Hello deepest gap east of the Mississippi. We had to cycle out of that which meant a big climb.
Looks nice from a distance.
Kristine sizing up the enemy.
Someone said this looked like the hills from The Sound of Music. I never saw the movie but I took a picture anyway.
It's hard to ride and take pictures at the same time, but the action shots are so worth the struggle.
At our lunch stop.
We found a random man scaling a steep hillside who was picking wild blackberries and raspberries. He invited us up to enjoy some with him.
First view of the city from a stoplight where it was safe to take a picture.
Home of the Penguins.
Zumba fest in front of PNC park.
The mascot took on the role of assistant instructor.
Home of the Pirates.
Sunset in the city.
Dancing on benches at the German beer hall.
Ceiling paintings at the bicycle bar.
Cyclists gathered at the cycling bar.
Morning yoga in the park.
Restaurant across from our church. This photo is for Kyle Andrukewitcz.
Description of the bridge monster.
View of PNC Park crossing the bridge.
$8 upperdeck leftfield seats from a scalper to a sold out cross state rivalry between the Pirates and the Philies. Can't beat that.
What a beautiful skyline view from the stadium. Too bad Pittsburgh is the worst team in baseball and Philies fans dominated the attendence tonight and started all their own chants. The park is small and the fans were mostly quiet all night long; a drastic change from the Yankees and Sox games I have gone to. It was like a minor league experience tonight.
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Nighttime skyline.
Post game fireworks right from the river behind the stadium.
Thank you Pittsburgh for the wonderful display.
The Pirates suck real bad and lost big time but we celebrated anyway.
Happy birthday America.
Patriotic songs were blasting in the background this whole time. Such a good atmosphere.
Boom!
This photo is for Care Gazda who always took pictures of fireworks at all the displays we went to.
Steady swarm of people exiting the city after the game and fireworks.
Truth.
Random cycling mural on a buildig wall. For a city that has such awful roads, they sure do like cyclists.
Meet Brandt. Brandt grew up in Michigan where he was homeschooled for most of his education. He goes to Alma college where he is studying to become an English teacher. His father is a pastor and Brandt has taken the lead on saying grace many a night on the trip. He is a genuinely nice and polite guy, the type you would want your sister to date. He has cage pedals instead of clip ins which makes pedaling harder but he still cycles like a champ everyday. We have had some great conversations about life and education and I greatly value his perspective. Definition of Mr. Nice Guy.
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Jul 02, 2010
What a great last day of Pennsylvania riding. We experienced such a variety of stimuli today that my mind is practically on overload. The morning started off in the absolute frigid valley that we quickly had to climb out of. We got back into Amish country and the rolling farms that we had already seen so much of. The hill climbs were especially brutal today but the best part was seeing the slowly changing and more condensed landscape as we moved closer the the city. Around mile 60 we started to hit the suburbs and then as the roads got progressively worse and the street and traffic density increased, we knew we had reached the city. After a day of going up and down narrow asphalt strips, it was a drastic and exciting scene to see the city skyline in front of us with buildings jutting up. It was difficult to navigate the bumpy roads filled with unconcerned motorists, but we did it and got to the church safely. The whole day, everyone was cursing off PA because off all the mountains, so there was a general feeling of relief to be done with the state. I'm personally sad to be leaving because nothing males people bond quite like the agony of cycling up mountains all day and complaints of the lactic acid buildup in the legs. Oh well, I'm sure we can find happy things to bond over too.
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Jul 02, 2010
The first order of business after showering was to explore the city. I asked a man on the street for directions to the ball park and a group of six of us started walking. We found some good points of interest to explore tomorrow but were most impressed by the activity at PNC Park when we got there. There was a 200 person zumba festival going on in the street that even the mascot joined in on. It was entertaining beyond belief. We returned for dinner as the church and started plotting our night. We did a city tour of bar hopping on a street where it seemed there were only bars. We did a German beer hall, a bicycle bar, and even a dance club. The night was at a level of ridiculous fun as the streets overflowed with humans and everyone on Bike and Build had a little bit too much to drink. One of the girls on our trip is from Pittsburgh so we had her car and I drove people home safely at the end of the night since I don't drink. This paid off big time because I got to sleep in her spare bed instead of a church floor and in the morning her mom made us Belgian waffles and bacon. Ah the good life....
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