BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Things I enjoy:

* Being a dad.

* Rock climbing!

* Reading, mostly non-fiction

* Programming (this is also what I do for a living)

* Writing (I wish I could do this for a living)

I grew up in Lincoln-Lemington

I love snowboarding, skateboarding, and videogames.

I grew up in Clairton.

For work: I ship acrylic / plastic stuff via fedex / ups/ freight.

Displaced farm boy, from the backwoods of York County. (No-one ever actually drove a tractor to school, but no-one batted an eyelash at rifles in the gun-racks in the student parking lot either.)

Ex-goth/industrial fringe boy. Never could pull off pasty and anemic, so went for barbarian in black leather instead. (I still occasionally miss the Babylon, dammit. Nothing like a night spent swilling Red Deaths and dancing spastically to 'Temple Of Love' over and over and over...)

Used to be really into the Society for Creative Anachronism, D&D, Magic: The Gathering, and bad Euro-techno.

Currently into neo-vaudeville, steampunk, and chap-hop music; fiddling with various forms of craft and hackery in the basement shop; and perpetual home improvements.

Professionally, I get paid to write code. Or at least pretend to.

I like board games, hiking, camping, gardening, and FOOD.

Graduating CMU with a M.S. in May, looking for jobs.

Grew up in NM, TX, OK, moved here for college.

• photography (freelance photog and I collect/repair/use vintage cameras)

• graphic design

• mobile design

• I'm also a typography geek, but I'm terrible at it.

• fabrication (metals, woods, plastics, electronics)

• writing (I write for macworld.com, iphone related content)

• new media (I organize podcamp pittsburgh every year, I do media consulting of all sorts, social media, promotions, branding, relations)

• camping/hiking/exploring

• science and technology in general

• grew up in Cape May, New Jersey. Moved to PGH in September

'08

• Flock of Cycles!

Besides biking, I love hiking, camping, rafting, kayaking, traveling, gardening, cooking and taking pictures of all of the above.

I am a mix between a computer geek and a scientist. I do a fair bit of programming, writing grants, making pretty figures and presentations, and I get to run simulations of chemical/biological systems on really big computers. This is the most fun part of my job. The least fun part of it is that it leaves me with no time to do all the things I listed above. It is a temporary position, so if anyone if you know anyone hiring...

I grew up in Minnesota and went to grad school in California.

I have a job where I have to be a semi-public figure, which can be exhausting and stressful. So, I'll just share a few fun tidbits here and enjoy getting to know some of you better "in real life" through rides &tc, hopefully.

-When I was much younger, I learned to play foos ball and asteroids from teenaged Iranian exiles & was actually pretty good at both at one point.

-I used to be in a "noise band" in the 90s and got to share billing with such diverse acts as Coolio, Sleater Kinney, Deerhoof, Yo La Tengo, and Merzbow (before some of them got "big.")

-I was a vegetarian for a very long time and am a pretty good cook

-I did the layout for the label on Mudhoney's first 45

-I used to do community radio

Hm, I guess my main hobby is food.

I love trying new things and ingredients, reading about chefs and food.

I am planning on opening a small, not-for-profit cafe (maybe co-op?) in my hometown, as much food as possible coming from local farms and businesses. All revenue either goes back into the restaurant or to work toward starting an Edible Schoolyard in each of the local schools, and to push toward school lunch reform.

I also like to dream.

@robjdlc: +1 on the typography geekiness

@dwillen: your raised beds look amazing!

Backpacking, x-country skiing, mountaineering, ex-iceclimber, reading (mainly mindless fiction). I was a military brat, born in California and lived up and down both coasts. Graduated from Georgia Tech and have lived in Pittsburgh for 22 years (in Aug).

Totally forgot I love to cook. Derp.

Of course I'm a cyclin' fool, I lead lots of rides from spring through fall - look for Team Decaf Tuesdays and Saturdays. Generally, we ride 20 -25 miles at a C pace (about 1-1/2 to 2 hours).

Cool to find out there are other gardeners. My flavor of gardening is more like landscaping - tons of perennials make up my yard. I grow dozens of canna - a tall, large-leafed tropical flower that has to be brought indoors over the winter.

I'm an indie music fanatic - my favorite bands change so frequently, it's silly to mention them. I love it when I meet someone else who shares my musical taste, it's kinda rare. If you're an indie fan and we meet someday, we're going to have a lot to talk about.

See that glowing orange ball to the left? That's my company logo. Self-titled as Creative Director, me and my 4-man design firm (three are women) create websites and print media, an occasional video, and lots of Flash widgets and little animations. Check out samples of our web design or graphic design work on our website.

I grew up in New Jersey, and have lived in Pittsburgh for 30 years now. I'm a software developer by trade.

I'm into live theater, computer-related stuff, and science fiction. I'm also interested in typography, transit issues, web design, and photography.

I am an architect, though I can't say I'm passionate about it. I hate suits and I despise sucking up to people with overinflated egos, which is really what it's all about. Fortunately I work with a guy who lives for that. I am much happier out in the dirt with the guys who are putting down the concrete, brick, and lumber.

I have 2 children who burn off most of my time for interests and hobbies, which I get grumpy about, but I can already sense the day when they will grow up and move away, and I will be heartbroken.

I love anything outdoors, and would generally rather be out in the woods than indoors. Yet I also could not live without the arts and music and cities. So, that's tricky.

I like to go fast in and on things.

I am an excellent mechanic.

That's a lot more than I thought I would come up with.

Grew up in the nether regions of New York State. (Nearest city is Montreal.) Came to PGH in 1990 to attend CMU for physics. Moved away in '99 and moved back in '08. [If anyone here was at CMU from '90-'94, I was the guy who was always in Wean Hall that wore a long black cloak and was on roller blades.]

Now, I'm a software developer, and in my spare time I errr.... develop software. Right now I'm splitting my time between developing a website for my upcoming wedding and a project called Gibson which is a way to visualize network security in 3D. [I'm not the lead on that project, just helping out when I can.]

I also read quite a bit, sci fi, history, skeptical movement (Martin Gardener, Micheal Schermer, James Randi, etc...)

I am the primary cook in my household. Kid of a single parent, I started cooking in 4th grade and find it very relaxing. (Actually signed up for my first official cooking classes at the end of March.)

Back when I had a larger yard, I did some organic gardening. Hoping to start that back up this year, in my smaller city-sized lot.

This year I'm also hoping to start volunteering with either 9 mile run or the steel valley trail council. (Time is short right now, so I won't start that for a month or two.)

Grew up here

pretty much my main hobby is having hobbies.

Right now main hobbies are

home brewing

Paper Sculpture

I used to podcast, and I enjoy anything creative.

For work (for however long im still employed) I do mechanical design and drafting.

That's weird, I clicked on the topic and was somehow redirected to stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.

I'm just gonna let people keep replying and slowly highlight things I forgot.

Every tuesday night I record Awesomecast - a video podcast covering the weeks news in tech.

whats the link to awesomecast... if only I could look stuff up online.. like a search machine or something

I enjoy other things that let me push my

limits.

- Winter Backpacking / Camping

- Hiking

- Cathedral of Learning Stairs

- Yoga

EDITED TO ADD:

- xc skiing when the weather is right.

- writing. Have a crappy blog, have done

some stuff for Urban Velo, Dirt Rag,

Cyclocross Magazine.

I work for Howard Hanna Shadyside to fund

my fun. Buying or selling a haas? Use me!

Seen 23 winters in/around Buffalo NY and almost 30 here.

* Grew up playing pit crew to my father's love of enduro motorcycling

* Consequently learned how to navigate most anywhere without a map (secretly I was an early successful experiment in implanting GPS chips... --jk)

* As a kid, and as late as 19, enjoyed jumping from tree to tree in a stand of pines planted about 20 feet apart (not kidding)

* Bicycling on public roads since about 7

* Unicycling since about 15

* Avid record collector, especially 78s, especially *early* 78s like pre-1930. The music changed radically after the invention of the electric microphone in the late 1920s. Check out the cylinders website for some wonderful examples, like this one.

* Numismatics, i.e. coin collecting, though I haven't bought much in recent years.

* Short-wave and DX radio, and back in the age of analog TV, DX television.

* I enjoy reading aloud, and for 11 years read to the blind every week on the Radio Information Service.

* I write a lot. The hand-written and typewritten blog goes back to 1981.

* Toastmasters! I'm trying to overcome a bad case of childhood stage fright, with some success.

* I collect and study Bible translations, but am not a Christian. I also own (and occasionally read) a Koran.

Gee, what else? Oh right:

* I seem to have this thing about public transit. 20,000 bus rides in >20 years is an accurate estimate.

Work? Well, at the moment I'm on the hunt, but when I'm working, I've been "the build guy" in various programming departments.

Wow, that's a lot of stuff.

Joe- good one

Steevo- we will use You if we have to move. We watch the Howard Hanna showcase of homes on Sundays and I think we have seen your brother (?) As an agent on there.

work - engineer for your friendly neighborhood nuclear power plant developer. I am female Dilbert. Dilbertina?

fun - everything you wouldn't expect Dilbert to do. Anything active, anything organic, gardening (composting makes me giddy), sustainable, community, free, sharing, people powered. In my personal time I'd be a card carrying luddite, but cards are too new-fangled.

other groups - Sustainable Monroeville, Transition Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Garden Experiment, penn hills community development corporation, steel dragon kung fu.

other tidbits - was headed towards professional bassoonist until I realized I hated performing. Have two mentally deficient cats. From Vancouver originally, raised in Squirrel Hill, lived in Mali (west africa) for two years in Peace Corps. I speak Bambaran and French (West African), dabbled with Arabic (levantine) and Russian (high), working on Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean (for work and fun) (I'm NOT a polyglot, just curious and determined). I read linguistics thesis papers for fun.

I do not know what I want to be when I grow up.

i'm originally from the buffalo ny area. i moved to pittsburgh for cmu in 1998, then stuck around with a job as a research programmer (in hip/knee replacements, incidentally). then i "worked" as a freelance software developer for two years. and now i'm back in research, coming up with fun algorithms for finding the patterns in the noise.

i played football in college, but hockey has always been my sport of choice as a spectator, and i watch most every game with friends at a shadyside bar.

my special lady friend is vegan, and around the time we started dating, i developed an overwhelming fondness for cooking. as a result, i became a darn good vegan chef, if i may say so myself.

that led to the discovery of one of my absolute favorite things in the world, which is baking bread and pizza. i would likely bake about 4 loaves/pies per day if i had time and enough people to eat them. it is an endless quest for absolute perfection in flavor and form that drives me, and i hope to someday have an oven with which i can advance the quest properly.

i may have come into that from a general love of the fermented grain, as one of my favorite things my whole adult life has been beer. not just swilling as much of it as i can, though i'm sure there's plenty of that, but studying it and appreciating it and brewing it. there have been very few rooms indeed that i've been in where i wasn't the person most knowledgeable on the topic of beer.

i also dig games, when they're done properly. i've played my share of tabletop and computer role playing games, and i also have a fondness for games that provide a good study of game theory.

and, like most everyone i know, i never do enough reading. i just finished lord of the rings for the first time (which is very strange for a geek of my calibre), and i'm wondering if i can put up with tolkien's writing long enough to get through the silmarillion.

dag, there's so many things off the top of my head that i'd put on this list if i actually had time to do them. how do i find time for biking?

I'm a statistician working with anesthetic drug complications by day. I pretend to work and they pretend to pay me.

I do some music and dance things. I swing dance. I used to call some tradional squares and contra dances. I might take that up again.

The music I do tends to be a kind of acoustic garage rock. Which has little application in either swing dance nor traditional set dances. I love jitterbugging to punk-a-billy, but I don't get much chance.

My main musical thing is acoustic rock jams in my living room every other Satruday afternoon. Sometimes they are good enough that it'd be proud to do the saem music onstage. Sometimes so bad that if it wasn't my home, I'd leave.

I've recruited one person from here and hope to get others. I give free music lessons to a couple of people who come to the jams, although the jams themselves are not -and won't be- lessons.

Maybe tie my jams in with my pet bicycle busker band project.

I do too much reading "I shoulda been asleep hours ago." Mostly history and biography, but that is becasue after a few thousand novels, even a "great novel" is kinda of a waste of time.

I do openwater swimming- sometimes in the river with Sarah, who posts here occasionally, and some other posters. I love lakes and have close personal relationships with a number of them.

I bow down in awe to ejwme's alpha-Geekitude!

just another software developer during the day.

hobbies include:

house renovation

woodworking (especially as part of the reno)

mandola & mandolin (I play with the pittsburgh mandolin orchestra)

vegetarian cooking

books

and I often indulge in online flight simulation during the winter

I do web design, online ad fulfillment and now video production(!) for a publishing company serving the paint and coatings industry.

I like:

* other outdoor stuff, especially kayaking - I volunteer trip lead for Venture Outdoors

* I'm part of a community theatre group, Stage 62, in Carnegie (too far for biking, )

* swimming and playing softball (500 freestyle, 3rd base)

* music and concert-going, mostly of the indie rock variety lately

* watching ice hockey (Go Pens!)

* art, making it and looking at it

* books and movies and games (video/board/card)

* trying to play guitar, but I've been singing all my life

* Photo documenting my travels

* I can juggle, give a good back massage and play a mean game of ping pong too!

Grew up in Saltsburg, PA.

dag, there's so many things off the top of my head that i'd put on this list if i actually had time to do them. how do i find time for biking?

HV, how else do you expect to get TO all of these things?

EDIT: I have to say beer (Grimbergen Dubbel) and food (ALL OF IT) too! I'm a wanna be cook, but lack the motivation/confidence...

I build and/or fix houses. For money.

I hold elected office. I do get paid for this, but it's not a lot, so this is NOT for the money.

I ice-skate with my kids. Or we play street hockey in the alley. Or tackle football on the carpet. Or "hockey fight" in the kitchen (yeah, it's pretty much what you're thinking-my five-year old yanks my shirt and kicks my ass).

I read-as often as I can. Usually history or fantasy. I would like credit for having completed Moby Dick. I am currently reading Return of the King, Fromkin's "Way of the World", something called "The Ordeal of Total War" and a dual Hitler/Stalin biography.

I read "Prisoner of Azkaban" to my daughter every night. Last night I read "Private I. Guana" to my son.

I am a nascent beer-guy: love the Magic Hat holiday variety pack, love East End's Big Hop - really loved the seasonal Big Hop. I contend you cannot beat a very-cold High Life on a hot day, and I'm gonna stand firm on that.

Attended two high schools nearby, graduated a college about 90 minutes away, but had the opportunity to live in Montana, Seattle, Los Angeles and Montana (again), and travel for previous work a lot over a six-odd year period before coming to Pittsburgh. I think of it as coming here, because I had been gone so long, it was more like the next place than a return.

Love Pittsburgh: it is what you make it. The grass is not greener anywhere else.

Amateur "student" of architecture and design, history, animation, and whatever my second-grader's homework is tonight. Am currently trying to avoid politics, as I tend to obsess and make myself miserable.

I have two waffle-, three french toast- and four pancake recipes. My kids and I make breakfast every weekend together (and I am always on the look out for new recipes - so send them my way!).

I would like to bake better. To know how to can fruit. To know how to grow grass (not grass, just grass). To know better how to maintain my bike.

If I could give my kids three things they would be: unconditional love, intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Mick - my husband considers me the alpha-dork, rather than an actual geek. I think actual geeks tend to be more accurate than I am (though I suppose correcting someone online is more dweebish than dorkish or geekish... semantics!)

And have you ever tried Scottish Country Dancing? It's like old timey square dancing with bagpipes (or ullian pipes or whatever) and no caller. And everybody (well, most people) wears plad and drinks a lot. My parents love it. Like my mom goes to dance workshops some place in the carolinas, and stepdad writes music to dance to. You might like.

@ Ejwme

I haven't done any Scottish dancing. I understand it's pretty technical and - not having a caller- you actually have to LEARN the stuff.

I imagine your mom went to the JC Campbell School in Brasstown. I've been there for their winter dance & music week a few times.

Oddly enough, the English pretty much wiped out trad Scottish dancing in Scotland. The major place in the world it's done is Cape Breton, Canada. University people from Scotland go there to learn the traditions to teach in Scottish studies.

For traditional contras and English dancing, the best music for dancing tends to be deadly boring for prolonged listening. Less so for Irish music/dancing. Scottish fiddlers are awesome, not sure how their dance music would be.

@ejwme: AlphaDork has a certain ring to it... ever considered changing your handle?

-I was born in Pusan, S. Korea and as a baby, looked like a mini Kim Jong-il. I grew up in the east suburbs of Pittsburgh, adopted by a great family.

-I recently started working on a book about my adoption and how it shaped my outlook on life. I will probably never finish it.

-I attended Pitt for mechanical engineering. Four and a half years later, I dropped out while pursuing a degree in economics in order to focus on business ventures.

-I currently hold shares in two privately owned business--neither of which have turned a profit. Working in small business, I do everything from graphic design, merchandising, buying, R&D, and wholesale and retail sales, to sweeping floors, painting, and hanging drywall. I also spend a fair amount of time helping other entrepreneurs with getting businesses started--most of them have profited.

-One of my businesses specializes in high-end car care. The other is currently transitioning to produce a collection of stylish, self-adhesive, retro-reflective, bike graphics.

-Along with Dan W, Kayla G, Rob de la Cretaz, and Jane K, plus encouragement from BikePGH, we formally organized Flock of Cycles to enable us to do more cool things for the local community.

-I enjoy annoying my girlfriend.

-I raced cars for a bit, and I am very mechanically inclined and have excellent problem solving abilities. I probably would have made a good mechanical engineer.

-I like: photography (though I wouldn't call my self a photographer), cooking, eating, beer, NPR, Mad Men, cars, motorcycles, bikes, and anything in between.

-I aspire to be Don Draper, mostly to annoy my girlfriend.

-I own, love, and hate a modified Aprilia SR50R that gets 110+ mpg.

-I hate science and the state of Ohio. (Only because Dan and Noah love them, respectively.)

-I also still enjoy ska.

-Most of this post is supposed to be funny.

"-I enjoy annoying my girlfriend."

Brilliant. Reminds me what the thing I forgot was: "My wife tolerates me."

I forgot: I also like cats. as in, when I'm a 60-year old unmarried schizophrenic, I'm going to own at least 20 of them.

besides bikes, my main hobby is bikes. for real, stef thinks i'm going to leave her for a downhill bike one day.

at work i am a flash developer, illustrator, designer and animator. i also do most all of those things on a freelance basis. i'm kind of an online media guru and have been doing banner and rich media online advertising since before y2k. before that i was a bike messenger.

i moved to pittsburgh from the family farm in western ny in the 90s for aip, moved back to rochester in 2000, survived the first dot-com bubble burst (and will hopefully ride out the coming one as well) and moved back here in 2005.

in my spare time i hang out with stef and our zoo, find reasons not to finish the house or the back yard, watch LOTS of movies, read a few books, play rpgs on my xbox (trying to get people together for d&d is nearly impossible these days) hike, take pictures, camp, build trails, listen to a ton of music and grow my beard.

i also enjoy ska, the kind played in england and jamaica up till the mid eighties. not the kind stef likes.

also i'm pretty good at trivia.

dbacklover: awesomecast.com

I also forgot, percussionist of 17 years or so.

Pinball

Ok here it goes...

I'm a project manager and AVP for a bank. You would never guess this by my appearance.

I also ride a motorcycle

Led Zeppelin is the greatest band of all time

I was once a bouncer in a nightclub

I like greenbeans

I like to fish and I have been too drunk to fish

I like to not do my homework. Why, I'm doing that right now!

I guess I'll play along.

Im a full-time student working at a bank and putting myself through school. I just moved to PGH from Kansas City in August. I love spending time outdoors, whether its hunting, fishing, hiking, snowboarding, cycling, etc... Im excited to get to try out some new things that the terrain here will allow me to do that I couldnt in KS. Things like snowshoeing, rock climbing, long hikes, city to city cycle rides.

went to right by nature to pick up onions and potatoes today, and realized that I love grocery shopping way too much. I get so easily excited about things I haven't tried yet, and when things I love are on sale ($2.99 for 5 oz of salad greens is amazing). I love the naturally brewed sodas they carry by the cafe (spiced apple cider is delicious), and today I picked up some goat's milk yogurt, and I don't think I ever want to eat or drink anything else again.

@RF (or anyone else for that matter) if you want to try culturing your own kefir, I have some extra "grains" to spare. The kind I have is a mother culture that works with all kinds of milk.

wow - I knew I really liked it here for a reason. Yinz guys are really interesting and fun people

Hyla that would be awesome. I don't have any experience with that, so I may need instructions though. In the meantime, is there anything I should have on hand?

All you need is milk, a clean jar, and something to strain it with. I can give you basic instructions: Put 2T grains in 2C milk in a mason jar with loose lid. Leave on counter 24-36 hrs (stir occasionally), strain, make more...

Everything else you need to know* can be found on this dude's web site. For me, kefir is not the magic cure-all elixir for all woes. But it is very tasty, fun and easy to culture, and a nice alternative to yogurt and milk. It's a great base for cold borscht if you like beets. PM me and I'll get you some grains. Sometimes I have too much on hand, then I just store the grains in the fridge in some milk, which slows them down for a while.

There's a similar culture that can be used for non-dairy drinks, but I haven't tried it.

Also, yogurt is super easy to make and I'd be more than happy to show you that as well.

Been riding on the roads since about '87. If you use Dan Chew-style definition of riding, since '80 when I got my first BMX.

Kids and Married, mid 30's now.

Hobbies & Interests (don't think these are ranked):

Motorcycle riding - mainly 100 to 300 mile day trips

Travel

Foodie & cooking

Antique cars - hot rods and sports cars mostly (restore them, drive them, race when possible)

pick-up games of soccer

Reading about cars and historic racing

Business/sales/entrepreneurial pursuits

Hiking long distance

running

apartment management

Local/regional history exploration

helping people/being helpful

MTB riding

drinking beer and bourbon (not at same time)

Retired Hobbies:

Bike racing (was a cat 2 uscf)

chasing girls

Whitewater and flatwater kayaking

Rock climbing (although may start back up when my kids are old enough to go)

Thanks for taking a look

I like working on stuff for the cafe I plan to open. This makes me sound like such a hippie, but I love it. Reworking my general mission statement

We are a Not-For-Profit cafe with many goals. Our primary goal is School Lunch Reform with help from the Edible Schoolyard program – this will directly benefit all students attending North Ridgeville Public Schools.

Our other goals include education, both for our employees and our guests, on how wonderful and fulfilling simple food, grown close to home by people you know can truly be. We hope to bring a new life to the area, one that is focused on community, and the good people who live here. We encourage our employees and guests to learn what they can from this experience working in the cafe, and then take those skills elsewhere and teach others to enjoy food, to experiment, try new things – We encourage everyone to Share What Ya Got!

"Share What Ya Got!" is the tentative name of my concept (tentative because it's also an album by Defiance, Ohio, and while I don't think they'd mind me using it in this way, I'm pretty sure I still need to get permission)

Rock climbing (although may start back up when my kids are old enough to go)

How old are your kids? My older boy took his first trip to the Buttermilks in Bishop, CA when he was about 10 months old.

Rock climbing kids: I know you can take 'em young. But I also don't want to have to "babysit" them. Note that I did not include one of my hobbies as "parenting".

not to be crass, I love my kids and love the fact that I am a dad - just sometimes the execution part of parenting makes things like cycling or in this case, rock climbing less enjoyable...and as a result, would rather be without them - that is until they are sufficient to manage themselves to some degree.

that being said; my oldest is 6 years old and I am trying to get him in the rock gym this winter/spring and maybe outdoors this summer.

i hesitated taking him skiing until this summer and he's doing really well and is going solo (ie - w/out my assistance).

my girls are 2 and 4 and will have the oldest skiing next winter and will likely get her out 1x before the end of this year.

...and back to my curmudgeonly self for a second...I won't probably consider cycling with my kids until they can ride road bikes unassisted on public roads...so, probably when they are 11 or 12 yrs old at least. (I do throw them in the bike trailer on 20 mile rides, but they oldest two are outgrowing the Chariot trailer).

Kids love tandems, and they're a good way to teach by example (but be sure you teach well!)

I grew up in Brownsville, Pa and currently live in the eastern suburbs.

I'm a Certified Public Accountant that specialized in corporate reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission - and yes, it's actually more boring than it sounds. That''s ok though... I'll be looking for a new job once the merger in which my company is being acquired closes this week!

Most of my time is spent with my wife and 2 year old twin daughters.

Travel is one of the most important things in my life after family. My favorites have been Romania and India.

I'm also a big fan of all types of music. I was one of the few people to major in accounting and minor in music in college.

"sometimes the execution part of parenting makes things like cycling or in this case, rock climbing less enjoyable..."

Vikings were known to eat their young also, were they not?

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

oh...I got it now....that's funny! Must confess the first time I read it (earlier) today...I didn't get it.

Willie, what kind of motorcycle?

I've been keeping an eye out for a 70's Honda CB, but there doesn't seem to be a lot in the area.

Full time student, former engineering major, current physics major. 5th year with no end in sight.

I'm a mediocre musician and play bass in a silly band mostly in people's basements, though sometimes we've been known to play a real show.

On the subject of being a musician, I used to like building electric guitars and basses but I haven't built one for about a year.

I'm a habitual tinkerer, and everything I own does not stay in its original form for long. From swapping out parts on my bikes, to upgrading components of my musical equipment, to modifying electrical gadgets, to installing PA systems and musical horns in cars, I do all kinds of crazy stuff. Sometimes, I ruin things.

I have a huge collection of vinyl albums, about 400 or so, that I will never have the time to listen to all of. It started in high school when I inherited my uncle's old albums, and soon I was addicted. I haven't bought any for a few years because I have way too many.

I watch campy old sci fi movies. All the time.

Brewing beer is a lot of fun for me. My latest batches have been a berry wheat beer, a brown ale, and a Belgian white. Some of my crazy friends dubbed me the "Big Dick Brewing Co." because my name is Richard, and they were all drunk on my beer.

I have a pet bunny. She likes to poop all over my laundry.

I really love unexpected, outrageous things and try to surround myself by them. I gravitate toward very spontaneous, loud, mostly crazy people and love it when something ridiculous happens that I will have a great story to tell about.

This might not qualify as an OTHER interest, but I'm really into wheel building. I don't know why, I just find it to be really relaxing.

I'm also addicted to spending money on things that I really shouldn't.

@nickyD: "Willie, what kind of motorcycle?

I've been keeping an eye out for a 70's Honda CB, but there doesn't seem to be a lot in the area."

I have a Buell XB12sTT - a newer/modern take on the old "standards". has a v-twin however!

I do like older stuff - Beemers and Triumphs as well as Indians and Harleys from the 30's to 50's.

There are plenty of CB's around. Craigslist and Jaxed.com are your friends for that kind of stuff.

as an aside - I've found that bicycling and motorcycling are sooo complementary in terms of handling skills, vertical/gyroscopic awareness and even safety....as cycling is WAY WAY WAY more dangerous than motorcycling. ...since a bicyclist is very vulnerable to other motorists and cannot effectively defensively drive (ie - "speed away" from dangerous situations). i do also acknowledge the dangers of motorcyling. buy my personal opinion is that bicycling is more dangerous and I've been cycling since the 80's and only really seriously involved with motorbikes for 3 years now.

FYI - my avatar of Eddy Merckx motorpacing combines several of my interests (to help keep this post back on thread)...motorcycles, vintage sports/competition, cycling)

A Willie Pas cycling is WAY WAY WAY more dangerous than motorcycling. ...since a bicyclist is very vulnerable to other motorists and cannot effectively defensively drive

This is totally wrong.

What I'm about to say here is very harsh, but it has to be said.

Motorcycle far more dangerous than cycling. This isn't just some opinion of mine, the stats are very clear.

Any estimate you see of fatality shows motorcycling more dangerous than bicycling.

Here's a couple of scientific references.

See table 1:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/suppletablesfactsheets/pedalcyclist2008.pdf

Kilometer by kilometer motorcycles have 97 fatalites for 1,000,000 km. Bicycles have 32. That "3x" estimate is the most conservative estimate I've ever seen for the relative risks of bikes and motorcycles. It's WAY conservative.

This is a table that's quoted a lot

http://www.mikeash.com/fatalities_per_million_hours.txt

This is from Design News, 10 April 1993, in a study done by Failure Analysis Associates, Inc,

It says that for a million hours of participation, there are on average .26 biycling deaths - and 8.8 motorcycling deaths. It puts motorcying at 33 time as dangerous. This is in keeping with my recollection of other motorcyle/bicycle safety comparisons.

Both of those are way differnt - they can't both be right, of course. I'd estimate somewhere between those is the truth

Wille P, your logic here is specious. The capacity of a motorcyle is not defensive at all, but rather the capacity to put yourself in more trouble at higher speed.

You might want to stay away from motorcycles - because your intuition and logic about the risks involved is so inaccurate.

ouch Mick... maybe Willie could learn some more, since 3 years is relatively new, and enhance his understanding of the risks and what causes them, rather than abandon a new hobby he quite clearly loves. Just riding a motorcycle isn't what kills people - it's how they ride, where, conditions, skill sets, understanding and whatnot. All of which it seems to me could improve with study, discussion, and practice. Something an avid enthusiast is likely to do anyway.

You gotta do what you love. Life without passion is like food without flavor - choking and depressing.

I've been on bicycles since 6 (geez, even at 4 I was riding a tricycle solo along the sides of some sidewalk-less Buffalo streets) and motorcycles since 8. Hundreds of in-woods hours on m/c, thousands of on-roads hours on bicycle.

I've gotten hurt on both, in nearly all cases doing something stupid, or someone else doing something stupid. Education, and not being an asshat, will keep you safe on both.

All that said, I'm more with Mick. It's much easier to get in over your head on m/c, and also the magnitude of injury from speed.

@Mick -- do you know the source for the tabulation of fatalities per million hours?

I'd like to get a biz card of that printed up for when people say "You bike to work, isn't that dangerous?" But without attribution, it looses it's umph....

I don’t want to get into the motorcycling debate but I ride both and for me I feel safer on my motorcycle then a bicycle. Leather jacket, boots, full-face helmet vs. light nylon clothing and styrofoam half helmet. Inherently there are risks in both activities. The chance of a fatality is obviously greater at high speeds on a motorcycle.

Something I would like to share that I think is very important. When I took the motorcycle safety class many moons ago the instructor said something that stuck in my head to this day. He stated that more then 80% of motorcycle accidents occur at intersections and he really emphasized keeping your head on a swivel when approaching one. He said something to the effect that you can’t predict the future or pick the lottery numbers but odds are that if you are going to be in a motorcycle accident it’s most likely going to be at an intersection.

This may not be statistically correct for bicycle riding. But I apply his theory when I ride my bicycle and keep my head on a swivel approaching and ridding thru any intersection.

@myydrin

As I said This is from Design News, 10 April 1993, in a study done by Failure Analysis Associates, Inc,

That is all I know about it. It is more-or-less consistent with other stats I've seen, or I would not have posted it.

Oddly enough, virtually all the tables I've seen about the relative hazards of activities were from bicycle sources.

People somehow don't feel the need to defend the safey of car use, even though it kills a hundred or so a day in the US.

@Willie P - I apologize for making personal suggestions about what you do. It really isn't my business.

People are allowed- and should be allowed-do do things that have some danger involved.

Ahh... I love the sound of civil discourse in the morning. It sounds like... democracy!

@Mick -- thanks, somehow I missed that. I did a google search and came up with a couple other links.

Hopefully, I can find a little info about their methodology.... AND a printing company that will let me print up a small batch of these. For what ever reason, I seem to get asked this often.

uhhhhhhh.... not sure where all that was directed, but I feel bad now that we were/are hijacking a previously innocuous thread.

As far as my analysis was concerned, I was just giving a subjective, seat of the pants dangerous-quotient. I find it much better to stirring debate. No fun when everyone is in consensus!

I'd be open to a new thread if ppl wanted to do so.

I just like being on two wheels - both bicycles and motorcycles provide an amazing amount of adventure and freedom to take roads less traveled, if at all.

wp

uhhhhhhh.... not sure where all that was directed, but I feel bad now that we were/are hijacking a previously innocuous thread.

You clearly haven't been 'round these parts for long--this is a time-honored tradition!

"You clearly haven't been 'round these parts for long--this is a time-honored tradition!"

+1 - and no offense williep, but far more colorful characters and causes have thread-jacked: Vikings, vegans, ninjas, u-lock wielding, Chuck Norris and The Rules to name a few.

Welcome.

Vikings, vegans, ninjas, u-lock wielding, Chuck Norris and The Rules to name a few.

I'll buy a beer for the first person to find a past thread that includes all of the above.

Well, the motorcycling/bicycling talk brought me out (more sporadic lurker than regular poster here). I accept the various risks of both types of riding. In the end, you can't beat death, but you can beat death in your life. I appreciate thoughtful consideration of ways to enhance the relative safety of a given activity, but risk aversion can become a disease like any other. Take precautions and go.

I ride an old German motorcycle (BMW R65), not quite as old as the one piloted by the lovely lady in my avatar, but simple enough to work on it myself and new enough that it actually stops. I love wrenching on the moto and my assortment of bicycles. That and the slow, uphill slog of renovating an old row house in Larryland keeps me out of trouble, mostly. Like a lot of you, I'd like to start growing more of my own food and maybe even build a little greenhouse. Just tomatoes and peppers, some greens and the usual herbs so far. Probably should get myself a kayak or canoe soon, too. I live two blocks from the river. It's about time I paddle on it. I teach writing, lit, etc. for a living, so that's where work and hobbies/interests bleed together.

Nick, Honda CBs are great. I've had both a 350 and a 400T. Stick w/ 350 and stay away from the 360 and later 400/450 twins. They have various problems (cam chain tensioner, etc) that make them short-lived. The only thing that got better were the brakes.

The capacity of a motorcycle is not defensive at all, but rather the capacity to put yourself in more trouble at higher speed.

That. Also, just like bicycling, motorcycling gets safer with experience. The classic motorcycle fatality is somebody jumps on a borrowed bike and tries to run through all the gears and discovers that once you hit sixth gear you run out of road awfully fast.

Also, trying to stop from 100mph is a good deal trickier on a motorcycle than in a car.

I feel safer on my motorcycle

People's intuitions about what "feels" safer are so frequently in error that this kind of a sentence deserves its own Latin name. Just saying.

more then 80% of motorcycle accidents occur at intersections

And... this. It applies equally well to bicycle accidents.

I have crashed a number of times on motorcycles. I have crashed innumerable times on bicycles. So it is statistically impossible to make a comparison between numerable and innumerable based on my experience. Oddly, I think I am in better shape and creak less than most of my 50 year old friends. Sometimes I feel like Wolverine. I think it's all been worth it.

hey edmonds, I still wanna see a larger pic of your avatar? (i sent you a PM).

If I could figure how to post here (pic), i'll put a pic of my Waterford up.

more thread hijacking - wow, I could get used to this!

wp

You can view any avatar image in a new window/tab, then replace the s=80 with something larger to get a big picture.

"it" ate my post AGAIN. (third time's the charm?)

reddan - you owe ALMKLM a beer then, because he mentioned them all in this thread. Or me for pointing it out, but I think ALMKLM would appreciate it more

I think most car accidents happen at intersections as well. this means it's clearly the intersections' faults, and they should be eliminated. All roads should be parallel, or cul-de-sacs only. I think I've gone too silly to continue.

Back to the topic at hand, my woodworking class at this place just started yesterday: http://www.dilegnosupply.com/Classes/woodworking_classes.htm and it is the awesomest class on the planet. Instructor clearly loves woodworking AND teaching, so it's easy and fun to learn from him. My favorite part so far is the saw he reccommends is Japanese, so when I was working I kept hearing Japanese game show sound effects in my head. And flattening chisel backs is very soothing.

Ok, back to pirate viking ninja zombies, or whatever.

Woo! That was easy. Thanks.

This is a neat thread

I grew up north of the Allegheny National Forest moved to Pittsburgh 8 years ago mainly to play ice hockey and secondly to go to school.

I unfortunately don't play that much hockey any more due to multiple shoulder surgies and the fact that I'll never play checking hockey again. Luckily the fact that I had to take time off from hockey brought me to cycling more specifically racing bikes.

I race road and cyclocross.

I too still listen to ska but mostly of the variety cburch described.

I did graduate school and got a drafting degree and that's what I do now for work. I've drafted/ designed lots of different things such as detailed rebar models, mining machinery, parts of glass plants, parts of steel mills, and even a little piping. Its proved to be a pretty dependable occupation.

Its interesting how many people on here are/ were involved in engineering.

Its interesting how many people on here are/ were involved in engineering.

I've noticed that too. I wonder if that is something about cycling or something about Pittsburgh? There are some pretty decent Engineering/Science schools round here.

I know I came here originally for school, although not for engineering.

Geesh! I'm pretty much forced to chime in now. Not so much because I'm an engineer (WVU not Pitt) but because one of the coolest things I ever learned about woodworking was that a Japanese saw's teeth cut on the pull-stroke not the push-stroke because the Japanese believe in bringing the wood into the body.

@ejwme - hopefully your instructor already told you that.

I think it would suffice to say hobbies are my hobby. I've always said that I am good at everything and great at nothing. That was, until I became a dad.

I wonder if that is something about cycling or something about Pittsburgh?

The pattern holds elsewhere, so I'd say it's a little bit of both. It's also something about computer message boards.

It's also something about computer message boards.

Yeah, I think this particular sub-sub-culture may be chocked full o' engineering types, but I'm not sure that's the case for area cycling in general.

The local climbing community is also full of engineering/computer types, though I've discovered in my travels that this is pretty consistent everywhere. Given the amount of problem solving that goes when you climb, it's clear what the draw is.

Morningsider - my instructor didn't but I'm super excited to point that out to my kungfu instructor, 'cause wood is one of the elements.

it's all connected.

for engineering... one of the things I like about cycling is that, once you're on your bike, there's no way you can think yourself up the hill - it's not a problem to "solve". Pedaling uphill is the antidote to a profession (and natural disposition) that makes me think too damn much.

Im a EE working for an aerial survey firm. I've been car free for 2 years now and I have a reaaaaaallly long commute from O'hara township to Upper St Clair, but I got to go to Kansas for three weeks in January to do a ground control survey. I got to go mostly because , I think , nobody else wanted to go. We did 180 points, mostly in central Kansas. The pic shows a map of the point locations and a typical setup.

Wow, you must be the only surveyor who uses pushpins instead of a scope-sight icon, huh?

"Its interesting how many people on here are/ were involved in engineering."

Am I the only former English major here? My biz partner is an architect, and I'm a contractor, so I work with and know a lot of architects and structural engineers... does that count?

Am I the only former English major here?

Nope. I have degrees in philosophy and writing. I just happen to work with computers right now.

B.A. in English, minor in Computer Science, later an M.S. in Information Science. In my spare time (?) I correct spelling and grammar on any Wikipedia articles I read.

Anyone wants a website or document proofread, look me up.

@boazo - How do you get to work? Bike? Bus? Mixed mode?

O'Hara to Upper St Clair is a helluva trip.

If I were in your shoes, I would seriously considering moving to the South Hills.

boazo - is Kansas really as soul crushingly flat as it appears? my dad claims that while one could drive across the entire country in 4 days, it takes two weeks to cross Kansas - two weeks you'll never, ever get back.

Ha, ha! I think Kansas gets a bad rap. I rode my bike across it a long time ago. It is flat like nothing a Pennsylvanian, or an Ohioan, can imagine. It's not like a really tough hill climb, you can't struggle against it, you will lose. You just have to clear your mind and be in it, pedaling. And you end up across. One of the most Zen places I've ever been.

I remember the first time we drove from Montreal to Vancouver - I was eight, and we hit Manitoba and I started to get really freaked out, couldn't relax or sleep properly till we hit Alberta. Flat places give me the heebeegeebees. My mind doesn't understand them. It's like someone turned a huge building inside out, and if I open the right door I'll find the real outside, where there are normal hills and trees and stuff.

I could see it being rather zen to ride somewhere so flat, though.

I think it was in Oh, Pioneers! that Willa Cather's protagonist describes the maddening nothingness of the prairie, the incessant wind. Maybe that's your influence.

I derail threads for a hobby. I'm like a derailleur.

I'm just throwing this out because it encompasses a lot of peoples hobbies, and if you watch it you will feel your day become more awesome, so watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L_SbQ0uTyI

My day was enriched because of watching that.

Hmmm. Potential bucket list activities. Plus a lot of good memories. Fav: Unking a crowded sidewalk in the dark. (Doing same in a blinding daylight snowstorm is equally fun.)

Love the "unintentional dismount" at 3:21. He must've been distracted.

Yeah, gotta bring the wheel to a Flock ride sometime.

Oh, I was afk for a couple of days.

Mick - I almost always do a mixed mode bike and bus commute. I start with a ride down Kittanning Pike ( just from about the 900 ft level , not the whole thing) to downtown and then catch the bus to Bridgville. From Bridgeville its about 4 miles more on the bike to work. I've only done the whole thing on bike a few times , it took about 2 hours which is about the same time as the bike/bus. As it is, I'm on the bike a little more than an hour each way which my body seems to thrive on, I don't have any aches or pains or anything. But doing the whole thing by bike only everyday would definitly wipe me out.

ejwme - there are some nice areas North of Wichita , esp the Flint Hills. Its too rocky to cultivate there, so its just left as an open grazing area. There's like a montage of unknown Kansas below -

Since this is still going, I'll chime in.

I am a transportation planner for a City near you. I am in a very fortunate position however chaotic it all seems from time to time. No one hesitates to share their enthusiasm for progress with me. I learn a ton every day and my life is enriched by that experience.

I am a backpacker. Like to hike and sometimes ski.

Getting into ultralight backpacking now.

I think I would like to start climbing.

I have been car free since September 15, 2010. I live in Esplen (off West Carson St) so I get to ride a lot.

I have a relationship with Christ today that I never thought possible.

I like to idea of recycling bikes and helping people. Am in early stages of organizing a ministry for this on the NorthSide.

I have been dabbling in healthier foods to maximize performance. I still have a love affair with pizza.

In free time i do hiking, city long walks, city biking.. and for the entertainment bowling, playing pool, playing bike games online, watching games with friends and other..

I like necromancy. ;-)

It's nice to see some good old threads disinterred, even if it is by a spammer. To answer the original question, I've had a ton of hobbies over the years and have found that biking is, dollar for dollar and hour for hour, the best of them. I spent about a decade racing motocross bikes, on tracks and in the woods. That was a massive amount of fun but the travel costs, travel time, staggering equipment maintenance, and abuse to the body get really old. My close friends from that world are now tied up by their businesses, so now the bike just sits. I had a couple of road racing motorcycles on the street, and probably logged about 40k miles on them. They were also massive fun but you had to get totally away from civilization to really enjoy them, and the consuquences of a crash were pretty high, so the remaining bike just sits. We've done (and still do) a bit of downhill skiing, which is great fun, but the downside is the high cost and very limited season, as well as the time it takes. It's clean, challenging, and equipment maintenence is about nil, which is nice. Backpacking is pretty cool in a nice setting; we've done that a few times and I've generally enjoyed it. Taking a 4 wheel drive off road can also been fun, but places to go are very few and far between. There's also a lot of risk to the equipment. I do a lot of mechanical and fabrication work, both out of necessity and because I enjoy it. Target shooting was once a hobby, but the fun per hour and fun per dollar are pretty low compared to bikes. Bottom line: biking is tough to beat when you consider the costs, the social aspect of it, the ability to do it year-round, the variety, etc.

Kayaking. The other day we parked at West Newton, used a bike trailer to haul our pair of inflatable Sea Eagle 330s up to Cedar Creek Park, locked up the rigs, floated down leisurely, and got back to the car to pick up the parked bikes. Anyone else bike/kayak and have any suggestions for places to portage kayaks to by bike to kayak? I was playing with the idea of putting in around Connellsville to do some of that Class II stuff w/ the kiddos.

You could put the kayaks in at Apollo and head down the Kiski River; there is a flat road between there and whatever the next town down the river is. Also, the Cheat River between Rowlesburg, WV and where WV Route 7 crosses the Cheat (at WV Route 72's northern end) would be pretty cool. I think that section is called "The Narrows" and it is really pretty.

Sweet, that sounds like a cool option. @JacobMcCrea have you done the area around Connellsville? The maps show that there are Class II/Class III around there and I'm wondering if it would be too much for the little dudes we have. We're not trying to take them through Dimple, or anything.

I don't recall any rapids downstream of Connellsville, but I can only speak to what I've seen of the river from the trail. That said, I would be very surprised if there are any rapids downstream of Connellsville. I believe there are a few between Ohiopyle's lower take-out point and Connellsville, but the logistics of doing that would be really clunky (assuming you can legally launch from there, I don't know). If you biked upriver from Connellsville and launched from around Camp Carmel, I think you'd have a nice, albeit short, stretch of river, with a nice parking lot & park in Connellsville. You can get a car back to Camp Carmel to pick up the bikes; I can give you directions if you can't figure it out looking at a map. Also, you could do a lot worse than boating from Confluence to Ohiopyle.

The yough has a few small ripple areas downstream of connellsville but they are all very tame like the stretch near roundbottom. Very doable in any canoe/kayak but I'd put the PFD's on the kids just to be extra safe.

Oh yeah, PFDs on the kiddos, for sure. They really enjoyed the couple of riffles that we went through between Cedar Creek Park and West Newton, and you can do a whole lot worse than getting in riding and kayaking in the same day.

I drive to the GAP (Duquesne or Costco) and cycle to USX most every morning. I'm the guy who always says hi to everyone. For Fun: I enjoy kayaking streams, creeks and rivers). I used to motorcycle camp and wouldn't mind doing more of it. Snowboard in the winter almost every weekend. Took up fat bike riding in the winter to change things up a bit. Season ticket holder to Pitt Football, basketball and a few Pens games. Enjoy exploring Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. Started bicycle touring a few summers ago. I pick up and go to other areas/states to ride and explore. Side Gig: I officiate collegiate volleyball matches.