Thanks for the time you put into that, Andy. It was a great read. On 10/30/13, ascpgh <asc....@gmail.com> wrote: > As again we meet to couple some of the paths, ways and routes of town into > an enjoyable evening of riding and looking at our environs from the > perspective of darkness. Just two of us in this week crowded with Halloween > > events and trick or treating Thursday. > > We wove up Highland through East Liberty and Shadyside to the edge of > Oakland and the PITT & CMU campuses, taking (er, descending) Neville Street > > to the bottom of Panther Hollow. It is colder, darker and silent as we > pass the few houses and reach the gate stopping cars from entering the > portion that reaches the Monongahela River. It is as dark as Peter White's > headlight testing range in his driveway in New Hampshire and we both have > B&M lights and are seeing the limitation of them in the wildest of wilds; > the horizontal cut off of the beam leaves lots of the wild world without > any illumination, even if just happen chance. Swooping bats and > unreflective/unlit joggers are in the beam, coming towards us before we > know they are out there. > > We cross the Mon River into the South Side on the Hot Metal Bridge, > intending to veer away from flashy nighttime venues or blatant retail > areas, even though the biggest, the South Side Works did a remarkable job > of planting an open air shopping area within a street plan that was > existent in the neighborhood that was adjacent to a mill once operating on > the same place. The space has a streets cape, a center and a feel that is > not so harshly contrasting with the hardworking, industrial ethos of a > neighborhood once full of immigrants making their best run at a better life > > by way of their work. > > We had to stop by a pair of places, side by side, on 12th Street between > Carson and Bedford Square, where an old public market house sits and once > was a hub of trade. The colorful joint was made famous in a film made in > Pittsburgh, they named it "Mawby's" for the movie. The other is a favorite > "small room" venue with a strong schedule of artists on a daily basis, year > > in and out. We cross Carson, which parallels the Mon River, on 12th and > turn on Sarah St. going to 18th. My colleague has a memory of a garage > there he once walked by at 2AM and the owner was in there at work. We do > find it and Kurt, the proprietor is there at work still. In the back are > hundreds of bikes hanging by their front wheels, unclaimed vestiges of his > years of bicycle repair service which he stopped when the unclaimed > repaired bikes filled the space he allotted to that pursuit. There they all > > are teasing me to look, identify and fond caring homes for. > > We continue along the Mon among the dark industrial structures repurposed > as economy dictated, to the Pittsburgh and Long Island Railway Station. > Essentially a first class, passenger only, line serving the wealthiest of > Americans of the era, providing the highest level of mobility on that side > of Orville and Wilbur in history. Now a restaurant and bar, still featuring > > windows on the river facing the lights of the city. The rooms of the > terminal were apportioned for particular uses; a women's parlor, free of > the cigar smoke and big talk between titans of industry on the way to New > York, the men's club room for those in this rare crowd seeking even more > personal space for their conversations. Now an equitable place anchoring > adjacent developments of public space; Hard Rock Cafe, a hotel, etc. We > push on after a comfort stop and circle around to cross the Fort Pitt > Bridge to the city and Point State Park to see the fountain's last night > before a winter hiatus. > > We climb the Fort Duquesne Bridge ramp over the Allegheny River to the > North Shore (nee North Side) site of the football stadium, the baseball > field, the Andy Warhol Museum. Willie Stargell looks good with my bike. We > take a quiet crossing on the Roberto Clemente (nee 6th Street) Bridge then > we roll back east along this other fork of the Ohio to the convention > center on the Allegheny to look at the water feature there and find it > turned off for the season already, but its illuminating LEDs still purple. > Everyone emphasizes our local resource, the water, each chance they get. > True locals may not appreciate the abundance of it here as compared to > other parts of the country where clean water is scarce or of limited > quantity. > > Climbing from the river, through the passage under the convention center, > we turn onto Penn Avenue, an artery through the cultural district downtown. > > It's Tuesday before Halloween and the calendars are heavily favoring the > late week so it is quiet as we ride down through town, around Market Square > > and south to the Eliza Furnace Trail. On it we leave the lights of town and > > join the lights of cars adjacent to us for a mile before we drop down to > the level of the ground, parkway ramps above us, sand mining and aggregate > businesses next to us, at the level of the river. We ride up the Mon to the > > valley we came out of but to go uphill this time. It's a similar path of > new immigrants here; they found work and someplace to live that was near > that. When they found their people, if not directly sponsored for their > trip here by them, they moved farther away from the river and the big > mills. Frank Gorshin, '60s Batman TV show Riddler, recounts his dad's > ascent in employment success by his families incremental climb uphill from > the Allegheny River neighborhood of Lawrenceville to Stanton Heights, house > > by house. > > Back to where we began and a quick refueling to look over the pictures and > be surprised that we rode for three hours on this cool night. Neither of us > > had odometers, couldn't have seen them anyway. Just fun to go where your > eye leads you and take in the way things look when the sun isn't up. Water > takes a path that is not always obvious when poured out, same for peopel > traveling by bike when the sun goes down. > > Pics: > https://plus.google.com/photos/109160474815391208206/albums/5940493353970322529?authkey=COSjl9uoqMz5ygE > > Andy Cheatham > Pittsburgh > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >
-- Cheers, David "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
