Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sunday Ride to the Strip!

Today, my lab mate and I took a ride to the Strip District in Pittsburgh. The weather was pretty good for cycling. The ride started off a little cool and cloudy, but by the end of it, there were blue skies and it was pretty warm. We started out in Squirrel Hill and took Shady Avenue to Penn. This was my first time cycling through East Liberty and though the city is trying to rejuvenate the area, there are still many old, abandoned houses. Nevertheless, East Liberty has a certain charm of it's on. Some may disagree; however, I tend to find beauty in the unlikeliest of places.

First stop was Nature's Way Market where I got an awesome homemade gourmet candy cane (Oh how I love Christmas!). After, we continued to the Strip District to Penzeys Spices. This place has more spices than you can imagine. Definitely a must for trying your cooking skills on some exotic cuisine. I got the Bicentennial Rub compliments of Ronit's free coupon! Holla!!!

To return to Squirrel Hill, I had the brilliant idea of taking the Panther Hallow Trail. Lets just say, when I got off of my bike at home finally and went to carry it upstairs, my thighs were shaking. Whew, today was a workout. It was great to hang out with Ronit again! I will miss my cycling buddy when she graduates.

Time: 1:45:47
Distance: 13.96 miles
Bike: 2009 Giant Seek 2

Monday, November 1, 2010

What Rolls Down, Must Roll Back Up

In my previous post (Oh Schenley), I alluded to a new purchase made at Pittsburgh Pro Bikes.  Well, I would like to introduce you to Gabby, the newest addition to my cycling repertoire.  She is a 2009 Cannondale F5 and I got a GREAT deal!  Today was my first time out with the new bike.  I had everything all planned out:  church at 9:00 am, meet up with the girls for a ride at 10:30 am, get a little bit of Schenley in before heading home, get ready for the game.  Well,  needless to say, the plans changed.  Unfortunately my downstairs neighbors had a very loud party last night with a bunch of very obnoxious people who wanted to "wooo whooo" all night.  The weather was a little chilly this morning so I decided to hold off until the sun came out.  Of course, when the weather got a little better, I had to make a trip to Frick.  I started off on the Beechwood entrance (by the playground) and took the Riverview trail to the Lower Riverview trail to the Firelane Trail Extension.  Two-ish miles of nice fast downhill riding.  Unfortunately, I had to ride back up :-(  Besides the fact that I sucked plenty of air going back up and stopped a few times, I finally made it home, thighs throbbing and all.  I must say, mountain bikes are more fun!!!! I can't wait to get back in the woods and try out some of the single track trails.  Since I was alone I decided it was probably not the best idea to go hard core right away. I'm looking for a teacher though so if you would like to go mountain biking, let me know ;-)


As if the day couldn't get any better, I went to a nice mass at 6pm, cooked smothered pork chops, and watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I'm tempted to wear my Drew Brees jersey to work tomorrow but I'm not sure it's the safest thing to do.  Until next time.... WHO DAT!

Distance:  5.96 miles
Time:  53:33
Bike:  2009 Cannondale F5 FÉMININE