BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Thanks for organizing this, once again. Special thanks to the volunteers on Carson St who clearly, and with megaphones, told us to stop at stoplights. I think it had an impact.

Rather than start a new thread, let me piggy-back on this one. This year's PedalPGH was fun! I didn't have time to do any of the special rides or other events, but I did make it a point to do the Sunday (62mi) fun ride. After, the night before, re-indexing one bike and tuning other bikes for our out-of-town visitors; it was empowering in its otherwise small sort of way. But, you know. Hanging out at the end, sipping a beer, under an umbrella, somehow made a nice ending to the day. And I got to run into several of the mboard regulars, including @jonawebb and the @Iguana. But we also got to meet these two guys from Youngstown wearing "Cycle Zydeco" jerseys, an event out of Lafayette featuring riding by day and partying by night. Organized by a Tour de France multiple winner (from the 90s, originally from Bretagne) who had relocated to Louisiana (I would hazard that it was it was a woman; I've seen it happen to others in our circle). We had noticed a Breizh flag in a corner of the jersey and just had to ask (well, Lisa did; she had no problem doing this: she's the only one of us practiced at accosting random strangers and starting up productive conversations). They explained the connection. But more seriously (tu dis quois?) here's some random comments about the day:

• I still miss that excruciating (at least in memory) climb to Oneida. Making it always gave me that feeling that the rest of the ride would be so easy.
• What was up with the rest-stop organization? The one at the top of Beltzhoover is nice but it's kind of soon. I skipped it, figuring I would maybe hit the one in Allegheny Commons. Nope.
• Ah, but surely there would be the one at the foot of the Troy Hill/Mt climb. Nope.
• Okay, I figured; they're being smart and placing one somewhere around the bridge over I-279 (at the top of the climb). Nope
• At least I knew enough to bring my own water...
• To be clear, a resident on Mt. Troy was on the (other) side of the road offering water bottles. And the peoples's stop in Brighton Heights was reliably there. Why wasn't BikePgh there (somewhere)? It's your frikin' ride!
• At last! The Highland Reservoir stop... A huge line at the flavored water jugs. (And the porta-a-johns). Why?

This was supposed to be the 25th anniversary; you know, the "silver", or at least something that seemed a bit special (given all that advertising). I had kind of hoped for live music, occasionally. But I missed it. Are we not donating enough? Make us feel good about this biking stuff.

Kudos to Bike PGH and all the volunteers. Considering the logistical challenges of presenting what, like 4 concurrent rides and courses within a limited footprint, balancing adequate placement of rest stops against available infrastructure (i.e. Parks, etc), it is a wonder. My buddy and I rode the 62 mile route, so I think we saw everything, and from our perspective, the pacing of rests was spot-on, well-organized, and wonderfully staffed with friendly people. AFAIK, the Highland Park stop was one of the only that multiple routes visited, which may account for the heavy traffic there (but not a huge problem for me to skip, as Schenley Park stop was only a few miles away. So, huzzah Bike PGH, and thank you to all the volunteers!