First day of spring road ride

Got out for a nice 38 mile ride which took my around the city. Went through Highland Park, across the bridge to Aspinwall and up Center (Dirty Dozen hill). Then up Spring Garden Ave, which was a pleasant gradual climb that I've never done before. This took me near Riverview Park, so I road through there on the on-street bike path. Then back down to the city via the riverfront trail. Hit the Jail Trail and back up to Squirrel Hill via CMU campus. Longest ride since the fall, so I was hurting that day and the next. The racing season kicks off in April.

New studded 29'er tires!

Rocked the new studded tires on the Fisher Paragon through Frick Park. They made for a great ride!

Big Papio trail - Omaha

Nearly 50 degrees over Christmas in Nebraska meant that we needed to be on the bikes. We headed out from home and road through our old stomping grounds of Wildwood Park and Ponderosa. Stopped in front of our old house where we reminisced about our younger years. Cruised around Ponderosa for a while where we pointed out homes where our friends used to live. Then through Seymour Smith Park onto the Big Papio trail. Ended up logging almost 20 miles for the entire round-trip ride. It was an excellent way to spend a warm, sunny winter day.

Tranquility Park - Omaha - trail ride

Ryan and I got out for some singletrack riding over the Christmas break. I opted for the bike rental from former employer Bike Rack. They hooked me up with a Trek hardtrail that did the trick for the ride. I think we did most of the Tranquility loop. We even did the new section that goes farther north past the baseball/softball fields. Several nice pump tracks were added to the trails that were even marked (as blue). Tranquility was one of my favorite Omaha locations to ride and race, and it seems that it even got better with the new additions.

Now 6000+ miles on the Surly

The commuter bike surpasses 6000 miles just the other day. Thought I should take a picture and post the picture on the blog.

Punk Bike Enduro

Dirt Rag held its annual Punk Bike Enduro at the beginning of December. It's basically a moving party on two wheels, equipped with outlandish costumes and some, just some tasty beverage consumption. It is still racing (if you choose). The Punk Enduro offers 11 stages of varying difficultly and skills. One such is the bike derby (complete with a ghost bike).
Other stages include a steep run up, and then a steep descent down a chute. This is the steepest chute I've ever attempted, and unfortunately washed out toward the bottom because I chose the wrong chute.
Two other stages had massive road climbs. So the first 7 guys and girls up the road one Punk points.
Yet another stage was an incredible descent down singletrack that ended with this off-camber rocky section where on-lookers could view the action.

I ended up finding a Punk and winning one stage so I did score some points which got me a nice jersey during the free reception. Good times. Looking forward to it next year.

New Pittsburgh bike lane

It's one of a kind here in Pittsburgh. The first partitioned on-street bike lane near Homestead and the Waterfront. The bike lane is separated from the street with white lines and pylons. These types of bike lanes are very common in Europe. It's good to see that they are making a presence in the US. The second picture is the bike sign and trail that is the GAP. Trail goes all the way to DC. Hopefully get to do that next summer.