Monday, September 01, 2008, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Alan W. Petrucelli

Let’s chew the fat.

Actually, that’s the problem.

I do chew the fat.

Then I swallow it.

No wonder I’ve gained 35 pounds since I moved here 10 months ago. All those drive-through windows have led me straight into the fat fast lane.

It’s fun looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy for a week or so, but when Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade officials came knocking on my door the other night asking my availability, I knew I was in deep cookie-dough doo-doo.

I was having it my way too often and had no idea where I was going to find the break I deserved.

And then … the answer, or at least an answer that will help begin the slow shedding process, came from loyal reader Lisa Pawelski. She sent me an e-mail suggesting I join her and her husband, Ken, one weekend for a bicycle ride. The six-mile trek from Millvale to the Carnegie Science Center would offer, she promised, “lots of great cross-river views.” Read more»