BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I'm going to the Yoga for Cyclists class that ends at 3pm that day. Could the ride go to four and pick up people in the Strip at 3??? Tailor your plans for me!

I don't see why not. I think pushing the start time back will facilitate this.

great! i'm in!

I am also in.

I just put it on the calendar.

Thanks!

Awesome: I hope to pick up after yoga, too.

whoever is bringing the sound system, do you have a copy of wiz's black and yellow?

also. this song. hahaha!

'79 steelers fight song disco!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POShd1y3enQ

Just putting this out there, but I could go the rest of my life without hearing this song ever again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxHtteJ0XQQ&feature=related

RF - I think you meant this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ALxylSbaU

haha, I just picked the first one I found.

someone actually came into my work with that song on a boombox so loud that it overpowered our radio. The cashiers couldn't hear what he was saying, haha.

Here's a song written by someone who actually worked in a steel mill--Mike Stout's "Calling Steeler Nation."

(Repost, 'cause the Net gremlins apparently swallowed the first one)

I'm also in for post-yoga Flock-merge.

Could we get this song going on too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se8ABHcq8g4

"post-yoga Flock-merge"

Wasn't that the name of a punk band from Chapel Hill?

why is it that "fight songs" are always so incredibly, mind bogglingly awful in terms of lyrics and music? Doesn't somebody with some actual musical talent like this team?

Or is this what happens after a century of jocks abuse a century of "sensitive" music geeks? An entire genre of inherently horrid, nasty music? (Not just Stillerz, I've never heard a "good" fight song... though I do like some of the British soccer club songs, but they're more like drinking songs)

@ejwme: I think you've answered your own question, with the reference to "drinking songs."

Fight songs must be both appealing to and recallable by someone who is so inebriated that they need 3 guesses to tell which hand is their right...

reddan - but drinking songs are fun sober too... fight songs... maybe it's a test for true fans. I'm just not a true fan, and I'm ok with that.

i completely disagree about the 70's song - the music is great... although, of course, it's not original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeb08cbUswk

Oh my gawd, yinz'r doin' a stillerz ride n'at! I'm totally dahn fer that. Talk about photo op! Somebody with some connections should let the post gazzette or any other major local media know. What a great way to show support for our team and draw attention to cycling in the 'burgh to an audience that's usually not too friendly towards us (ie. out of shape couch potato, armchair quarterback types) at the same time. Need to pick up some black and gold gear and I am so there!

I will try my hardest to not forget this and join in!

we need this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se8ABHcq8g4&feature=related

and this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJSZmRgNFJQ&feature=related

i like that wiz khalifa song. and so do apparently a lot of other people with 28 million views on youtube

Sounds like this ride will be LEGENDARY!!!

So I don't follow football at all, and I don't have any Steelers gear (and I also lived outside of Green Bay for a bit), but I do have things that are black and things that are yellow, and could probably procure a Terrible Towel from family, friends, or a Giant Eagle. This sounds fun!

I was a Packers fan when I had any tangible interest in football and don't have any interest at all now, but I like group rides and have a yellow jersey...

I have a black chef coat I'm not using, anyone got some yellow spraypaint I can use?

I couldn't care less about football. Erok suggested it, and I thought it has the making for an awesome group ride.

I don't like football, but I like happy people! and I like the black and gold pastries we have at my work. So the next few weeks will probably be pretty neat, this included.

Wouldn't wearing black and gold make you blend in with every other black and gold thing in this city? For visibility, some other colors might be safer, no? (But not green, gold and white.)

In Pittsburgh, people can spot a person in black in gold in a sea of black and gold from a mile away.

i think even if everyone was wearing all asphalt grey, a group bike ride in day light is about as visible as you can get.

i have to agree on the "im not a football fan but this sounds awesome". Really a great way to [hopefully] get some good reactions of of the public.

p.s. I get to work all day on Superbowl Sunday. I cant even believe we're (SS DQ) are going to be open i'll wave if you happen to run down carson!

Isn't there a BikePgh! informational leaflet? Would someone be able/interested in grabbing a stack to carry on the ride and hand out to innocent/mildly interested bystanders? I don't think I'll be over that way.

Also, Nick, you may have this already but, any chance we could get a version of the Flock flyer in a spoke card size? When the weather turns I want to hit bike racks around the city and card all the bikes. Maybe a ride.

I was just thinking today about how to deck out for a Stillerz Ride, and I thought of two things. Those blinky light spoke things that can spell words ("Go Steelers" should fit), and a lower tech... I don't know what it would be called, but it'd function similar to a hub cap, like a solid something to fit in the spokes - maybe it could be designed to look like black and gold when spinning, and the stillers logo when still.

I'm not a Steelers fan, I just like decorating and "sparkle".

I'm not going to be able to make the ride, but if anyone wants to borrow my spoke things, you're welcome to them. They can spell out messages up to 16 characters. Not sure how visible they would be during the day though.

"lets go steelers" is 16 characters. "here we go!" is 11

that would work. assuming you can see it in the daylight.

I might just wear a black top and hit my helmet with some yellow reflective tape. Now: where can I get some yellow reflective tape?

I have built a black and gold SuperBike from a peugeot frame I found in the trash last week. It's too big for me but I'm riding it on Sunday (and maybe more than that). Wait 'til you guys see it! Awesome!

My single speed hs black and gold on it already.

Nick: Can you post a route at some point?

This might make it easier for those of us with earlier commitments to join in.

(And, uh, Go Stillers!!)

Ahlir, I'll work on it. You can also call the Flock phone number: 412-290-7181 for the rides current location.

Thanks!

On a related issue, does anyone know if there's a slogan for this year's championship? You know, like "strive for five" or "one for the thumb". (It appears that I missed the ones for the sixth. Were they that bad?)

"We'll pass by seven on our way to heaven"?

If they win a 7th ring, they'll have to come up with a new pun for the t-shirts.

i've heard

Knockin' on seven's door

and

stairway to seven

Eight is great, another social!

I zip-tied a terrible towel to the left side of my milk crate today. It was a bit foggy for the ride in & I hoped letting my Pittsburgh Freak Flag Fly would help with visibility. Must've been cheese heads on Fifth Avenue today because I got buzzed closely a number of times between Morewood & Bellefield.

I decided just to wear my new mancini's shirt. It's black with a mancini's twist on it, which looks somewhat gold.

The route

Why would you route a beginner friendly ride back to Oakland on Forbes. The stretch from jumonville to McKee place sucks. Parkway traffic merging, shitty underpasses. Yuck.

I'll be breaking off and taking fifth.

Colin, I think taking 30-50 people up a bus lane/partially blocked sidewalk is potentially more problematic than strategically taking them up Forbes.

By talking to many beginners on groups rides, we have learned that for beginners riding in a group, hills are much more intimidating than traffic.

I plan on taking the lane under the overpass, and having a rider leader stop where 367 merges onto Forbes and instruct packs of riders to ride to the right lane of Forbes as merging traffic allows.

Although it is not ideal, I think this will allow a much better experience for new riders than the other available options (like long climbs or routes unfriendly for a group).

I do appreciate your input. Though, I think you could express it in a much of constructive way.

I'd operate under the assumption that everyone on the road on Sunday will be drinking something well before the game starts, and try to avoid traffic.

Also Forbes is a shittier climb than fifth. Slightly shorter but steeper with a couple weird choke points. Sorry you don't think I'm constructive enough.

If there was a lane going up Fifth (or if it wasn't a group ride), I would choose that over Forbes. The issue with Fifth is it's a bus lane or a sidewalk that often pushed you into a bus lane.

On Sunday, if enough people think Fifth is a better idea than Forbes, the ride will go up Fifth. However, I don't think going up Fifth is a smart idea for a group ride any day of the week.

I said your comments weren't constructive because instead of offering an alternative you chose to say, "I'll be breaking off and taking fifth."

Take the jailtrail / detour on the way back from town. If a few folks have to walk it out of the hollow it's still a better option outbound than either alternative.

An alternative would be smallman to 32nd to liberty to millvale to center to craig and you are back at the carnegie. Everything else has a steep hill or bus lane. Well unless you take butler to the zoo and go the back way up baker to morningside. To add distance to either option just take slibby blvd to bakery square and either go back from there or hit beechwood to squirrel hill and take forbes to the golf course and go back to dilly by way of Phipps.

I have a special aversion to Forbes since I have been sideswiped once and run over once at that merge with 376. People are coming off that exit at full highway speed. It's no joke.

S are lights required or not? Facebook pages says they are for night riding but we wont be out much when its dark so are they required for the whole ride? Only reason I ask is my headlight hasnt arrived yet leaving me with only a taillight and I'd really like to make it out to this.

@ Boostuv - Sunset on Sunday in Pittsburgh is listed at 5:44 p.m., and civil twilight ends at 6:13 p.m. If the ride is three hours starting at 1 p.m., you can probably get home before it's dark.

Lights are a good idea more generally, apart from this ride, if you're going to be out on the streets at night. It's also legally required to have a white front light after dark. My suggestion is that while you're waiting on your shipment, get a cheap light to keep yourself legal and hang on to it for emergencies and for a backup.

5:44pm Sunset

6:13pm End of civil twilight

I was stuck between Liberty, and Forbes but sided with Forbes. Here is my reasoning: With Liberty being a much longer climb the group spreads out very fast and there can be as much as a 5-10 min delay in slower riders. In my experience, this long of a delay discourages the slower riders--no matter how much you tell them not to worry, they are intimidated by it.

Since part of Flock's goal is to introduce people to riding, and since I know there will be at least a handful of riders there who have done little or no riding on the street before, intimidation is not a feeling I want to induce.

I completely understand your concerns about Forbes, but I think in a large, brightly colored group, most of them won't be an issue.

I also considered the Jail Trail, but with a big enough group the intersections at 2nd Ave and the trail head and S. Neville and Fifth tend to be problems. On Neville, the is no room to re-group, and takes 2-3 light cycles to get a 40 person group through. Though depending on what the group looks like when we are leaving downtown, we might take that route instead.

I have learned a lot through trial and error about routing these types of group rides. There are a lot more factors to consider than routing a commute or a regular group ride, and these factors make planning very difficult. A different meeting point would make all of this a lot easier, and that is something I am working on. We are trying to find a business to start a partnership with, but it is a process that hasn't been completed yet.

Boostuv, even though it is a day ride, it's a general rule we try to keep--mostly to encourage everyone to own lights.

You will be fine Sunday though. I hope to see you there.

What's wrong with Dippy? It seems like a pretty good start for a lot of reasons (familiar/central/visible location, plenty of space, etc). Although, I admit I don't really like starting out heading onto Panther Hollow/BoA.

I'm with Colin about Forbes, I think it sucks - and it's not exactly an easy climb either. But, I also agree no way that I'd take the group up 5th. Of all the alternatives I like the trail best. Maybe Liberty->Herron (ugh)->Melwood/Gold Way is another option?

So my gears are delayed on shifting (I'm assuming due to the cold, they're freezing up a lot), so I might be extra slow (not as bad as the last sunday ride though. Hopefully I won't be walking quite as much this time)

Awesome! I know they're legally required for riding at night and a good idea to have even in the day time, which is why I ordered one, the shipment just hasnt been delivered. I need to pick up a riding jacket this afternoon so maybe I'll hit up REI and see what they've got.

Yah lights are a good idea, especially if it is grey and overcast. Chances are, it will be overcast. This is Pittsburgh.

Ps - performance was having a sale recently. They have pretty decent clothes and lights.

@boostuv: there are many things on sale at Performance & REI right now: good time to shop for bike stuff.

re: the Panther hollow route, I agree the S. Neville & Fifth intersection is a pain with a group, could be easily resolved by hanging a left on Henry and regrouping by PNC.

Having offered that, though, I'm not going to second-guess the route, I'll roll with whatever. Should be fun.

re: Lights, blinky lights make things festive no matter what the time of day. And a spare never hurts.

Good idea, Bill. I think that's the way we will go.

A big thanks to Nick for organizing the ride and accommodating the group of us taking the yoga for cyclists class who wanted to be on this ride (not to mention his accommodation of Football Frenzy!). I've never organized a group ride, and it seems like a daunting task to take all the possibilities into consideration. I'm glad he's willing.

ok, i went up herron to remind myself what it was like. maybe a little steep for a flock ride but at least it's short - i think it would be kinda cool to try sometime.

So, when is the meet up/start up time?

Meeting at 1:00 at Dippy.

yeah herron is a bit steep for beginners. i am not sure i have ever taken it up on a bike.

herron from liberty to melwood though - it's not nearly as steep as melwood to bigelow and beyond.

turns out I'll be working in the morning. I'll still make the ride, I just might cut out early and head home. It's been a tiring week, to say the least.

Is Dippy the one at the CMU library diagonal from the Cathedral? I just went on a 5 mile ride around Oakland/Schenley and Im pumped for tomorrow. Also swung by Performance Bike and picked up a cheap headlight and taillight setup.

boostuv-Yep, that's the one.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Oakland Branch. Not CMU. But yes, if you've found a 40-foot-long dinosaur, you've found the ride.

Oops. Didn't read that very well I guess. I just read Carnegie, Cathedral, and Schenley and figured that's what was meant.

Yeah BABY!!!! I'm excited to strut our Black & Gold love on-bike tomorrow!!!! Let's pave the streets with Steeler love!!!!!

Be there or be.... a "chess lover"!!!! <==get it! get it! joke!

FYI: The Yoga For Cyclists class time is now listed as 1:30-3:30 on the Schoolhouse site.

I realized that this morning too. Gah.

Since we usually don't get started until a half hour after, I think we should still be able to meet up with you guys. However, if we are there at 300, we will just keep going.

this was fun! i lovvvvvve when someone brings music on group rides (thanks nick).

yay pittsburgh!

This was fun! It was good to see you guys, sorry I didn't say much though. Maybe next time.

Definitely glad to be home though. gonna nap now.

Hope everyone got home safe! Have fun tonight!

Not sure if anyone else logged the ride via GPS but I did. This is slightly varied since I started my logging at my house but heres the stats:

Start Time: Feb 6, 2011 12:54 PM

Distance: 21.70 miles

Duration: 3h:45m:08s

Avg Speed: 5.8 mph

Max Speed: 128.8 mph (not sure where it got this lol)

Calories: 1064 kcal

Altitude: 553 ft / 987 ft

Link with GPS map:

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/lz_qatlrefg

Damn, over a megacalorie! Guess I can pig out tonight.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67031020?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d4f1e952996e822%2C0

this is from my house though

Time: 04:28:05

Moving Time: 02:56:47

Elapsed Time: 04:28:05

Avg Speed: 6.0 mph

Avg Moving Speed: 9.1 mph

Max Speed: 86.7 mph

Time: 04:28:05

Distance: 26.83 mi

Elevation Gain: 1,285 ft

Who was taking pictures?

Bill i think. I hope he posts them.

Great ride! That's some pretty decent mileage, I don't feel too bad about dragging a little bit at the end.

I got good pics, I'll post some later, although the beers are going down pretty smoothly right now.

86 mph? 129 mph? Damn, I keep with a fast crowd.

Great fun! Let's not wait for the next championship whatever game to do this again!

btw, I'm really glad we stopped at Right By Nature for the yoga folks. My toes were non-responsive by that point. Thanks also for the maple bacon cookies then and the fig bars later (you know who you are!).

I hung out at Kiva Han for about an hour to let the traffic clear, and my hunch proved accurate. In the seven miles on Babcock from Millvale to my house, I think I was passed by fewer than 25 cars. There were two-minute stretches when I didn't see a car going either direction.

Yeah my toes/fingers were frozen and the break at Right By Nature was just long enough to thaw out but not get too stiff. Im glad I stuck around for the whole thing, my quads were burning once we hit the jail trail, and I wasnt sure how I'd make it back up the hill haha. I was on the red Trek XO2 in the silver shorts/blue sweatshirt by the way.

yeah, my throat's a little raw/squeaky (somehow) right now. but I haven't been riding on my days off like I wanted, so today was definitely good!

I'm glad the timing worked out: it was great to be able to do yoga & the black & gold ride.

I saw all of you gathered outside RBN after the yoga for cyclists class. (And actually got to meet Stu.)

Wish I could have tagged along, but I had to get back and start cooking dinner before the Superbowl started.

Looked like fun, I'll have to join up next time.

It was nice to Flock again, even if only briefly.

Was also nice to meet a few more board denizens in some bendy-flexy variety of real life...

Ok, I'm alive. Buh. Some pics from Sunday.

Should I upload the rest to a flikr site or something? Let me know what to do with the rest.

Yes! If you put them on Flickr, please add them to the BikePGH pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bikepittsburgh/

Click on "Join this Group" and then you can add your photos.

If everyone else has photos of anything bike related in Pittsburgh, please (please please) add them to this!

Awesome! I am eager to see more. Great pics.

i posted a bunch to flickr. also added them to the flock of cycles group pool and the bikepgh one

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikepgh

sorry there's a lot of the flag, i was trying to get a good shot...while riding

Ok, my pics are in the pool.

I didn't get back from Erie until 6:00. Looked like good fun, but in a pic did I spy a green messenger bag? Oi!

Looked like fun, I'll have to join up the next flock 'round.

haha. i look cold

@Edmonds.... where on the pool?

The Bike Pgh flikr pool Lolly mentioned above:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bikepittsburgh/

Hrm.. I only see the ones by erok. Do I need to "join the group" to be ble to see all of them?

EDIT NOTE: Are they made private maybe?

fwiw, there is a Flock of Cycles pool as well

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1609157@N21/

hmmm. if i'm logged in i can see edmonds photos, but if i'm logged out i can't see them. maybe flickr makes it wait a certain amount of time before the pics are public

I set mine as public, other than that I don't know much (nothing) about the flikr.

for those that asked, a friend on facebook posted this –

We saw that truck in Downtown yesterday!!!!!

Yes that truck rules. I am glad someone got a pic of it

oh yeah, yesterday, I saw one of my co-workers on smallman st, so I high fived him. He said today that he kept his hand up, but no one else high fived.

For some reason I found this hilarious. He wanted me to tell yinz that he was very offended. I lol'd.

I'm glad everyone seemed to have a good time! I think we will have to have an annual black and gold ride. We could have it on the day of the season opener for the Steelers--the weather will probably be better.

Sorry I didn't join for the picture on Smallman--turning around with the stereo is a pain.

I rode past High-Fiving Smallman Street Dude without high-fiving because (a) I didn't really want to learn whether sufficiently boisterous high-fiving could make me lose my balance, and (b) high-fiving is and has always been lame.

That was a fun ride! Thanks everybody!

I accidently high fived a guy who was trying to flag a taxi once.

Erica, please inform your co-worker that high-fiving while on a bike is an inherently unsafe thing, leading to a potential loss of control, or at least a rapid change in direction.

It is akin to tapping a tree with one's handlebars while riding a trail on a mountain bike, or hitting a longitudinal crack in the street.

This is particularly problematic when riding in a group. If my course correction causes me to veer back into the crowd, I could cause a chain reaction crash.

@Rubber Factory

Haha! That was awesome! After I rode pass the Strip on my bike again, that high-five dude asked me if I would not eat cheese that day because of the game, but I didn't hear him well so I just said -no- and he looked so sad and offended, haha!!!!

ALSO: Did you get to oil your breaks yet? I remember you having trouble with them sticking in at the ride.

Good times

@Steven: ( b) high-fiving is and has always been lame.

Translation: So that means that no one wanted to 'high-five' you as a kid, hu??? >

LOL - joke!

They didn't have high fives when I was a kid. We had to use words.

(No, seriously. The high five only became popular around 1980, so I just missed it.)

And now I believe there may be kids on my lawn that need some old-fashioned shouting-at.

Hey! I high fived the guy! What's he want, a hug?

But, sorry, I couldn't go without cheese, it's one of the things that makes the loss to Green Bay more, uh, palatable. Nyuk, nyuk.

That and they had a player named Zombo. That's just awesome.

Hey, how about them Pahrrts? When's opening day?

(My coworker was joking about being offended. He still wanted me to say that he was. He's a jerk)

Also he wasn't the cheese guy, but that guy was awesome too.

I'm still not seeing Edmonds pics. Hmmmn..

stu, i respectfully disagree that it is "akin to tapping a tree with one's handlebars while riding a trail on a mountain bike, or hitting a longitudinal crack in the street."

all of these things have happened to me, and hi fiving a pedestrian while riding is the only one that i've choosen to do hundreds of times because it's fun and usually puts a huge smile on everyone's face.

riding while blaring a stereo or carrying a huge flag is also an inherently dangerous thing to do, but it's awesome, thus proceed with caution.

I high fived him too. It was dangerous, but I like to live on he edge.

I sincerely hope no one was riding around weaving through the group taking photos on the fly, that would be pretty dangerous.

I went on flikr and checked, my photos are all set to "anyone can see", so I don't know what the problem might be.

I'm waiting for the guy with the vholdr cam on his goggles to upload a video.

One of my favorite scenes in the game was when Tomlin got a behind the back low five from someone. He is cool.

i couldn't help but notice that on a board that typically doesn't like advocating vehicular violence of any sort, the pic of a truck with a (dummy) football player stuck in its grill was well received...

[the remainder of the parade is schedule for clear skies, please return to your regularly scheduled jollies]

I guess it's just part of dehumanizing the enemy in the pretend war of football.

I'm still not seeing Edmonds pics.

FWIW, I see them here and I'm not logged into Flickr. Works with both IE 8 and Firefox 3.6. At the top it says

Bike Pittsburgh

Group Pool   Discussion   111 Members   Map   Join This Group

Group Pool   918 items |   Only members can add to the pool. Join?

Then it starts with a dozen of Edmonds's pics. Are you seeing fewer than 918 items? Or maybe it's showing all 918 to you in some different order?

Edmond, any chance you can PM me the picture of me? Im in the blue sweatshirt on the red Trek, specifically the picture of us on the sidewalk crossing the bridge by the stadiums.

Will do in the a.m.

Awesome, thank you sir!

Anyone having trouble viewing, sign up for flickr and join the bike-pgh pool. You can then view edmond59's photos. At least this is what I did right before they appeared.

I can see them now, and I havnt signed up for flickr. Thanks, they look great!