice pic - Jeez, My fucking dome is ginormous.
RobW
Well-Known Member
like one of those bobble heads
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
You doing this? Seems the course is near your local roads and not as far out as the Covered Bridges ride....
http://ride.flechebuffoon.com/course/
rick81721
Lothar
Paved roads or a bunch of stinkin dirt roads?
The date never worked for me and this year it got the pinch too. More north and west than HOH.
All paved. The fools classic is the other dirt on they do before HOH.
rick81721
Lothar
Interesting. Gotta check my calendar
rick81721
Lothar
Will be in Nashville that weekend.
rick81721
Lothar
I'm in
Real men wax.
City of Brides, Steel City, The ‘Burgh, Blitzburgh….
Whatever the f you like to call it, just like steel, this place is real, in more ways than one.
My 4th and last round of training this year took me to Steel City, which is where our corporate headquarters is located. Seems very fitting given that we are a civil engineering firm and Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other American City. Like a retarded amount of bridges. On the north side of the downtown, 3 blocks in a row have a bridge. Someone had a serious bridge boner when they designed this place.
Before I recap my rides here, the 3rd training was in Alexandria, VA. In some ways it was super annoying to ride here and in some ways it was super awesome. I found some of the fun-nest rolling terrain I have ever laid tracks on and more stops signs than I have ever actually stopped at. The rides are 16 internets old at this point, so I will just leave you with some pictures
This view didn’t suck
Nor did this
As much as my skate/punk/hardcore/bmx roots laid the groundwork for anti-society / government, this is a nation’s capitol and damn if it isn’t spectacular. I mean, it sure as fuck better be with all this shit we paid to build.
So back to PA, the state that saw the dawn of my existence and will soon see my return. I was only in Steel City one time before, that I can remember, and I don’t remember much. In any case, I was stoked to get there and be able to ride my own bike.
While researching, I peeped the Dirty Dozen loop, which is a ride that happens in November every year since the 80’s that showcases 12 of Pittsburgh’s nastiest hills. Note that it started with a minimum gearing of 42/17 (which is absolutely ridiculous). Included in this ride is Canton Avenue, which is claimed to be the steepest paved road in the world at 37%. Naturally, there is some dispute on this, but damn, stokage. This is interesting for me as a rider and in my professional career as I get paid to maintain databases full of roadway information. This loop is right up my ally per se, but I didn’t think I would have time to do the entire loop and at least planned to break it into two loops.
Raystown was an option to hit on the way out, but I am not going to lie, the Dirty Dozen loop is more appealing to me and the weather was claimed to be raining, so I didn’t feel like having two bikes and one of them getting all muddy like. It was also 1.5 hours out of the way and I didn’t think I would get 1.5 hours-worth of extra enjoyment. Roadie excuses.
Driving out to Pittsburgh was a breeze and I flew across the PA turnpike and really didn’t hit any traffic until right in Downtown, were someone had the bright idea to do construction on the 10 blocks around the hotel I was staying at, including multiple closed roads. After some brief cursing of the City itself, I checked in to an apartment size hotel room and was on the bike 15 min later. Yeeeees, time to do the entire DD loop…
I had the route in my garmin but with the downtown buildings blocking me from locking signal and me not knowing where I was going, I rode around the block a few times before getting my bearings. After I was on track, I shot up the river (one of one like 20) to the start of the DD loop. On the first hill, I realize these hills are of a different breed than what I normally ride, I knew this going in but hell, these are well, hell. One, they go from flat to steep immediately and the easiest of the steep is 10-15%. It is slow going up and I am thankful for my 34/28 low gear. The other thing I noticed is that the hills seem to all end at stop signs and it is very difficult to slow the hell down to a stop when you are descending. At least one stop sign that was after a blind corner, I couldn’t stop and made the driver upset because I cut him off. Sorry bro, better than slamming into the side of your car… I also used my brakes as much during this ride as I probably have all year. Unlike my local routes, I have no goals of finishing this in a certain time or with a particular average speed and my only time constriction is going to sleep / darkness, which is actually pretty liberating.
So I am just following my garmin route and I see the route says straight and I don’t see a road but what I couldn’t see was a slight jog at the intersection and then this:
This doesn’t look that steep in the picture, but it ain’t no picnic. For some reason there are a fair number of cars on it. Relatively short though with a long run out on the top. Up and down however many more times and then hit this absurdly steep street called Logan Street, which takes you up here:
And then the climb @rick81721 said looks nasty, which ends with these:
Cobbles, yes! We all dream of Flanders and Roubaix but man, riding on cobbles is the devil’s work, which may be why they are so enticing. I would venture to say these are more Flanderan than Roubaix like. Anyways, at the top of a hill, they hurt. That ends the tour of the North site and I cross through downtown and over to the famed South Slopes. Not as long as the climbs on the north side, but that much more nasty.
Climb up Sycamore Street, which ends on cobbles and puts you here:
Yeah yeah, hills, they hurt and now I am looking nervously forward to Canton Ave. Kinda of a crappy way over there and you go to this non-assuming neighborhood and boom, there it is. I climb it first (yes, I made it) and loop back around to take some pictures. It is super short but super mean. 37% with cobbles, however the cobbles are recently repaired and in really good shape. I think most people could climb this given how short it is, maybe even @rick81721. That being said, if you ever walked Iron Bridge, Fiddlers or Uhlerstown, you may be walking most of these hill.
The hill after this one was designed to murder anything that was left. I think Canton Ave was 9th, so almost there to the 12. At the top of this one, some guy is just standing in the street and watches me in agony and then tells me that was impressive. I respond with some kind of moan that may have resembled hello. Around this time I think I am backwards on the loop or something because I go up a hill that was very mild compared to everything else and I salmon down a one way street after climbing one of the out and back hills. In any case, I am cooked, it is dark and I have one more hill to climb. On paper, it looked to be the easiest of the climbs and it turned out to murder me in the face. After that I cruise back to the hotel, showered and met my training group as they are coming out of a restaurant (it was 10:30) so I immediately say bye and duck in a taco place http://takopgh.com/, where I have the best GD mushroom tacos I have had yet. It was a good cap to the evening.
Almost the Dirty Dozen
My other rides were slow and hilly and I checked the NW stuff one day and then just freestyled the South Slope the other two rides. The south side is one gigantic photo op where no flat road exists. It is up or down and sometimes sideways. It is apparent that no one planned out these roads and some roads literally are u-shaped and I eventually had to peep google maps to find my way down the hill. There isn’t much else to say other than it was a good time on two wheels with good views, murderously steep hills and cobbles….That combo alone makes for a fine combination.
This is my last training session and traveling for awhile and just in time to get ready for my big move. I mentioned elsewhere, but I am moving back to PA, but don’t fret, I moving all of 6 miles the way the crow flies…
Whatever the f you like to call it, just like steel, this place is real, in more ways than one.
My 4th and last round of training this year took me to Steel City, which is where our corporate headquarters is located. Seems very fitting given that we are a civil engineering firm and Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other American City. Like a retarded amount of bridges. On the north side of the downtown, 3 blocks in a row have a bridge. Someone had a serious bridge boner when they designed this place.
Before I recap my rides here, the 3rd training was in Alexandria, VA. In some ways it was super annoying to ride here and in some ways it was super awesome. I found some of the fun-nest rolling terrain I have ever laid tracks on and more stops signs than I have ever actually stopped at. The rides are 16 internets old at this point, so I will just leave you with some pictures
This view didn’t suck
Nor did this
As much as my skate/punk/hardcore/bmx roots laid the groundwork for anti-society / government, this is a nation’s capitol and damn if it isn’t spectacular. I mean, it sure as fuck better be with all this shit we paid to build.
So back to PA, the state that saw the dawn of my existence and will soon see my return. I was only in Steel City one time before, that I can remember, and I don’t remember much. In any case, I was stoked to get there and be able to ride my own bike.
While researching, I peeped the Dirty Dozen loop, which is a ride that happens in November every year since the 80’s that showcases 12 of Pittsburgh’s nastiest hills. Note that it started with a minimum gearing of 42/17 (which is absolutely ridiculous). Included in this ride is Canton Avenue, which is claimed to be the steepest paved road in the world at 37%. Naturally, there is some dispute on this, but damn, stokage. This is interesting for me as a rider and in my professional career as I get paid to maintain databases full of roadway information. This loop is right up my ally per se, but I didn’t think I would have time to do the entire loop and at least planned to break it into two loops.
Raystown was an option to hit on the way out, but I am not going to lie, the Dirty Dozen loop is more appealing to me and the weather was claimed to be raining, so I didn’t feel like having two bikes and one of them getting all muddy like. It was also 1.5 hours out of the way and I didn’t think I would get 1.5 hours-worth of extra enjoyment. Roadie excuses.
Driving out to Pittsburgh was a breeze and I flew across the PA turnpike and really didn’t hit any traffic until right in Downtown, were someone had the bright idea to do construction on the 10 blocks around the hotel I was staying at, including multiple closed roads. After some brief cursing of the City itself, I checked in to an apartment size hotel room and was on the bike 15 min later. Yeeeees, time to do the entire DD loop…
I had the route in my garmin but with the downtown buildings blocking me from locking signal and me not knowing where I was going, I rode around the block a few times before getting my bearings. After I was on track, I shot up the river (one of one like 20) to the start of the DD loop. On the first hill, I realize these hills are of a different breed than what I normally ride, I knew this going in but hell, these are well, hell. One, they go from flat to steep immediately and the easiest of the steep is 10-15%. It is slow going up and I am thankful for my 34/28 low gear. The other thing I noticed is that the hills seem to all end at stop signs and it is very difficult to slow the hell down to a stop when you are descending. At least one stop sign that was after a blind corner, I couldn’t stop and made the driver upset because I cut him off. Sorry bro, better than slamming into the side of your car… I also used my brakes as much during this ride as I probably have all year. Unlike my local routes, I have no goals of finishing this in a certain time or with a particular average speed and my only time constriction is going to sleep / darkness, which is actually pretty liberating.
So I am just following my garmin route and I see the route says straight and I don’t see a road but what I couldn’t see was a slight jog at the intersection and then this:
This doesn’t look that steep in the picture, but it ain’t no picnic. For some reason there are a fair number of cars on it. Relatively short though with a long run out on the top. Up and down however many more times and then hit this absurdly steep street called Logan Street, which takes you up here:
And then the climb @rick81721 said looks nasty, which ends with these:
Cobbles, yes! We all dream of Flanders and Roubaix but man, riding on cobbles is the devil’s work, which may be why they are so enticing. I would venture to say these are more Flanderan than Roubaix like. Anyways, at the top of a hill, they hurt. That ends the tour of the North site and I cross through downtown and over to the famed South Slopes. Not as long as the climbs on the north side, but that much more nasty.
Climb up Sycamore Street, which ends on cobbles and puts you here:
Yeah yeah, hills, they hurt and now I am looking nervously forward to Canton Ave. Kinda of a crappy way over there and you go to this non-assuming neighborhood and boom, there it is. I climb it first (yes, I made it) and loop back around to take some pictures. It is super short but super mean. 37% with cobbles, however the cobbles are recently repaired and in really good shape. I think most people could climb this given how short it is, maybe even @rick81721. That being said, if you ever walked Iron Bridge, Fiddlers or Uhlerstown, you may be walking most of these hill.
The hill after this one was designed to murder anything that was left. I think Canton Ave was 9th, so almost there to the 12. At the top of this one, some guy is just standing in the street and watches me in agony and then tells me that was impressive. I respond with some kind of moan that may have resembled hello. Around this time I think I am backwards on the loop or something because I go up a hill that was very mild compared to everything else and I salmon down a one way street after climbing one of the out and back hills. In any case, I am cooked, it is dark and I have one more hill to climb. On paper, it looked to be the easiest of the climbs and it turned out to murder me in the face. After that I cruise back to the hotel, showered and met my training group as they are coming out of a restaurant (it was 10:30) so I immediately say bye and duck in a taco place http://takopgh.com/, where I have the best GD mushroom tacos I have had yet. It was a good cap to the evening.
Almost the Dirty Dozen
My other rides were slow and hilly and I checked the NW stuff one day and then just freestyled the South Slope the other two rides. The south side is one gigantic photo op where no flat road exists. It is up or down and sometimes sideways. It is apparent that no one planned out these roads and some roads literally are u-shaped and I eventually had to peep google maps to find my way down the hill. There isn’t much else to say other than it was a good time on two wheels with good views, murderously steep hills and cobbles….That combo alone makes for a fine combination.
This is my last training session and traveling for awhile and just in time to get ready for my big move. I mentioned elsewhere, but I am moving back to PA, but don’t fret, I moving all of 6 miles the way the crow flies…
I read most of it. Some of those hills look pretty steep.
I once ate dinner up on that hill overlooking the city with the stadium lights on. I don't really think I can experience Pittsburgh any better than that. Another trip out there, I saw a Pearl Jam cover band that was quite good, I would venture to say that @Carson would like them. I do want to go back and check out the Andy Warhol Museum. He's from there, apparently. Having said that his stuff is a tad overrated, IMO.
I once ate dinner up on that hill overlooking the city with the stadium lights on. I don't really think I can experience Pittsburgh any better than that. Another trip out there, I saw a Pearl Jam cover band that was quite good, I would venture to say that @Carson would like them. I do want to go back and check out the Andy Warhol Museum. He's from there, apparently. Having said that his stuff is a tad overrated, IMO.
Yeah, I like Pittsburgh. We visited Pitt college recently and my son liked it. He is going there this fall. Several years ago Jamie and I road tripped to Ohio and stopped off to catch a Pirates game on the way home, which was very enjoyable.
The vibe I get from Pittsburgh is integrated hipster without the hard edginess of NYC.
I'm hoping to hit up the State College area on trips out to see J over the next 4 yrs. The road think in Pitt looks challenging but I'd enjoy mtbing more.
Good luck with the move shithead.
The vibe I get from Pittsburgh is integrated hipster without the hard edginess of NYC.
I'm hoping to hit up the State College area on trips out to see J over the next 4 yrs. The road think in Pitt looks challenging but I'd enjoy mtbing more.
Good luck with the move shithead.