Pittsburgh Guy

Best Out of A Bad Situation

2009-08-30T23:08:00.002-04:00

The Zvirman situation was over a month ago. As distasteful as it was to have someone threaten to shoot me and then run over my bike, my goal was to make the best of it and then put it behind me. The old bike was my commuter. Also, I originally got it to ride to DC in the Summer of 2007. It served that purpose and then served as a great commuter bike for 2 years. During that period I made many upgrades. Also my needs changed.

After buying the cyclocross, I upgraded to a nicer road bike which I use for long rides almost every weekend and for charity rides. The cyclocross was reduced to bad weather rides and going to work and back.

We also got a second home out of state. So after the cyclocross was destroyed I thought it would be nice to have a bike that was specifically designed for commuting, and a second quality road bike that I could leave at the vacation home so I wouldn't have to worry about bringing my road bike back and forth. I settled with the insurance company for a little less than $1600, which I decided to use as my budget for the two bikes.

As described in the last post, I bought a single speed Raleigh One Way for a little over $600. I had a pair of old clipless pedals to throw on and now I have a great commuter that should make me a stronger climber.

As for the second goal - the road bike: I found a two season old Orbea Onix carbon fiber frame on Ebay for a little over $400. I had always admired i.e. drooled over..Orbeas, which are hand-made in Spain and a favorite of professional riders. From the old bike I was able to salvage the Ultegra rear drive train, chain and cassette, the Specialized Body Geometry seat, the stem, handlebars and Tiagra brake lever/shifters. I purchased off of Ebay a nice set of Ultegra a brakes and a Felt carbon fiber seat post, total cost for these parts: about $90. I then found a very nice new wheel set made by Vuelta and under 1600 grams for $220. Vuelta is a lesser known brand, but I had a set on my cross bike. They held up great, never had to be trued, almost withstood a 6000 lb Armada, and always spun free. From my parts bin I had an Ultegra bottom bracket and crankset that had been on my Madone before I upgraded to a carbon compact, and a Dura ace front derailleur. I also bought a pair of Shimano pedals and tires at REI for $100 (with my spouse discount), bringing my total for the frame and parts to @ $800. Pittsburgh's best mechanics, Jordan and Ted at REI put it together for me. Today I took it for a nice ride up Mt. Troy, down Spring Garden and around town. The frame is very stable and supple. It tracks great. Overall the bike is probably a little heavier than my Madone, but still quite light. I'm extremely pleased. If there is one weakness it may be that the handlebar and stem are heavy since they were specked for the cyclocross bike. I've found the same bars as I have on my Madone and a stem from a complete Onix that I will eventually use to solve that problem. I also may look to upgrade from the Tiagra levers and shifters, although they shift crisp.

The accident and confrontation with Zvirman was quite distasteful on many levels. I learned that no matter how unsafe and rude a driver can be, ignore them and keep riding by. I also was able to replace a beloved bike with two that I think I will learn to like even more.

Raleigh One Way

2009-08-21T22:19:00.002-04:00

Ever since Mr. Zvirman ran over my cyclocross bike I have been riding a 20 year old woman's Cannondale hybrid that had been in storage. The Cannondale was a little too small. It was aluminum with an aluminum fork. This was state of the art in the late 80's when my wife bought the bike. Today it got me to work, but was heavy and a bit unforgiving when you hit Pittsburgh's abundant bad pavement. The Motobecane cyclocross also was aluminum, but it was a good fit, fairly light and had a carbon fork to smooth out the aluminum ride a bit. On the other hand I am quite spoiled by my carbon fiber road bike that I ride on the weekends and on longer rides.

As unreasonable as Mr. Zvirman had been the day of the altercation, his insurance company Merchant's was professional and reasonable to deal with. We agreed upon on equitable amount to reimburse me for the destroyed Motobecane, and I was allowed to keep it's remains. There is just about enough money to buy a commuter bike and a frame and other parts necessary to build a new road bike using what is still functional from the Motobecane.

I decided to go in a new direction for the commuter bike. Instead of simply taking all of the money and getting a new cyclocross I decided to get a true commuter. The bike I chose is a Raleigh One Way. It's a very retro all steel single speed bike. Throw back features include a leather Brooks seat and handle bar tape, nice detail work on the frame, fenders, a shiny bell and pump and oversized bullet proof tires. All for a fairly reasonable price of slightly over $600. The Raleigh name is nostalgic to me. I had a 5 speed Raleigh folding bike in high school and college back in the 70's. It was a heavy beast, but cool. The One Way is neither heavy nor light. The lack of any components saves weight on what would be a heavy bike if geared. I would estimate it to be about 2 pounds heavier than the pre-Zvirman cyclocross. Gearing on the bike is 16/42. On the flats it's not as fast as the cyclocross or road bike, but it's not painfully slow like a single speed 29er I used to have. The commute to work takes about the same time as it did before, but I just can't reach as high a top speed on the Jail Trail. So far I haven't put a bike computer on the One Way and don't think I will as it seems to be bad karma for this retro machine.

The steel frame and fork are a pleasure. Instead of getting a jarring vibration transmitting through my body as I hit a pothole, the steel frame deadens the paved imperfections. It's not as supple as carbon, but the ride is just perfect for commutes through Pittsburgh's miserable streets. The other issue that I was wondering about is climbing in a single speed. My ride home takes me from the city's lowest point downtown to my home at one of the highest elevations in the East End. I ride from the Jail Trail through the Panther Hollow Trail and either up through Boundary Street to 5th Ave or through the CMU cut through to Flagstaff and the Golf Course. The gearing of the bike makes the climb manageable. I'm not so sure I would want to take it up Greenleaf or Sycamore, but that's not really why I have this bike. For long distance and climbing I have the road bike. The only problem so far with the bike is a defect on one of the water bottle brazeons. I can't get the screw out to mount a bottle cage. I'm sure the dealer will be able to take care of this.

The second phoenix of the Zvirman incident is still being built up. I bought a used carbon Orbea frame on Ebay at a nice price, and also picked up some Ultegra brakes and a carbon seat post. Either from the Motobecane or from my parts bin I had almost all of the rest of the components I needed. I did need to buy new wheels and pedals. The bike will be ready to go for the Sunday ride next week. I'll report back then.

Thanks USAir

2009-07-31T18:11:00.003-04:00

I can’t recall the last time, or ever, complimenting USAir, but they did right by me. We had a very bad 12 hour period. Our flight was scheduled for 7:50 PM from Pittsburgh to Savannah GA. We left in enough time, but were cutting it a bit close for the 30 minu

te drive to the airport. We also knew there was a Lil’ Wayne concert in the area, but really did not connect the two.

It quickly became apparent that we were in trouble. We entered the highway and were stuck in total gridlock. The normal 10 minute drive downtown

took an hour. We saw a car broken down in the middle of the parkway and figured that was the problem. At this point it was going to be touch and go to get to the airport on time. After the river of vehicles parted around the dead car, we figured that the traffic would flow, but it didn’t. It came to a grinding halt. We were screwed.

Checking the internet from our cell phone we learned that there were no other flights that night to Savannah. We called USAir and were told to go to the airport. There were seats available on the first flight out the next morning. If we booked that flight on the phone it was going to cost us an extra $500, but by going to the airport and going standb

y, since we missed a flight due to traffic they could get us on the flight the next day for no extra charge. We also called our hotel in Savannah and they were kind enough to cancel our room without charge.

As we worked our way through the Fort Pitt Tunnel our flight was boarded and ready to take off. There was an accident in the tunnel. I figured that was the delay, and that things would open up once we got out of the tunnel. Wrong again! Things were bumper to bumper gridlock on the Greentree side as well. We called our daughter who had left a half an hour before us to go to the Little Wayne concert. She was only a few miles in front of us. After observing a couple of more accidents we realized the issue. Lil’ Wayne is a dope smoking fiend. Many of his fans were smoking it up on their way to the show. Reactions were slowed down. Fenders and bumpers were mangled as a result, and traffic came to a standstill.

After 2 ½ hours we finally made it to the airport. Our flight was long gone. We went to the USAir counter. They were actually closed. The employee, already off duty and certainly anxious to get home after a long day at work, reopened for us and got us on the flight for the next day with no extra charge. The bottom line was the schedule was going to work out so we would arrive at our ultimate destination at about the same time as if we stayed on our original flight.

The next task was to find a place to sleep so we could make it to the gate for 6:50 boarding. We decided to pay a bit extra for convenience and stay at the Hyatt attached to the terminal. Sensing we were frazzled by the time we got to the restaurant at almost 10:00, the waitress really took care of us. She arranged for us to have breakfast delivered to our room at 5:30 the next morning so we could have coffee and some food before our flight. We also learned that Lil’ Wayne was booked at the hotel registered under the name of Mr. President. Maybe he should have chosen B. Rack.

The next morning we got up early. Breakfast was delivered as promised at 5:30. When I reached for my wallet to tip the server, it was gone. Panic set in. I looked all over the room. No wallet. This meant no credit card, no money, no ID. That meant “no” at the security, no flight, no trip. Panic morphed into a full scale anxiety attack. I went to the front desk. They didn’t find my wallet. Next I thought that perhaps I left it at home. Did I have enough time to drive home , find my wallet, drive back and get the flight. Unlikely, but what other choice did I have. As I ran to the car, I remembered I did have my wallet when I paid for short term parking and re-parked near the hotel in the extended lot. Sure enough the wallet had fallen out in the car and I found it. Relieved, I return to the hotel and overheard some airline personnel who also stayed at the hotel complaining about the Lil’ Wayne entourage that arrived on their floor at 3 AM and continued their party. I was glad they were not my crew. Who wants a pilot who didn’t get sleep and was engulfed in a cloud of weed smoke from his neighbors.

We boarded on time. The flight was totally full. Had the man at the gate not taken extra time and helped us the night before I would still be sitting at the airport stranded and the word “terminal” would have special meeting. I don’t know the man’s name, so I will just give a big thanks to USAir for kind and excellent service.

2009 Keystone Country MS 150

2009-07-26T17:33:00.002-04:00

This weekend we completed the Keystone Country MS 150. It's really a beautiful event in a lot of senses. The ride is gorgeous. The ride meanders through both sides of the valley between Hollidaysburg and State College PA. This is a little known area of the state that is reminiscent of Vermont. The back roads go along the Juniata River and through little towns. The hills are deep with green trees and roads cut by farms. The ride overnights in State College, a very nice college town.

The event is also beautiful because it brings family and friends together to support a very worthy cause. It also brings strangers together, who otherwise never cross paths. Motorcycle enthusiasts control traffic at the intersections to make sure the riders cross safely and make the right turns. Volunteers in small towns and villages are working rest stops making sure that the riders are nourished with food and drinks. The residents of these small towns stand on their porches and yards cheering the riders as if it was a stage of the Tour d' France.

There were a few challenges:

* The Hampton Inn in Altoona where our team, Lou's Crew, stayed on Friday night failed to give us our wake up calls, making us the last team to start.

* One of our riders fell off his bike after a downhill flat tire, cracked his helmet, got a concussion and overnighted in the Altoona hospital

* A young team member got lost and did a lot of unnecessary first day miles

* One of our teammates was involved in a paceline crash and ran his bike over the the accident

The highlights far exceeded the challenges. I will have lasting memories of the ride. The dinner the first night was highlighted by a presentation from an MS patient who demonstrated his MS guide dog. The dog did amazing things. He kept his owner from falling and could help him up if he was on the ground, she could pick items as small as dime, operate handicap doors, and even use a swipe key so her owner could access the secured work entry. The owner said that if it wasn't for money raised from the event, he wouldn't have his dog.

It was great to see Lou all weekend and share the happiness that the event brought to him. It also was impressive to see what an important figure he is to the MS Society. Also I loved how his family was participating and how his brother-in-law Gregg kept everything working like clockwork. Gregg took care of everything: meals, busses, t-shirts etc, and never asked for any thanks.

43 riders of all levels came together to be part of Lou's Crew for the weekend. A smaller core group gets together every Sunday at Coffee Tree in Squirrel Hill. Some of us were old friends, others had no prior relationship with the other team members. Still others hadn't seen each other in decades and renewed and strengthened friendships. We have all become very close friends because of Lou's Crew. We have fun every Sunday, do something healthy and become better riders. On this weekend we remembered our real purpose for training. One rider in particular really stood out. Beth, not knowing anyone in the group, started riding with us in the Spring. She had never tried anything like riding 150 miles in two days, but she wanted to do it. Every week she became a stronger and more confident rider. Although she was nervous about the event she rode it quickly and easily. I think she actually amazed herself.

I personally had a great time. This is the first time my wife joined me for the weekend. She didn't ride, but she was there to support me and the group. It was really nice to share the experience with her and I appreciated that she took the time to join me. The first day I struggled. I got cramps in both hamstrings and couldn't keep up with my group during the last section. It really didn't matter. The day was beautiful. Other riders in my group had a great day. The second day I felt like bounced back. No cramps and I felt stronger at the end than the beginning.

Rage Against The (Pedal) Machine

2009-07-17T21:59:00.004-04:00

Tonight a young guy with an Irish accent asked me if it is safe to ride the jail trail at night. I told him it's a lot safer than riding the streets any time. The incidents of road rage against cyclists is just absolutely out of control.

The picture to the left is of my Motobecane Cyclocross bike. The picture was taken when I rode it from Pittsburgh to DC on the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Towpath Trail. Good times: me and my Motobecane. The good times ended on Monday evening as I was riding home. A Ken Zvirman of Plum and owner of Jo-Mar Provisions in the Strip decided to punish me for an unthinkable sin. As I was riding down a grade on Walnut Street, without any turn signals Zvirman starting backing up toward me, apparently not looking where he was going. Afraid he was going to run me over with his black Nissan SUV, I yelled "Watch Out!" Zvirman then launched into a profanity laced tirade at me for yelling "watch out." Admittedly, I was mad and yelled back at him emphatically explained it was him and not me who was the asshole.

The next thing I know Ken Zvirman:

1. Said "I should take my gun and kill you."

2. After I asked him if he really had a gun he said "you should take a gun and kill yourself"

3. He then got out of his SUV, started puffing his chest out like some type of tropical lizard while saying "what are we going to do about this"

4. He jumped back into his truck and while I was just inches from the side of his truck while I was trying to mount my bike, he again starts backing up with reckless disregarded of where I was

5. To get his attention and keep him from hitting me I slapped his fender with my open hand, which worked half way. I got his attention, but he cut his wheel so the SUV would come straight at me, gunned his engine and ran over my Motobecane.

When I pointed out that he just ran over my bike, the lovely Mrs. Zvirman said "well you touched our $50k truck." I pointed out that it is not justified to ruin someone's bike and use a vehicle as a weapon as retribution for getting finger prints on one's fender, but I was actually thinking what kind of idiot spends $50k on a Nissan SUV and brags about it. Later, when explaining things to the police, Mr. Zvirman indicated that he wanted to make an insurance claim against me because I "got finger prints on his $58k SUV." After he stopped laughing, the police officer told Mr. Zvirman that he couldn't make an insurance claim for that. Fortunately I wasn't seriously injured.

Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. Since Monday there have been several other reports of road rage against cyclists on the Bike Pittsburgh website: http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/

This type of behavior has to stop. Motorist have to realize that when they lose their tempers and control of their actions their vehicles become deadly weapons. Is it worth killing someone or subjecting yourself to jail time because a bike is in front of you going slower than you want to go, or a biker yells "watch out" instead of blowing a horn? Bikers have to take precautions. They are not surrounded by a ton of sheet metal and airbags. They have no protection , but they have a right to be on the road. Please checkout and support the Bike Pittsburgh website and protect cyclists when you drive.

The Great Escape

2009-07-07T17:17:00.005-04:00

I apologize for a long delay in blogging. I have not been in a Pittsburgh state of mind for awhile. Over the last three weeks travels have taken me to South Carolina and Colorado. Even the Pittsburgh Guy has to admit that both of these areas have treasures that we don't have in Pittsburgh. Of course they don't have the Penguins or Steelers.

First I relaxed on the beach in Hilton Head, which is a beautifully planned resort area. Thought was given to adapting development to the environment as opposed to the opposite. The island has a beautiful long and wide beach with gentle waves. At low tide the sand is packed enough to ride a bike on it. The resort is interconnected with bike paths. Also there are a series of lagoons on which gasoline powered boats are not permitted. Unlike Florida, the island is not over built, as development is controlled. I took time for biking and kayaking. One day I joined a group of riders on the mainland. They took on a fast paced, flat ride through beautiful sections of the lowland.

Currently I'm in Colorado Springs, sitting on a balcony overlooking the mountains with a clear but distant view of the Garden of the Gods, where we hiked yesterday. This treasure is a city park, free to the public. It is scattered with ominous natural red rock formations jutting out of the landscape. The hike was through a red rock trail with

interesting formations and views at every turn, highlighted by the Siamese Twin Formation.

Before arriving in Colorado Springs, we spent a few days in suburban Denver. I rented a bike and went for long rides on the Greater Denver's fantastic network of paved bike trails. One day I rode to the Chatfield Reservoir Park and then along the Platte River to Confluence Park on the edge of the downtown/LoDo area. My turnaround spot was Denver's flagship REI store housed in an old warehouse building. This REI has a Starbuck's in it. I stopped long enough for a macchiato and headed back.

The next day I rode the other way on the 470 trail and hooked up with a couple of local riders. They were younger, a bit faster and altitude adjusted. The lead me to the Cherry Creek Reservoir Park and back. Hats off the Treads Bike Store in Parker. I was able to rent a Cannondale road bike. Attention was given to fit me properly and they loaned me a pair of clipless pedals.

Unfortunately, meeting obligations probably won't allow me to rent a bike in Colorado Springs, which I imagine would be challenging, but sweet riding. I saw the new Charmichael Training Center, www.trainright.com. I would like to stop by and check it out.

Paris 66 Great New Bistro

2009-06-06T18:22:00.005-04:00

Today we stopped by a brand new restaurant for lunch. Our friends Fred and Lori Rongier had their "soft opening" on Friday, June 5th. Fred is French and has created an authentic bistro like you would find in Paris. We have been hoping Fred would open a place ever since tasting his wonderful crepes at our son's school parties at Linden Academy.

The menu features crepes but also has entrees, salads, pastries, coffee etc. Prices are amazingly reasonable. The food is to die for. Located in the sprouting East Liberty/East Side area, the design and decor is right out of Paris. As you walk in you are greeted by a long case filled with delectables. Behind the case is an open kitchen gleaming with shiny stainless. The chef, Ceasir, is from the Brittany province of France. He is friendly, greeting customers to make sure they are happy with their meals and bellowing "Merci" to every compliment.

The service is great. Fred and/or Lori greet guests as they arrive. They are warm, outgoing, genuine people. Bussing are their two oldest children. The rest of the wait staff is very professional and experienced. Many worked at the recently closed Au Provence in Squirrel Hill. Our waiter was American, but spoke fluent French with a perfect accent and was extremely knowledgeable. In addition to the head chef, Paris 66 also has a French pastry chef.

We each had a savory crepe: the La Montmarte, made with organic buckwheat flour, chicken, mushrooms and bechamel, and the La Paris 66 with ham, swiss cheese, egg, mushrooms and tomato Provencal. Both were amazing. We split a chocolate mousse for dessert; this almost resulted in a brawl over the last morsel. It was fantastic, perfect flavor and consistency.

The dinner menu is very impressive. I can't wait to try the Seafood Spring Roll or the Salmon filet a la Parisienne. The most expensive item on the menu, Duck Confit is only $22.50. Also they have a BYOB policy with a specialty State Store only steps away at the Eastside Shops.

With summer upon us there is a back deck which will be full furnished by the June 21st official grand opening. They open early, 8:30 and stay open most nights until 10. Fred and Lori welcome cyclists to give that true spirit of France. Lou's Crew will be stopping by soon for coffee and crepes following a ride. With great food, atmosphere and prices Paris 66 is sure to be the hot Pittsburgh restaurant for 2009.

Pirates Trade McClouth for Charlie Brown

2009-06-04T07:11:00.003-04:00

The Pirates are at it again. For some stupid reason I'm a life long Pirate fan. I was buying in again this year and again they pulled the football out just as I was running into it.

Last year at this time they had the best outfield in baseball: Xavier Nady, Jason Bay and Nate McClouth. In less than a year they are all gone, replaced by 11 prospects. Of those 11 prospects we have one starting third baseman who shows some promise, two starting pitchers, one who looks decent and one who looks very average, a fourth outfielder who doesn't look too good, two double A outfielders who look promising and a cougar baby snatching wife, three minor league pitchers who may or may not ever be on the Pirates and two pitchers with long term injuries. I think I would rather be entertained with the best outfield in baseball and at least root for possible mediocraty.

The Pirates haven't been too bad this year considering Ryan Doumit has been out most of the year. Starting pitching and defense have been very good. Offense and particularly power have been bad. So of course we trade our best power hitter. McClouth is a guy I really enjoyed watching. He is small but always gave great effort. He has a perfect swing for PNC Park and generates a lot of pull power. He goes all out in the outfield and makes some awesome defensive plays. The truth though, is that but for two great months last year he is a lifetime .250 hitter. He makes spectacular plays, but experts who analyze these types of things statistically say he is actually a below average center fielder. Replacing him will be the organization's best prospect Andrew McCutcheon. He has performed well throughout the minors, but has yet to generate power.

As our President would remind us: "Hope." Hey, he is a Cubs and White Sox fan. Maybe some of these prospects will shine so we can trade them for prospects as soon as we as fans buy into the players. Don't worry, I will still be running full steam at the football just so the Nuttings can pull another Lucy on me.

The Power of the Pancake

2009-05-28T21:44:00.004-04:00

You give a man really good comfort food and he will treat you right. On Monday President Obama was served Pittsburgh's finest pancakes. On Thursday the favor is returned as it is announced that the G20 will take place in Pittsburgh in September. At first I thought a G20 was a used Infinity sedan.

"Since 1999, the G-20 has contributed to strengthen the international financial architecture and to foster sustainable economic growth and development. The G-20 now has a crucial role in driving forward work between advanced and emerging economies to tackle the international financial and economic crisis, restore worldwide financial stability, lead the international economic recovery and secure a sustainable future for all countries."

Apparently President Obama understands when it comes to tackling there is no better place than Pittsburgh. It was just one week before this announcement that the Steelers visited him at the White House. He seemed thrilled by being in the midst of multiple generations of Pittsburgh's greatest tacklers, Joe Greene and Troy Polomola. I didn't even matter that last season's best tackler, James Harrison, stayed behind.

On the international side of things, also in attendance last Thursday was the newest US ambassador to Ireland, Pittsburgh icon Dan Rooney. When is the last time, if ever, that a President lavished so much attention on Pittsburgh. The President also was apparently impressed by our green initiative and leadership in renewable resources. Remember during the campaign he stopped to visit a company that made solar technology products and talked about Fossil Free, a bio-desiel conversion company in Braddock. The David L. Lawrence Convention Center is the first and largest certified “green” convention center “green” in the world and is the only meeting venue to be awarded the Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The President's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said "Pittsburgh was chosen as the site because, "it's an area that has seen its share of economic woes in the past, but because of foresight and investment is now renewed, giving birth to renewed industries that are creating the jobs of the future,..And I think the president believes it'd be a good place to highlight some of that stuff."

President Obama has treated Pittsburgh right. Pittsburghers treated him right last year during the election and he did not forget. This conference could do wonders for the city. The exposure could lead to great postive attention and potential jobs. Those pancakes are damn good.

Of Pitbulls, Pancakes and the President

2009-05-25T17:39:00.006-04:00

James Harrison has had a tough week. First the media pit bulls tried to take a bite out of him for refusing to go to the White House. Then his pit bull took a bite out of his son. The President also took a bite out of a Pittsburgh institution this morning, by starting the morning with a plate full of Pamela's pancakes.

Various stories came out about James Harrison not going the White House. One rumor had it that he is afraid to fly. A Post-Gazette columnist wrote that he should have driven. Really isn't it Mr. Harrison's decision whether he wants to go the White House or not? He earned the invitation by being an instrumental part of a Super Bowl Championship team. Although no one wrote about it in the paper, Harrison's teammate Aaron Smith also did not making the trip. No explanations were provided either by fact or rumor.

Mr. Harrison is not a celebrity because of his political or philanthropic involvement. He is famous because he is an amazing football player. He is respected because on the football field he is aggressive, never gives up, over came long odds and excels. He is a great sports story and an athletic role model. He should not be held up as a role model for other reasons. It's not fair to him. Other Steelers have taken to being role models, such as Hines Ward, Charlie Batch and Troy Polamalu. These players have taken their fame and stood for causes or issues outside of the playing field. They can and should be looked at as role models. The Steeler visit seemed like it went very well, with the players and the President using the time for a good cause, making care packages for the military. What more would have been accomplished if Harrison was there? Would Pittsburgh have been any more or less proud? At least we didn't have the embarrassment of what happened with Joey Porter the last time the Steelers visited the White House.

I wish Mr. Harrison's son a speedy recovery from the Pit bull attack. I am a big dog person, but I really don't understand the popularity of pit bulls. You would especially think that football players would stay away from them after the Michael Vick incident. You are always hearing about pit bull attacks. Do you ever hear about Golden Retriever or Havanese attacks? Golden Retrievers do steal food, slobber and shed on people and Havanese have been know to pee on your feet when they are excited, but you really don't hear about them attacking people. Of all the breeds and mixed breeds that you can chose, why the pit bull?

As far as the pancakes, this a great thing. First of all, Pamela's makes awesome pancakes. The owners have worked hard for years to develop a good business. I remember when it was Papa Joe's on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill. Pamela and her partner improved on the original formula and created a mini-empire that has evolved to six restaurants, all of which have long lines on weekend mornings. President Obama recognized the greatness of these pancakes. He also remembered his populist promises of making the White House more accessible to the public. Little things, like bringing two self-made business owners into the White House kitchen or having football players and the President role up there sleeves to provide service to soldiers, sends a good message.

For the record Pamela's isn't the only place that serves great pancakes in the area. Try the Kaufman House in Zelienople, the GI Day Room in Meyersdale and the crepes at the soon to open Paris 66 in the neighborhood formerly known as East Liberty.

Pirates, Penguins and Steelers - Oh My

2009-05-24T21:09:00.006-04:00

My son turns eighteen this week. This is a big day all around. As he reminds me, he will be an adult and set his own rules. As I reminded him emancipation is a two way street. If I don't like his new rules I don't have to pay to support them. As a true Pittsburgh Guy I love sports. I love sports more than politics, yet I don't blog that much about our local teams.

My son's eighteenth birthday got me thinking about our local sports teams. As we were in the hospital awaiting his delivery the Penguins were just celebrating their first Stanley Cup victory. Shortly after my son celebrated his first New Year's, the Steelers hired Bill Cowher. That Fall the Pirates had their one and only winning season of my son's lifetime.

During the next 17 years the Steelers had some ups and downs, but mostly ups. When they had their downs, they made the most of it and selected well in the draft and took advantage of easier
schedules due to their weak record the previous season. As a result they have played in three Super Bowls and won two.

The Penguins also had their ups and downs. They won another Stanley Cup, lived through the retirements and comebacks of Mario Lemieux, bankruptcy, terrible seasons, Sid the Kid, Malkin and the Flower and now hopefully back to back Stanley Cup Final appearances and a third Championship.

The Pirates on the other hand have had their downs, starting with a candy ass throw from a pre-steroid Barry Bonds that slowly made its way to home plate behind the sloth-like Sid Bream. Then we had more downs: free agent defections, bad general managers, blood sucking owners, a series of lame armed first round draft choices and 17 years of losing. This weekend we watched the Pirates struggle to score any runs. They have had surprisingly good starting pitching, but not enough talent on offense to win. This has been the story for my son's life time: when the pitching is good there is no offense, when the offense is good the pitching is terrible, when the pitching and offense seem decent the fielding is bad. Then, for the majority of the time, the pitching, hitting and fielding are all bad.

So how over the last 18 years have the Steelers and Penguins flourished, but the Pirates floundered? Bad lack and lousy management on the part of the Pirates are part of it, but probably the bigger answer is in the management of the sports over all. Baseball has refused to have a salary cap. Football and hockey have salary caps. The Pirates financially have not been able to compete. As a result they have a lack of talent and depth. Every injury is devastating. The Pirates lost Jack Wilson, an average starting major league shortstop, for a few weeks. In his place they brought up Brian Bixler, who struck out 3 of every 4 at bats and botched routine plays. They lost their starting catcher, Ryan Doumit, a good hitter who has never had a full season of at bats but is the team's clean up hitter, and their offense goes dormant. Other teams can weather these set backs because they either have the depth in the organization or the ability to spend money and trade surplus for replacements.

Other teams, such as the Tampa Bay Rays, the Twins and the Marlins have been able to have some success without great financial resources. The Pirates have not, because they have had a lack of stability in management and long living plan other than losing. In the same years that the Pirates went through a series of long forgotten managers and general managers, the Penguins have had two general managers and the Steelers have had two coaches. It should also be noted that the Pens have had Mario for stability this entire time and the Steelers have had the Rooneys. The Pirates have had dabbling out of town owners. Perhaps some good luck from the Penguins will rub off on the Pirates. After all one of the Pirates most entertaining players, Nyjer Morgan is a former hockey player, and Evgeni Malkin was recently spotted taking in a Pirate home game. He wasn't even sleeping, although I doubt he knew what was going on at the city's nicest outdoor bar.

Lou's Crew Rides

2009-05-23T13:58:00.000-04:00

As more people are riding, we have people at different levels with different goals. Generally the Sunday ride is the true Lou's Crew ride. The ride length and difficulty will be dictated by who shows up. The ride will always be a No Rider Left Behind (NRLB) ride.
People who are looking for a more challenging ride have started to ride on Saturday. Saturday rides tend to be faster, longer and more challenging (FLC). We also do some rides after work and particularly on Friday afternoons/early evenings. On occasion some of us suffering from DSB (deadly sperm build-up) will engage in a hammerhead, leave it all on the road ride. We will try to label rides with these initials and the approximate mileage we will try to complete. Remember the overall goal is to get everyone ready to do back to back 75 mile rides in time for the July State College ride. The other goal is for everyone to have fun and enjoy cycling. By taking note of the type of ride that is planned you will have your best chance of enjoying the ride and getting better.

Tale of Two Cities

2009-05-22T20:41:00.001-04:00

What are the lessons learned from Tuesday's primary:

1. Money + endorsement = victory
2. There is the East End and the rest of the city
3. Post Gazette endorsements don't mean a lot to the voters
4. Bar Association Ratings don't mean a lot to voters

Luke had lot's of money and the Party machine working for him and he rolled to an easy victory. Dowd got good press, the Post-Gazette endorsement and it didn't matter. Robinson also got a lot of good publicity but combined, Dowd and Robinson couldn't come close to Luke.

In the Judicial race one candidate had the grand slam: Bar Association highest recommendation, the Democratic endorsement, Post-Gazette endorsement and money/tv ads. That was Joe Williams who led the Democratic ticket. Don Walko was second. He had the Party endorsement and a lot of name recognition from his time in state politics. He did not get a good recommendation from the bar association as he has limited experience practicing law. He also didn't seem to spend nearly as much as other candidates on ads. Susan Evashavik Dilucente had the Party endorsement, a good but not excellent recommendation from the bar, the Post-Gazette endorsement and she spent a lot of money on ads. She came in just a hair behind Walko.

The fourth slot was the only one that went to an unendorsed candidate, Phil Ignelzi. He was highly recommended by the bar, endorsed by both papers and spent the most money. That money bought him a lot of votes. Two other candidates who were unendorsed were highly recommended by the Bar and endorsed by the paper, Alex Bicket and Hugh McGough. Ignelzi outpaced Bicket by 11,000 votes and McGough by 20,000. Bicket had ads on TV, but did not spend nearly as much as Ignelzi. McGough focused on a grass roots campaign and did not spend money on TV advertising.

The fifth slot went to Klein who was endorsed by the party, but did not garner a Highly Recommended rating and did not get the Post-Gazette endorsement. He was only about 1000 votes behind Ignelzi and 10,000 votes ahead of the 6th place finisher, Bicket. Bicket did get the Republican nomination so we will see if the endorsement from the paper and a Highly Recommended rating along with TV ads and a high profile spokesperson: Rocky Bleier can be enough to win in the Fall. It makes sense that he could pick up the McGough voters as he will not be running in the fall. If so he would have enough support to win one of the five seats. On the other hand, it stands to reason that Klein may get some of the Marmo votes, as Marmo was the only endorsed candidate to lose. Marmo finished in seventh place, about 2000 votes behind Bicket.

Although I have not studied the East End numbers, my sense is that Dowd beat Ravenstahl in 14 and 7. McGough also had very strong support in this part of the city. The 14th Ward is the most populated and generally has the best voter turnout, but this election is a reminder that popularity in this monied area of the city alone is not enough to win, or even come close, in a city or county wide election. Voters in these areas have a totally different philosophy than other sections of the city. Perhaps we are seeing a small shift with the more progressive City Council candidates winning in the Hill and the South Hills, but this didn't make a dent in the mayoral race.

Pedal Pittsburgh

2009-05-17T18:01:00.000-04:00

Today was Pedal Pittsburgh. Based on what I experienced in Mt. Washington the picture is of a guy removing signs just to play a dirty trick on those riders who chose to climb up Josephine and 18th and then do a series of about ten very steep rollers. After a while all signs that we were on an organized ride disappeared. Ultimately signs reappeared near the intersection of Grandview and McCardle. These signs lead us to the near death experience of descending Sycamore Street. Every year I think about how stupid it is to end this ride by going down one of Pittsburgh's steepest and windiest streets. Of course every year I do it again. I am really a Pittsburgh lemming. This year we had an added treat. In a very steep section there is a hairpin turn covered with gravel. We made it to the bottom without incident, but probably without any brake pads left either. As an added treat after we got to Carson Street they turned us onto a street by Terminal Way that is steep down hill, Belgian block cobblestone and empties into a fairly busy street: a trifecta of risky business for cyclists.

One other thing that we clearly realized from this ride is that Luke is clearly not getting it done as far as repaving streets. We traveled 60 miles of city roads and for the most part they were horrible. Burma has better roads. Bikes and bodies were abused from riding over through and into crumbling and rutted pavement.

At least one politician cares. At the finish area at the Southside Works it was nice to see Alex Bicket, who is running for Common Pleas Judge. He was the only one who apparently realized that cyclists do have the right to vote. Alex is a good guy and a very good lawyer. The Bar Association has rated him Highly Recommended. Seeing Alex made me think about the article in today's Post-Gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09137/970776-181.stm. Alex wasn't mentioned, but the topic was the outrageous amount of money that candidates for Common Pleas Court are spending. The critical factor should be who is best qualified, not who raises the most money. It is a sad state that both the winners and losers will go deeply in debt to finance the campaigns. Does anyone even like watching the TV ads for Judges? If I have to watch that one with the mug shots one more time I will break my TV. Campaign spending for Judges is out of control. Has anyone noticed what has been going on with the local judiciary? We had one Judge thrown out for allegedly soliciting bribes. Another Judge quit because he needed to make more money, so he became a private mediator. A third judge recently resigned amid controversy relating to a real estate dealing and financial ruination.

I like biking better than running, and certainly better than running for Judge. If only we could get our roads repaved.

Mayoral Ramblings - Hillary's Votes, Luke's Money, Patrick's Face

2009-05-15T22:09:00.000-04:00

I've heard Councilman Dowd speak several times and I can now never look at him the same way. He has a classic campaign poster with a very serious looking picture of him: a clean cut man, clean shaven with a jutting jaw looking for a political fight. I've heard his speech several times in which he mentioned that he used to have very long hair. Now every time I look at him instead of seeing the Gary Hart-like clean cut dark suited candidate, I visualize someone rushing for the stage at a festival seating Dead show.

At first I didn't know what to make out of Dowd. After several conversations with him I have come to these conclusions:

* He loves talking to people
* He is comfortable speaking to a group
* He is confident and not afraid of a fight
* Chameleon-like, he adapts to the audience
* He genuinely believes what is going on in the Mayor's office is just plain wrong
* He is very bright

These are enough attributes to make him the best choice for mayor. Unfortunately he doesn't have much of a chance. At the recent Dowd gathering I spoke with some of his supporters. One woman who was practically fawning over Dowd mentioned that she was a strong supporter of Hillary. I mentioned to her that Hillary is the reason that Dowd has little chance of prevailing next week. The reason is money. Dowd doesn't have much and Ravenstahl has a lot. He has a lot because Hillary and Bill cut a deal with him. Ravenstahl agreed to give Clinton his support in return for Bill agreeing to do a fundraiser for Luke. Bill honored the deal and the Ravenstahl campaign was $1 million dollars richer. Dowd just can't compete with that type of advertising budget. Luke is all over the TV and Dowd can't get on the air.

There was discussion about the picture in the PG of Dowd in front of the Pat Ford Memorial Electronic Billboard. Dowd said the picture down right frightened his children. I think it summed up his feelings about one of the stronger examples of pay to play and Luke getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Dowd was disgusted. It was grandstanding a bit, but it was also genuine. He really worked himself into a frenzy and it appeared that his face was going to fall off.

Luke and his people are using some rather intimidating tactics. I have spoken to several local business people. They will not show up to any political fund raisers for anyone other than Luke. Luke's people check up on everyone. If you want the help of Grant Street and you show up to a political event that the administration doesn't like, they know it and let you know that they aren't happy. We have a 28 year old mayor who is about to be re-elected, and is developing an old fashioned Chicago style machine. We would be better off with Chicago style deep dish pizza. Although artery clogging I think it would be better for our health, at least if you believe in democracy. Luke's machine could begin to roll like a freight train. He could be mayor for another 40 years. It is starting to look like an era of intimidating politics in Pittsburgh.

I admire Carmen Robinson and Dowd for understanding that the democratic political system is important. Those in power must be challenged so that we have a check and balance. Although, perhaps, neither has provided a clear plan of how they are going to save the city, they have opened the public's eyes to things that don't look right. They are both intelligent, articulate and strong voices who seem more credible than Luke. It probably isn't going to make a difference on Tuesday, but I do think if Luke continues to take a "Luke first" approach people are going to remember the voices of Dowd and Robinson four years from now. They have both earned my respect and appreciation for making a challenge and I expect to reward one of them with my vote on Tuesday. I have not heard enough from Robinson. I think she is short on experience, so I think that I will be going with Dowd. Even if he loses, I think he and Robinson have at least caused Ravenstahl to think about his actions. He is going to be held accountable. The more votes that go to Dowd and/or Robinson the louder that message will be.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem that this election is exciting many people. After the historic, impassioned election in November I think that local voters are having a Presidential hangover and are sleepwalking through these primaries. I expect voter turnout to be very low. Normally you would think that could provide a perfect storm for an underdog, but certainly Bill and Hillary's $1,000,000.00 will be spent making sure Luke's people know the difference between his posters at the polls and his picture on the garbage cans. A million dollars pays for a lot of election day campaign workers who will call voters and drivers who will make sure they get to the polls.

Hugh be the Judge

2009-05-09T18:52:00.001-04:00

There are several fine candidates for Common Pleas Judge. As a trial attorney I have definite thoughts about what it takes to be a successful trial judge.

1. A Judge must be fair
2. A Judge must be an experienced trial attorney to understand how to make rulings and how to control the courtroom
3. A Judge must be intelligent in order to analyze the issues of law presented in the cases
4. A Judge must have respect for the system: this means respect for parties, jurors, witnesses and lawyers
5. A Judge must be humble enough to realize that the case is about the litigants and justice, not him or her
6. A Judge must be compassionate

I have had the good fortunate of meeting and working with most of the candidates and would like to provide insight. The following is a list in order of the candidates who truly would be outstanding Judges:

Hugh McGough - I have actually known McGough for almost 40 years. He is one of the most open-minded and fair people I know. He is extremely intelligent. After college he became a journalist. So before even going to law school he was trained to analyze, write and get to the bottom of a story; all important qualities for a judge. After a first career producing the Bill and Patti Burns Noon News, he went to law school. Perhaps this was his destiny as his father and brother were top local attorneys. After graduating from law school he first clerked for a judge and then was an associate working for one of Pittsburgh's best civil trial lawyers, Russ Ober. From there he worked as a City Solicitor primarily overseeing labor issues. He has also never shied away from controversial legal fights in order to protect the interests of those who needed help the most.
Hugh McGough has been rated Highly Recommended by the Bar Association. Getting this rating is very difficult. The Allegheny County Bar Association will not give this rating unless they are convinced that the lawyers seeking the endorsement are the cream of the crop. Local lawyers want to make sure that the Bench is as strong as possible. McGough has all of the qualities listed above. He is perfectly suited to be a judge.

Joe Williams I have never had a case with or before Joe Williams, but I have gotten to know him over the last few years. He is a student of the law and has a passion for it. He cares about people and seems to be a fair minded person. He is very bright and successfully built his own practice in Pittsburgh's Northside. He has compassion for people who come before him and respect for the process. Currently he is serving as a Criminal Court Judge having been appointed to fill a term with the understanding that he now has to run. It is obvious that he has a good feel for what he is doing. The Criminal system, when possible should rehabilitate as well as punish. He knows when some one can use help and a second chance, while others need punishment. Williams has also been Highly Recommended by the Bar Association

Phil Ignelzi I have had cases with Ignelzi and he is an excellent attorney. He has a unique background because he has handled Criminal cases as a prosecutor and defense attorney, and he has extensive Civil Court experience. Of the candidates, he is the only one who has been inducted as a Fellow in the Allegheny County Academy of Trial Lawyers. Admission into the Academy is by invitation only after an extensive review and election process. All applicants must be nominated by a current Academy member. The entire Academy membership is confidentially surveyed regarding the qualifications of each applicant. The results of the survey, together with information gained through the application, letters of recommendation, personal interviews and the candidate’s trial experience, are carefully reviewed and considered by the Committee as part of its confidential process of selecting for membership those civil trial lawyers who have exhibited excellence and the highest levels of ethical standards and professionalism. Total membership is limited to 250 voting members who are practicing trial attorneys. Membership is evenly split between those who primarily do defense work and those who primarily represent the plaintiffs. It is one of the highest honors a local civil trial attorney can receive. He has also been rated Highly Recommended by the Bar Association.

Alex Bicket I have had a number of cases with Bicket and his firm. He is a very able civil practitioner. He has a good temperament and understanding for the law. His background is unusual. Bicket was born and raised in South Africa. He left for graduate school and moved to the United States, in part because of the apartheid policies in his native land. Like McGough, he had a first career that would benefit a judge. He was a high school teacher in the Fox Chapel School District. Part of a judge's job is to explain things to jurors and litigants. Bicket was also rated Highly Qualified by the Bar Association.

There are other good candidates, but none reach the level of these four. None of the rest have been rated Highly Qualified. One must look at judicial elections differently than most political races. One's political background really should not be an issue in these races. Judges need to be impartial and should not favor anyone because of political affiliation.

A few guides in analyzing the background of the candidates:

1. You cannot be an effective Judge if you do not have experience trying cases and particularly jury trials. Would you want a surgeon who went to medical school but never performed a surgery before?

2. There is a big difference between a District Justice/Magistrate and a Common Pleas Judge. A District Justice does not even need to be an attorney. This would be like moving from air hockey to the NHL.

3. A Judge does not pick which court he sits in. The new Judge could be assigned to Orphan's (probate), Criminal, Family, Juvenile or Civil Division. Therefore it is important for the judge to have the ability to adapt to any assignment.

It is very important to make a thoughtful decision about judicial candidates. This is how we protect our judicial system. When you go in the voter's booth think about the fact that you or your loved ones may be impacted by the decisions that will be made by these five new judges. This is your chance to assure that your fate will be decided by someone highly qualified.

District 1 School Board Candidate Shealey Calls Pittsburgh a Racist City

2009-05-07T20:58:00.000-04:00

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A62900

Fascinating article in The City Paper on the District One School Board Candidates. Before reading this article the race appeared to be a rare case in which the public had an option between excellent candidates. Although previously I had experienced the very negative tactics of some Shealey supporters (see earlier post on 14th Ward Independent Doters Club), but believed Shealey to be a bright, open minded and competent candidate. I do feel that Stone is a better candidate based upon her long history of service to the community in support of issues affecting women and children, as well as dedicated service to worthy candidates such as Barack Obama.

Shealey is bright and has been involved in her childrens' school, but she has not been back in Pittsburgh for that long a time and has not been involved in politics. I really know little about the third candidate, Brooks, who declined to be interviewed for the City Paper article and did not appear to speak to the voting Democratic Committee Members in the 14th Ward. The City Paper article certainly makes me question Shealey.

The article started with a quote from out going District 1 Board member Randall Taylor

"You don't have a school board: You just have some people who are rubber-stamping," he says. "I can waste my time in better ways."

Taylor has been a controversial and disruptive figure on the school board. Generally the community sees it as a positive move that we will be getting a new Board member. Later in the article we learn that Shealey is being backed by Taylor. Further we know she is being backed by other individuals associated with the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, who have acted in a threatening manner to "ruin" Stone and have said that she should not run because of the color of her skin.

To her credit, Shealey did not totally adopt this rigid-thinking position and was quoted as saying " a white candidate like Stone could represent the district." On the other hand she dropped this bomb:

"Pittsburgh tends to be a racist city"

Exactly who is she referring to? A city is made up of it's residents. Is she talking about the voters in her district, which is quite diverse: Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, North Point Breeze, Point Breeze and Larimer? Is she talking about her supporters who, unlike her, have said Stone should not run because of her race and that race should be the determinative factor in the election? Is she talking about the voters in the predominately white pockets of the District? Is she making a generalization about the all of the city residents? The comment certainly is offensive to any city residents who do not view themselves as racists.

The next quote attributed to Shealey, in response to Stone saying she has lost confidence in the system, is also surprising:

"I don't want my manager having mistrust in the system."

Compare this statement to the quote from her ardent supporter Taylor, which suggests that he had some "mistrust" of the system. Taylor is right. Board members protect the voters and taxpayers by being watchdogs over the system. If they don't have some degree of mistrust then how can they do their jobs of overseeing the school system.

The article points out that on her face, Stone seems to be an unusual candidate. She is white and it is stated in the article that her children do not go to public school. In reality, her daughter attends a private school but also attends a public school program, which gives Stone a unique prospective. She explains:

"You may have to break the rules: ... what your skin color should be, where your kids go to school -- all that kind of stuff....I am among the families that have lost confidence in the public schools. ... We need to get that confidence back."

Who better than someone who has views from both outside and inside the system. The article also gives a slightly erroneous report of her failure to get the 14th Ward Club endorsement. Quoting Club President Chris Zurawsky:

Club President Chris Zurawsky says Stone "didn't try very hard for the endorsement."

Talk about an understatement! The Club sent a letter to candidates asking if they wished to be considered for the Club endorsement. Stone specifically indicated that she was not seeking the endorsement and asked not to have her name placed on the ballot. She was told her name would be placed on the ballot whether she was seeking the endorsement or not.

Most importantly both Shealey and Stone believe closing the racial achievement gap is a priority, and both understand the importance of fiscal responsibility. Brooks declined to be interviewed for the article. They seem to be close on the issues. Stone has a longer track record in the community. Shealey has children who are students in the district. Stone's children are enrolled in a private school but attend a public school program. Stone wants to break barriers and has an out of the box view point. Shealey thinks Pittsburgh is racist, but she doesn't think we should have a lack of trust in the current system. Stone is the more progressive candidate, who is trying to represent the interests of this diverse district.

Amazing Book By An Amazing Man

2009-05-06T06:35:00.000-04:00

Every so often I talk to my dad's cousin, Harold Wintner. He is a remarkable person. At 89 he is sharp as a whip. He just retired as a successful CPA about 2 years ago. I really enjoy talking to him because he always has great stories, insights and humor. My dad was very close to him, so it gives me insights into my dad who passed away a few years ago.

Harold called me at work about a week ago. He wanted to make sure he had my correct address. We chatted and he said "You will get a package from me soon." A day or two later we received a book. For the last year, between the ages of 88 and 89 Harold wrote a book. It is a series of stories about his life. What a rich amazing life he has had. The book is well written and fun to read. It spans short stories from his childhood, high school, college, the army during WWII, his marriage and family, professional career, philanthropic efforts and friendships. It gave me tremendous insight into Harold and really made me understand why I so enjoy his company. So far he has had such a rich, fulfilling life and has touched so many others. In a way the book reminds me of the classic movie "It's A Wonderful Life" with Western Pennsylvania icon, Jimmy Stewart.

The book also provides tremendous insight into what America and Western Pennsylvania was like in an earlier generation. The World War II experience prepared young men to achieve when they returned. I always found it strange when people from my father's generation would look back at the war experience with nostalgia compared to how our generation looks at Viet Nam or Iraq.

The book, centered around McKeesport and Duquesne, also provides us with an idea of what the Mon Valley towns were like in their heyday. It's so different than what we see today. McKeesport was a thriving, self-sufficient city.

I am so appreciative that Harold has spent the last year chronicling the previous 88 years. The book is most worthwhile simply because Harold has passed his life and experiences down to his family, but even for those not related he has provided rich snapshots of Western Pennsylvania in an earlier time. I am certainly much better for have reading it.

If you are interested I'm not sure if the book is available for general sale through bookstores or Amazon. It is professionally edited and published, but I have a sense that Harold self-published and provided copies as gifts for the fortunate few. If you are interest in having a copy, please post a comment and I will provide information about availability.

World's Cutest Campaign Mailing For Christine Stone: The Best Candidate for School Board District 1

2009-05-03T18:38:00.000-04:00

This is the best campaign mailing I've ever seen. It was sent out in Support of Christine Stone, a candidate for City of Pittsburgh School Board Director in District 1. Christine and her family worked very hard on the Obama campaign. They were so involved that they were invited to meet President Obama the day of the rally shortly before the Presidential election. President Obama spent considerable time with Christine's two daughters. Perhaps they reminded him of his own daughters. Lily is seen here handing President Obama a handmade campaign sign that she made for him. He really liked it. Now Lily wanted to make a campaign postcard for her mom. So she took her picture with Senator Casey and President Obama and wrote a note about her mom. Lily is a very smart young girl. Her mom happens to be the best candidate for the job.

. Christine is uniquely qualified to be the District 1 school board director. For nearly a decade, she has been an outspoken advocate for women, children and families. And as an accountant, she brings fiscal knowledge with an eye towards government accountability.

After her public school education, Christine worked full-time as a legal assistant to put herself through college. She graduated from Chatham University with a degree in Accounting. Christine has extensive background in the area of government funded programs and has helped the federal government recover millions of dollars in fraud and abuse.

Christine currently serves as the State Public Affairs Chair of Pennsylvania for the National Council of Jewish Women. For nearly a decade, she has spoken out on behalf of women, children and families. Most recently, she has been part of a nationwide task force to conceptualize a new advocacy program that addresses economic justice to combat domestic violence. From working to expand S-CHIP for children and mothers to working for minority access to health care, and to moving fair pay for women into law, Christine has been passionate about her volunteer efforts. In 2008, Christine received the “Emerging Leader Award”. Christine will use her public policy background to be an advocate for the students and parents of District 1.

The most direct impact a school board member can have for us is in regard to fiscal responsibility. Christine’s background as an accountant, property owner, parent and long time city resident make her uniquely qualified. She has dedicated herself for many years to better our community through volunteerism to further the interests of women and children and support worthy candidates. To learn more visit her website: www.voteforchristine.com.

Weather turned hot and so did the riding

2009-04-26T19:37:00.000-04:00

This weekend we had two rides. The Saturday ride had a theme: Elliot's birthday. We knew he wanted a challenging ride and more miles; we gave him both with a little added surprise. Often times we ride through Millvale. If they are open I always insist on stopping at Jean-Marc Chatellier's Bakery. This is an amazing gem located in an unusual place. Millvale, although becoming a bit funky and artsy, is probably the last place you would expect to find a bakery like this. On the street you are in the ultimate Pittsburgh working class neighborhood. The store front, with the awning and French signage seems slightly out of place. Once you walk through the door you are no longer in Millvale, but you enter a classic gourmet bakery that should be located in a small town in the French country side. Posters honor the French World Cup team and cycling. There is also homage to one of the store's most famous patrons, Marc Andre Fluery, the Penguin French Canadian hockey great.

The pastries look like they could be in the finest shop in Paris, although the special Penguin pastries may be targeted for the local patrons. The wonderful smells and flavors draw me inside on every Saturday ride. Elliot, who is much more disciplined than me, tolerates my sweet tooth and normally patiently , waits outside while I buy my pastry and gorge myself.

On this day we turned the tables a bit. The ride first took us on the challenging rolling hills of Fox Chapel, through a nice stretch of Old Mill Road to Campbell's Lake and then to Dorseyville Road. The ride then went on Church Lane past farms and up a steep climb until we reached Middle Road, taking us past Hartwood Acres. After one more decent climb we were in Millvale. We stopped at the bakery. As usual Elliot waited outside, but we had a surprise. We brought birthday candles and ordered a large piece of the richest raspberry mouse cake known to man, lit the candles, and presented it to Elliot with a serenade of Happy Birthday. As soon as the cake was fully consumed we gave Elliot the rest of his present: a climb up the very tough Hoffman Road. Elliot, to his credit and my surprise, made the climb without puking. We finished the ride with an exhilarating descent down Spring Garden and then through town and the Jail Trail.

Sunday's Lou Crew ride was a different type of ride. We had a large turn out with several new riders. We did a fairly level city loop, through Hazelwood, across the river, along Carson to the West End Bridge. We continued past the ball parks, across the Mon and stopped for coffee at La Prima.

This year we have been trying to incorporate a latte stop in each ride. An a beautiful Sunday morning a stop in the Strip seemed appropriate. Just as the bakery in Millvale seemed to transform into France, la Prima is a bit of Italy in the Strip. Some how their drinks always seem perfect. It is a treat to drink a latte out of a glass mug instead of paper.

After the break, the ride continued through Lawrenceville, up past the zoo (which was the only real climb of this ride) and Highland Park, and back through East Liberty, Shadyside and ending at our weekly starting spot, Coffee Tree in Squirrel Hill. We all sat at the outside tables and enjoyed a final drink. While sitting there we admired the new front of the store, which is almost complete. The main feature is a series of windows that open like bi-fold doors. I commented that it would be a nice day to use them. Fortunately, the contractor was riding with us. He agreed and for the first time the Squirrel Hill Coffee Tree was opened up to the outside. We all admired Will's handiwork and thanked him for giving us back our sidewalk cafe.

14th Ward Independent Democratic Doters Club

2009-04-21T07:47:00.000-04:00

The 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club really should change their name. The organization is not very connected to the 14th Ward anymore. Although its few remaining active members live in the Ward they certainly do not represent the Ward's demographics. They have no young people, despite the many students and young professionals living in Squirrel Hill. They have little diversity, despite the neighborhood being an ethnic melting pot.

The organization certainly is not independent. It is controlled by a small self-perpetuating group that historically has been the alter ego of the Ward Chair of the 14th Ward Democratic Committee. As members of the Committee the Ward must support the party's slate. Often the majority of the 14th Ward Committee Members support candidates who do not get the party endorsement. The Ward Chair is almost always a Board member of the club and thus is able to circumvent the County Democratic Party rules by pushing the unendorsed candidates through the Club. Their endorsement election has become somewhat of a sham. A small number of people vote in their endorsement election, primarily the board members, relatives and friends of board members, supporters and workers of candidates who joined the organization to participate in the endorsement and a few misfits looking for free and often delicious food.

The Club is no longer operated in a democratic fashion. It does not promote equality or openness at all. The Club is controlled by recycled board members living in the past. All efforts to appeal to a broader base of 14th Ward residents have been quashed by the rigid thinking of the long time board members. The board members agree in advance as to candidates they want to push. They create their own rules based upon race, sex, sexual orientation and religious beliefs in deciding which candidates should get their endorsements. Then they run an Animal Farm like election to assure the endorsement for these candidates. An example of their initiatives was a letter sent by a number of former Presidents to select members asking them to vote for a particular candidate at the recent endorsement of the Club. They failed to send the letter to certain members who they believed supported another candidate.

Although the Club targets voters, they should seriously consider changing the name to include the word Doters. Read Merriam Webster's definition of the word "dote" and it fits this group perfectly:

dote

dote
Pronunciation:: \ˈdōt\
Function:: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s):: dot·ed; dot·ing
Etymology:: Middle English; akin to Middle Low German dotten to be foolish
Date:: 13th century

1 : to exhibit mental decline of or like that of old age : be in one's dotage 2 : to be lavish or excessive in one's attention, fondness, or affection —usually used with on

— dot·er noun

— dot·ing·ly \ˈdō-tiŋ-lē\ adverb

This organization has become the Pittsburgh version of Swift Boaters. They are now a fringe group, using their finances to promote their candidates under the false pretenses of representing a larger independent group. The definition of the word "dote" certainly describes this group. The are "exhibiting as a group mental decline of or like that of old age". Rigid thinking by the "core" long time board members has sabotaged efforts to attract younger members and driven away any board members who were newer or younger (in this case between the ages of 30-50). Additionally they do "lavish attention, fondness and affection" on their pet candidates. They stack the deck at their endorsement election to assure that the Board's candidates win. Then they can print their mailing and send it to prospective voters, leading the voters, who don't throw out the mailing with other political junk mail, to think that their endorsement was some type of meaningful process. The total number of voters participating in their elections is a secret as closely guarded as the secret sauces in a Big Mac. Having counted votes at one of these elections, the total for certain offices is amazingly low i.e. less than 30 voters! When you consider that 19 of the voters are Board Members who solicit candidates, that leaves just a few other voters. Take away the relatives of the Board members and avid supporters of particular candidates who join and participate only to stuff the ballot for their candidate, and what are you left with? Also keep in mind that the candidates solicited by the Board make donations to the organization. So these people are certainly more doters than voters.

Fortunately the sham mailing is probably not read by many undecided voters. Also it is fortunate that the organization often supports worthy candidates, but perhaps not for the right reasons. A rigid thinking member stated at a recent political function that a particular candidate should not be considered for the position because of the color of her skin. When it was pointed out to the individual that her philosophy on the subject flies in the face of the recent Presidential election, the individual, who is quite influential in the Club, made a negative comment about the color of President Obama's skin. This individual is one of the long time leaders of the organization. Such actions and rigid thinking have made what once was a respected organization irrelevant.

From the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club website, the President states in his letter "The Club is the oldest continuously-operating independent Democratic club in the country." It is unclear whether or not this refers to the average age of the active members. Rumors suggest that they hold their meetings in the Express Line at the Murray Avenue Giant Eagle. Like many Pittsburgh icons: Menzie Dairy, Clark Bars, the Steel Industry, the Pittsburgh Condors, and Poli's, it appears their time and usefulness to our community has passed.

In today's world of social networking, the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Voters Club relies on the historic method of mailings. The Internet allows people to seek out information about candidates and interest groups that send out mailings. Hopefully this blog entry will be read by an equal number of potential voters as those who read the Club mailing so that people can make an independent and open minded choice, while understanding what the Club's Endorsed Slate really represents.

Easter Sunday Ride

2009-04-12T12:36:00.000-04:00

If the last two weekends are any indication Lou's Crew is starting a new tradition for the 2009 cycling season. Coffee has always been a big part of the Crew, with rides generally starting and ending at Coffee Tree in Squirrel Hill. The last two Sundays we have stopped for mid-ride coffee breaks. Today everyone enjoyed very much the break for warm caffeinated treats on a sunny, but cold morning. For most of us it was the first time that we had sampled Big Dog Coffee. This is a really nice coffee house located just off of Carson Street on the Southside near Southside Works http://www.bigdogcoffee.net/home.php. The address is 2717 Sarah Street.
Big Dog is located in an old restored house. In the front room there are comfortable over stuffed chairs. A back room has tables and chairs. A door off of the back room leads to a nice deck and a ramp to the back alley and Carson Street.

We parked our bikes on the back deck. I took a look at all the bikes on the deck and realized what an amazing turn out we had for an early season ride on cold holiday morning. Our ride roughly followed the old Pittsburgh marathon course.
We started at 5th and Beechwood which is roughly the 15 mile point of the marathon. We tooled through all the neighborhoods. Since there was no traffic on Sunday morning we were able to go through the normally busy streets without fear of bad drivers. Unfortunately it did not cover up the fact that our city streets are pothole riddled. As a follow up to yesterday's ride here is a link to the KDKA video and story on the cycling tribute to the fallen officers. Look carefully and you will see several Lou's Crew members: http://kdka.com/local/fallenheroes/bicyclist.fundraiser.officers.2.982971.html

Major Taylor Cycling Club

2009-04-11T16:41:00.000-04:00

Pittsburghers are passionate about all things Pittsburgh. We are living through a tragedy that has had a tremendous impact on the entire community. Through bad times we see the good in people. Pittsburghers have come together to support and honor the three heroic officers who were senselessly murdered one week ago. The community also honored the victims families and fellow officers. We saw people lined up for hours at memorial services and funeral homes. At the Penguins game earlier in the week fans donated over $60,000 to the victims families and the Penguin players rounded that up to an even $100,000.

Today there was a really neat show of support by the Pittsburgh Major Taylor Cycling Club and the Western Pennsylvania Wheelmen. About 200 cyclist met at Highland Park and rode together to the Zone 5 Police Station, the home station of the three victim officers. Each of the cyclists donated money that was given to support the families. The cyclists were lead by a police escort and joined by bike cops. Some "bikers" (motorcyclists) misunderstood. They showed up on their bikes but were a bit surprised to see the event was for bicycles. Those bikers were meant to feel welcome and joined in.

The Major Taylor Cycling Club is a really cool group. I've met up with them many times during rides. The club was an offshoot of the Center for Minority Health. Originally the Center for Minority Health was asked to help Adventure Outdoors with a project to create an Underground Railroad Cycling Route. Ultimately a cycling club was started. Although the club is open to all, many of the members are African American. Like my club, Lou's Crew, Major Taylor provides a vehicle to promote a healthy life style for middle aged people in the city. Concerned about health risks to African Americans caused by a sedentary life style, the club provides a vehicle to get people back into cycling, meet new people, have fun and feel good about themselves. In addition Major Taylor has undertaken efforts to promote cycling to inner city kids. This has included overnight trips along the Great Allegheny Passage.

We have invited the Major Taylor Club to join Lou's Crew any Sunday for on of our group rides. We have a lot in common and I think it would be great fun. I have also joined the Major Taylor Cycling Club and hope to have enough time to ride with both groups. Here is a link to the Major Taylor website: http://www.cmh.pitt.edu/cycling.asp.

The Police Shooting Tragedy

2009-04-05T19:51:00.000-04:00

There are not appropriate words for me to express how horrible I feel about this tragedy and how it is going to impact the families and co-workers of these three police officers. The event reminds me that police are taken for granted. Everyday, every call, they are putting their lives on the line for us.

What is especially horrific is the warped thinking of the crazed murderer. Unfortunately his thinking was not so far off from what we heard during the recent Presidential election. Here is a quote from his best friend

"He was really into politics and really into the First and Second amendment. One thing he feared was he feared the gun ban because he thought that was going to take away peoples' right to defend themselves."

These comments certainly sound familiar to some of the public interest/anti-Obama ads that ran during the election.

Then this quote from the Post-Gazette:

"Another friend, Aaron Vire, 23, said Mr. Poplawski strongly opposed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's candidacy.

He'd had "very spirited debates" with Mr. Vire, who is black and an Obama supporter.

He wasn't a racist. He was a cool person. He thought he was losing some of his rights," said Mr. Vire. He said he knew Mr. Poplawski owned an AK-47 assault-type rifle, a .357 Magnum revolver, a .380-caliber handgun and a .45-caliber handgun."

Mr. Vire has an unusual definition of the word "cool" apparently. This suggests that Poplawski believed that Obama was going to eliminate the right to bear arms. Many out and out fictional rumors were started and perpetuated during the election campaign. It was as if these public interest groups didn't care about the harm and damage that their spin could cause, especially to people on the fringe.

" Richard Andrew Poplawski was a young man convinced the nation was secretly controlled by a cabal that would eradicate freedom of speech, take away his guns and use the military to enslave the citizenry."

Now Mr. Vire might not believe that his friend is a racist, but there is absolutely no question that he is an anti-Semite.

" A discharged Marine, he adhered to a number of right-wing conspiracy theories and expressed fears of a "Zionist nation" revoking his right to own guns."

"Mr. Poplawski's view of guns and personal freedom took a turn toward the fringes of American politics. With Mr. Perkovic, he appeared to share a belief that the government was controlled from unseen forces, that troops were being shipped home from the Mideast to police the citizenry here, and that Jews secretly ran the country."

"We recently discovered that 30 states had declared sovereignty," said Mr. Perkovic, who lives in Lawrenceville. "One of his concerns was why were these major events in America not being reported to the public."

Where did these thoughts come from and why would this drive him to open fire on police officers and aim for their heads? The other scary thing is that apparently his best friend Mr. Perkovic shares these thoughts and Mr. Perkovic lives among us in the Pittsburgh community.

Although the Second Amendment of the Constitution clearly gives Americans the right to bear arms, why do people believe that it provides the right to bear any type of weapon: assault weapons and concealable hand guns. What possible good can be provided to society by allowing these types of arms in peoples' homes? If Pittsburgh had more stringent laws regarding weapons, like New York and other cities, perhaps the families of Officers Kelly, Mayhle and Sciullo would not be grieving today and be facing a lifetime of having a cold, empty feeling regarding the senseless passing of their loved one.

Spinning to Train

2009-03-28T17:43:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, my secretary who is just back from maternity leave asked me where I was going. I told her I was doing a spinning class over lunch hour. She laughed and asked if I was the only guy in the class. People have preconceived notions of spinning being some kind of glorified aerobic dance class. That isn't the case, at least at the Gold's Gym downtown. More and more cyclists are using spinning as an opportunity to stay in biking shape year round.

Over the winter I decided to do spinning classes to stay in shape. Starting in December I did spinning classes 5-6 days per week, or about the same number of times as I rode outside during the season. My thinking was that it wouldn't keep me in the same shape as outside riding, but it would give me a decent base from which to start the season.

At the end of last season I felt like I was dragging. Hills were a struggle and I couldn't climb out of the saddle for very long. Once the weather started to break this year I headed out on the road. I feel much more powerful on hills. I'm able to maintain whole climbs out of the saddle, use a series of quick out of the saddle repeat sprints to power with speed over other hills, and I can also now use hover lifts over the saddle for quick bursts to accelerate.

I attribute this to the spinning classes. They really have helped me to strengthen those areas of my legs that control out of the saddle support. Also I used a heart rate trainer in the classes. I rarely use it on the road. So, in every class I was cognizant of exactly what I was trying to do with my aerobic threshold. By taking classes from a lot of different instructors I working various different exercises. Some of the classes focused on climbing, others sprint repeats and others jumps. Some days they focused on endurance and other classes were for power. Although none of the instructors are road riders, some had routines that seem to be perfect for road riding: not many jumps but lots of climbing and sprinting. I enjoyed all of the classes, although one in particular named Michelle has a sadistic streak. Classes ranged from 45 minutes to two hours.

Last weekend I did two rides with several tough climbs. I found myself getting to the top well before my riding partners. Nothing makes riders angrier during the early part of the year to see one of their equals powering out of sight up the hill, only to see him waiting for them of the bike and looking bored at the top, as they spend themselves to finally reach the peak. I have a feeling that more riders will be populating spinning classes soon.

Good News for the Dems: Toomey is way ahead of Specter in the Pollshttp://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09084/958134-100.stm

2009-03-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

Check out this latest news post from the Post-Gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09084/958134-100.stm

Quinnipiac is usually rather accurate in PA. If this holds up it should be good news for the Democrats. Although Specter has a major battle within his own party because of the bailout, he is respected by the general election voters. The word is Franco Harris is going to take a run at the Democratic nomination. Assuming his political style is a bit different than his running style, he should be an interesting candidate. As a runner he avoided contact and headed for the side line. As a political candidate he will need to face things head on. On the other hand, we all know he can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat e.g. "it's snatched out of the air....Franco Harris is going for the touchdown". His TV ads should be good. All he needs are clips of the Immaculate Reception, perhaps the most recognized play in the history of sports. I wonder if his flyers will have a picture of him standing next to the statue in Greater Pittsburgh Airport.

As a political novice, he would have a difficult time going against a long time senator like Specter. Going against Toomey should be a different story. Franco will have better name recognition, the support of Obama who Franco campaigned for heavily, and the ability to raise lots of money. Against Specter he would be going against a moderate Republican who is respected by Democrats. Specter would get the Republican vote as well as some of the Democrats.

Toomey on the other hand, is a conservative Republican. We saw what happened when Casey ran against the incumbent, right winger, Santorum. Franco should be in a stronger position than Casey was. He will not be going against an incumbent, and he will be flying the flag of the party in power. Franco might be able to chip away at part of the T, while easily carrying Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

This should be a very interesting race.

Rainy Days and Mondays

2009-03-24T09:37:00.000-04:00

Remember that old song "Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down." Although it seemingly rains all the time in Pittsburgh, it was clear yesterday. If I was the least bit musical the song I would be singing would be "Ahole Drivers On Mondays Always Get Me Down".

Lesson One: Don't lend your car to your adult child
Lesson Two: If you missed Lesson One don't leave anything you need in the car when you lend it to an adult child.

I guess I missed school both of those days. I loaned my car to my daughter for a few days. When I got in it Monday morning, the parking pass for my garage at work was missing. I lay no blame, but vaporization during transitions is a known phenomena. No big deal I thought. I will just drive to the parking lot, take a ticket, park, go to the parking office and get a new pass. Unfortunately the best laid plans are corrupted by Murphy's Law. I actually saw footage of Murphy once. He was a military scientist who was the model for the crash test dummies. I saw video of this fool as a volunteer during rocket speed testing. As the rocket came to a stop, most of Murphy's body also came to a stop, but his retinas did not comply.

So as a I pulled into the garage I noticed a sign "Leases Only". Hey, I have a lease, I just don't have my pass. I pulled up to the ticket machine, pushed the button and no ticket came out. I looked into my rear view mirror and noticed an SUV behind me, with other cars behind him. The SUV driver was either singing to a very nasty rap song or he was directing a tirade of profanity at me. Fortunately I can not lip read and I could not hear him - yet.

I was blocked in. A gate was in front of me and the SUV was behind me. I tried motioning to the SUV driver to back up. For some reason this apparently made him angrier. So, instead I noticed a parking lot employee a few feet in front of me. I called to him and signaled. He ignored me. I pleaded with him to either open the gate so I could pull over or ask the cars behind me to back up. He continued to ignore me, but at least he smiled.

This left me with the only option, to get out of my car and ask the middle aged office worker rapper in the SUV to back up. This conversation did not go well. As he alternated profanity with addressing my heritage, my family, my sexuality, my reading ability and my intelligence, I wasn't getting far. Ultimately I think he realized at this point, if he was angry because I was delaying him, he was only making things worse. He backed up while continuing to swear and yell. Honestly, I reacted to him first trying to explain that I could read, but simply did not have my pass. When that didn't work I decided try to be bilingual and converse in his language. My topics were primarily comparing him to body parts that are generally covered by undergarments.

I was able to buy another pass in the office after my pal moved. I did suggest to the parking lot management that it would have been nice for their employee to take charge of the situation and direct the other drivers to back up. Their response is that they directed him not to do that because the last time he tried he caused an accident. I wonder if they ever thought that it might be a good idea to hire someone as a parking lot attendant who had the ability to direct traffic? As far as my friend the SUV driver, I wondered what could be so great or pressing in his office on a Monday morning that he was willing to blow his stack and get his week off to an angry and bad start.

Sunday Ride

2009-03-22T12:14:00.001-04:00

The highlights of today's ride were Pittsburgh's greatest view and taking advantage of the ride through one of the city's nicest parks. We went through the Southside as Carson Street became 51. After a left through the Corliss Tunnel we got our first nice climb of the ride. Nice is a matter of perspective. It was nice when we hit the peak. A few minutes earlier some may have disagreed. The climb changes from long and steady to quite steep by the end. Just as you are ready to curse the idiot who made you climb like this before you were ready, you see this incredible view (upper right) of the city unfold before you.
Looking across the Ohio we could see the Observatory in Riverview Park on the Northside peak. We thought "Why Not." Actually Will said "why not." So we headed back down to 51, through the Rocks, back across the river - the Ohio not the Mon, and began ourclimb to the Obesrvatory. Surprisingly the view from there isn't so great. No question though, the ride was great.

Cool Riding

2009-03-21T18:43:00.000-04:00

Today we went for the first ride of Spring. Funny, it still felt like winter. The temperature was in the mid-twenties when we pulled away from Coffee Tree. It didn't feel so cold with my fingers wrapped around a latte, but as soon as they were hanging in front of the brake levers at 20mph I knew it was cold.

You see so much more on a bike than you ever see from a car. We rode through Highland Park and down Allegheny River Boulevard to Oakmont. We hung on to the back of some young riders. Drafting and focusing on not looking/feeling old helped me forget about the cold. After crossing the Hulton Bridge we decided to climb Guys Run Road. Somehow the road got longer and steeper over the winter. As we were in the first part of the climb I noticed an unmarked sheriff's car on the right. The casually dressed deputy was standing by the car. Across the street a scruffy older guy was coming out of the house. Another unconcerned deputy was standing by him as the man was taking a box out. I noticed the window was posted. The reality of the recession hit me. The man was being evicted. As I slowly worked my way up the climb a real life Grapes of Wrath was unfolding in front of me. This recession is not worthy of a fine natural food like a grape. If someone writes the great American novel of this time it should be something like the Doritos of Wrath.

Somehow the scene of the man losing his home made me forget about the effort of going up the hill. While pondering where the old guy will go now, the peak of Guys Run came upon me. We continued through the beautiful large homes of Fox Chapel, then through Sharpsburg across the river, and climbed the hill into Morningside. It's amazing that as soon as you cross back into the city that the roads turn to absolute crap. Not only does riding around here take physical effort, but it calls for serious concentration or else you will flat out or bend a rim. Call it the Pittsburgh twofer: firming the body and sharpening the mind.

Welcome to the Technology Connection Age

2009-03-19T07:41:00.000-04:00

I forayed into the world of LinkedIn, which led me to connect with long lost friends. It also, finally led me to enter into Facebook, which I avoided for some unknown reason. I also signed up for Twitter, not really sure what I can do with it.

Any way, the amazing power of these tools lead me to three friends from college, none of whom I have seen or really heard from in the last 20 to 30 years. This has been a real gift. It has brought me back to those times in the 70's. Sure the pictures on these sites show middle aged guys, baldness and gray, but the minds and topics still seem like those of guys in their 20's.
I remember sitting around late at night talking. There were dreams of climbing mountains, and one of us actually did! There was talk of using our artistic talents as our careers. We have all done it in one way or another, but probably not as directly as we hoped or expected.
The years did not dull the connections. If anything the experiences of the 30 year gap may have made things easier to understand.

I remember in college, my one friend telling me he had become quite religious and had changed his name. I had the hardest time adapting to the new name and asked him if he would excuse me if I slipped and called him by his old first name. It seemed so mysterious. Now though, it seems so normal. After 30 years our worlds have broadened. The world is full of all types of names, looks and backgrounds, but deep down we are still the same people. Diversity makes is better. 30 years ago, would we have rallied around a president with a name like Barack Obama? We should all have pride about how our minds have opened instead of closing over 30 years.

So, hopefully soon, the four of us will get together face to face, the old fashion way. I'm sure there will be awkwardness about that 3 decade time warp, but I expect soon we will be talking about things as easily as we discussed the relative merits of Steve Grogan, as some new silly show called Sports Center played in the background on the TV.

Smart, Very Smart

2007-03-21T20:37:00.000-04:00

My most recent entry was critical of Bill Peduto. He has really earned my respect with his decision not to run against Luke Ravenstahl for mayor. Politically, it was a brilliant move and should serve him well in the future.

His actions should serve as a response to his critics. He is viewed as not being a party guy. Whoops let's rephrase that. Word is that Bill likes to party, just not with THE PARTY. Old line Committee people reward loyalty. They reward candidates who fall on the sword when they are not endorsed. If you decide not to run against an endorsed candidate you will get lots of support the next time you ask for an endorsement.

Critics say that Bill has a history of negative campaigning. At this point the only strategy he had if he remained in the race was to run a negative campaign. The opportunity was right in front of him. Luke accepted a boondoggle from a billionaire who just got a sweet deal from the state, county and city on a new arena. Luke's response to questions about this trip was less than straight forward. Bill had his opening. In commenting on his role in running a negative campaign for Cohen, he said he has learned from his mistake. He vowed not to run a negative campaign. Although he started to take some small pot shots, when the big opportunity was in front of him he did an incredibly honorable thing. He kept his word. He stepped back and not only didn't take shots, he made the ultimate sacrifice. He dropped out of the race rather than become ugly.

Bill had to know that after the arena/Penguin deal was done his chances of winning were slim and none. He also knows that fumigating the mess left from Murphy and then O'Conner in a half a term is almost impossible. It will also be impossible for him to raise enough money to run a meaningful campaign against Luke. Some of Bill's biggest contributors from his last bid already had jumped ship to Luke. You can't win these days without a war chest. If, as Bill and his supporters believe, Luke fails as mayor, Peduto will have a much stronger chance of winning next time. Instead of running as a two time loser. He can run as an honorable candidate on a "told you so" platform.

Should Bill not have the stomach for another run at the mayor's office, he clearly has political ambitions beyond City Council. Should he decide to run in the future for State Rep, State Senate or even Congress his actions today will be remembered. The party types should reward him for stepping aside for the endorsed candidate. The public should remember him as one candidate who really took the high road.

Now is the time for Luke to do the unexpected. I would like to see him offer Bill a prominent role in his administration. The city could be totally unified, and enjoy Luke's leadership and Bill's analytical and well thought out ideas.

Mystery Mailing - Judge for Yourself

2007-03-09T18:44:00.000-05:00

ACDC Chair Jim Burn made a call to all committee people the day before the endorsement election warning about a deceptive mailing from a Mayoral candidate. I have found a copy of the mailing and posted it. There is a perception that the old guard of the Committee is out to get Peduto. I really wanted to see this mailing because I'm really torn by this race. I see definitive and polar opposite strengths and weaknesses when comparing the candidates. I view myself as progressive and politically liberal. On the other hand I have a major problem with people who conduct their campaigns in a morally corrupt manner. I have been a Committeeman for the better part of a decade, but I question how the Committee endorses candidates. It makes me sick when candidates try to bribe committee votes by donating TV's and DVD players for Ward Meeting raffles, you won't catch me dead at a "free breakfast" for a candidate and I don't really appreciate gifts, such as aprons being dropped off at my door to buy a vote. This is why I was so interested in the alleged "deceptive mailing". Personally, I have found Jim Burn to be a major improvement, professional and a voice of moderation in County Party leadership. Remember, one of the other potential chairs was a convicted felon, so by all accounts that made Burn the progressive candidate. So, I was disappointed when some suggested that Burn was making his call to skew the election. Now I can see why he was so upset.

The front of the mailing looks identical to official ACDC mailings. The back side definitely leads one to believe that the ACDC is supporting Peduto for mayor. Just when you are really impressed and swayed by this guy's ideas you see something like this that proves what he is really all about. If this was isolated maybe there could be a logical explanation, but there is a long history of questionable tactics. This goes back to him managing the infamous Dan Cohen Congressional Campaign, by directing a low road, campaign of mud slinging, homophobic and racially charged inuendo, and general dirty politics. This submarined the political career of one of the brightest and most able young politicians to serve this area. Cohen did what a candidate should. He took the fall. He admitted fault for following the questionable strategy of his campaign manager.

We can also take a look at the last mayoral campaign. As progressive Democrats began to consider whether or not to run, there was supposedly communication between the various potential candidates. It was agreed that the only way for progressive ideas to be championed was for one progressive to run against O'Conner. Based on these discussions, Lamb announced his candidacy with the understanding that he would have the support of the other progressives. At the Candidates' Night at the 14th Ward Committee meeting interested potential mayoral candidates were invited to speak. O'Conner spoke, Lamb spoke, Flaherty spoke and a few fringe candidates spoke. Peduto was in the audience. He was specifically asked by the ward chair if he wanted to speak. He got up in front of the entire 14th ward committee and said he was not a candidate for mayor and was only a candidate for Council. As a result, unlike the rest of the speakers, he did not have to face questioning from the committee members - being questioned by 14th Ward Committee members can be very tough. There is no ducking questions. Days later he announced his candidacy. He split the votes, split the support and split the ability to raise money with Lamb, who was already clearly committed and announced as a candidate. He single handedly destroyed any chance of our city electing a progressive mayor. Do the math, if you added the Peduto votes to the Lamb votes they would have been neck and neck with the O'Conner total.

Ironically people seem to be holding Ravenstahl responsible for the problems in the City-County Building. Had Peduto chosen to throw his support to Lamb we wouldn't have this mess. Ravenstahl inherited the disaster, he did not create it. Both Ravenstahl and Peduto should be held accountable for City Council's inability to act as an effective check and balance. One of these two is going to be out next mayor. There are no other choices.

Being a sports fan in a sports crazed town I will draw a sports analogy. Would you rather have the average veteran, the .260 hitting third baseman or Cederic Wilson, or would you rather have the prospect. With the veteran, you know what you are going to get. You can't really expect him to improve or change, but you can count on his mediocrity and weaknesses. With the young guy, there is a chance he might fall on his face and fail (remember Chad Hermanson or Greg Hawthorne) or he could achieve greatness (remember Big Ben and Sidney Crosby). We know what we are getting with Bill Peduto for better or worse. We will get great ideas, analytical thought and hard work. We will also get questionable tactics (see above), alienation and blame. With Luke we don't really know what we are going to get. We do know that he is bright, articulate and a natural leader, but we don't know much else. How can we. After all he is only 5 years removed from graduating college. Of course that's five more years removed from graduating college than Bill. Some say Luke is just a follower or a puppet with Onorato pulling the strings. Who really knows. He has been mayor for only a few months. It will take until the end of the term to really find out. This means we will either take a risk with the young guy to finish out the term, or we will give Bill a half a term to implement total change.

When you are 27 your future is ahead of you. You have the potential to learn from your experience. You have the potential to gain confidence and independence, but there certainly will be a learning curve and mistakes along the way. With potential, you have hope. At 27 Ronald Reagan was a Democrat and at a few years younger than that Bill Peduto was a leader of the Younger Republicans at Penn State, before dropping out. At 27 Ravenstahl is mayor. At 26 he was Council President. Some feel he is too moderate. Is it possible that as he gains experience that he will be able to implement more progressive ideas? Sometimes it takes a moderate background to be able to implement progressive ideas. When Bill Clinton first ran he was viewed as a moderate Democrat. After 8 years he became the most effective progressive leader of our lifetime.

Bottom line is that I am very troubled by that mailing. If Peduto would try that to trick the ACDC, what might he do to alienate leadership in Harrisburg?

More Local Political Rumblings

2007-03-04T09:39:00.000-05:00

The Party Endorsement is today. Last night was the 14th Ward's annual Champagne and Dessert Gala. It as a great event as all of the candidates mingle with committee people in a relaxed atmosphere.

Surprisingly absent was Bill Peduto. Peduto has consistently, seemingly positioned himself as an adversary to the Party. Yesterday this occurred again. The County Chair had to call every committee person and warn them about an improper and deceptive mailing from a mayoral candidate. Curious, I dug through the garbage for mailings from both Ravenstahl and Peduto. I couldn't find the right mailing, which apparently was a card from Peduto that looked like an official mailing. It supposedly suggested that he had received the endorsement already. I wish I saw it. I wonder if it was truly deceptive or this is just a political ping pong ball.

I did dig out a letter from Peduto that we received on Saturday. Although not the letter that Burn complained about, he does take a curious tactic. Bill states:

As elected neighborhood leaders, you shouldn't be told who to vote for by political officials. You are free to make your own personal decision about the kind of leadership Pittsburgh needs to grow and develop. After all, you know the challenges our city faces. You know the desires our citizens have to maintain and improve their quality of life. You, as elected Democratic leaders, will be a part of the decision-making process in my administration.

For such a smart, experienced and savvy politician why, days before the endorsement, would he go out of his way to alienate Party leadership? Also isn't a bit insulting to think you have to tell elected committee people that they can make their own minds up. Instead of insulting, why didn't he take the high road, explain why he thinks he is the better candidate and ask for their votes. This is the exact danger of Peduto. He doesn't know how to win over political leaders. Based on informal discussions with political state wide leaders in attendance last night, it is also clear that Peduto has exaggerated his representation of close relationships with our state elected leaders. Assuming Ravenstahl gets the endorsement, which seems to be what Peduto is crying for based on his recent conduct, what will happen when he runs against the party in the primary. Even if we wins, how is he ever going to mend these fences and effectively create positive change? It's a very curious strategy from a person who is always well prepared and plans his moves in detail.

Other able candidates were in attendance. I had a long conversation with Christine Donahue, candidate for Superior Court. She is one of only two female candidates. She is also one of the most respected local trial attorneys and was highly recommended by the bar. The other candidate from Western Pennsylvania is Judge Ron Folino, who is an outstanding Common Pleas Judge. We have two great candidates from our area. Hopefully they can both win the statewide election.

There are several outstanding candidates running for the four Common Pleas Court openings. Hugh McGough was in attendance. Of the new faces he stands out. What will be interesting is how many candidates will drop out if they don't get the endorsement. Judge is a funny thing. Judges aren't really politicians, but they are selected by a political process.This creates a conflict between choosing the best potential jurist and the most loyal and committed member of the party. This is why it often takes able candidates two or three races to become elected. Perhaps decisions made after 4:00 this afternoon will determine who is elected judge next year.

The City Controller race is also extremely fascinating. Arguably the candidates in this race would be better suited for mayor than the Mayoral candidates. Mike Lamb is smart, highly educated, proven, experienced and approachable. Doug Shields has proven to be an effective leader in his tenure as President of City Council. He is also a bright guy and has matured, or mellowed, into an effective champion of progressive ideas. You also have to have some sympathy for Tony Pokora. This is his job and his career. I do not think he has any political ambitions other than to be able to continue with his career. He finds himself in a battle with two excellent, experienced and able politicians. One would like to think that the City can have the luxury of having both Lamb and Shields serving in important elected positions and there can be a place for Pokora, who has been a loyal city employee.

Mayor's Race

2007-03-02T18:05:00.000-05:00

Ravenstahl

or

Peduto?

Policy

or

Leadership?

As a committeeman I have a keen interest in the upcoming mayoral election. The party endorsement vote is this Sunday. Yesterday I heard a presentation from each candidate. The candidates attended the home of the President of the 14th Ward Independent Democrats Club. Each candidate spoke for 10 minutes and answered questions for 40. In attendance were board members of the organization and committee persons.

Ravenstahl spoke first. The group was made made up primarily of Peduto supporters who did nothing to hide their partisan feelings. Ravenstahl was articulate and knowledgeable. His responses were very forthright. He comes across as being fresh and honest. On the other hand many in the group felt that he was not "progressive". Although his youth will make people question whether he has enough experience to lead the city, he unquestionably is bright, confident and articulate.

Peduto similarly is a very polished speaker. He is extremely well prepared and knows the issues. The experience of having been involved in several campaigns has served him well. He is clearly attempting to improve his image by being more approachable and engaging.

Peduto knows the issues and is quick to point out fault in existing programs and plans. Although he suggest alternate solutions that have merit he glosses over the practicalities of how he can implement his plans. Peduto has the advantage of not having a track record as mayor and as such can be critical of decisions made by Ravenstahl and past administrations. On the other hand, although he has a track record on City Council, he has not served as a leader. He has been one of several council representatives, but never in charge. From that position he has been viewed as progressive or the champion of the underdog. He has served an important purpose on council. Parallels can be drawn between himself and others on Council who have come before him such as: Madoff, Pollock and Cohen. All of them were intelligent and outspoken members who challenged the ideas of the majority, but none ever became mayor. None of these people were viable candidates for mayor because of their oppositional approach. All burned out and faded from the political scene.

Although normally being the incumbent is a strength for a candidate, in this case it is going to cause challenges for Ravenstahl. He became mayor because of his position as President of City Council. O'Conner had been mayor for only a short time when he fell ill. Quickly it became obvious that he made mistakes in staff selections. This caused Ravenstahl to walk into a hornet's nest. Unexpectedly, as new mayor Ravenstahl had to clean up the mess from the O'Conner administration, which in turn was trying to clean up the mess from the lame duck Murphy administration. Recognizing that the city was in a delicate state mourning the loss of it's just elected mayor, Ravenstahl took the high road. We gradually has made staff changes while not creating turmoil in City Hall. Although not of his making, he had accepted the responsibility of the Regan/McNeilly fiasco. When the Federal Judge ruled against the City the mayor had to answer. The reality is that the entire situation occurred because of decisions made by the O'Conner administration.

The city is clearly at a cross roads. We have a financial mess. A city that originally had an infrastructure for a much larger population and industrial base must now support that infrastructure with a smaller tax base. To exacerbate the situation the city's biggest employers are non-profits that are not obligated to pay taxes. How are our problems going to be solved: by ideas or by leadership? We need good ideas and strong leadership, but ideas are useless if they can not be implemented. The secret to this city and region flourishing is strong bonds between the city, county and Harrisburg. Although Peduto may have more creative ideas Ravenstahl does a better job of building bridges.

Despite the clear improvement of his image, Peduto's report card would read

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Peduto, your son Bill is extremely bright, but he does not play well and share with his classmates. I am also afraid that Bill does not follow through on his projects."

Recent history shows that Peduto does not get along with the Allegheny County Democratic Party, he does not communicate will with the local State representatives particularly those in his own district, he has had a history of ducking the Committee people in his home districts of the 7th and 14th Wards, and he has failed to garner the support of his fellow members of City Council. If he is mayor, will he turn Pittsburgh into an island? How will he be able to sell his creative ideas to County and State constituents?

Perhaps the most telling analysis is why Ravenstahl is running as in incumbent, but Peduto is not. If Peduto was a true consensus builder, wouldn't he, as one of the longest tenured councilman and fresh off of a second place finish in the mayoral race, have been selected as President of Council? Ravenstahl, despite his youth and relative inexperience was so chosen by his peers. Peduto would have you believe that Ravenstahl was merely a puppet of his opponents on counsel. If that is so, why was Peduto's closest council ally, Doug Sheilds able to succeed Ravenstahl. If Peduto can't even win over the people who he works with on a daily basis how can we expect him to be able to win over those in Harrisburg?

Ravenstahl is more of a bridge builder. In this case in order to be a bridge builder he needs to be more of a moderate. As such he might not always be able to support the most creative of approach, but he can sell a more moderate plan that can be accepted, approved and adopted. Just as he won over his more senior constituents on council he will have an effect on county and state leaders. Let us not forget that he may have been selected because he was the most qualified to be President of Council. After all, at that time he was the only member who was a college graduate. He is bright, articulate, competitive and willing to consider advice and differing opinions. He is humble enough not to believe that he is always the one with the best answer. He also is willing to admit when he doesn't know an answer. When then happens he finds the answer and responds. He also is willing to accept responsibility for mistakes on his watch.

Peduto is very critical, and rightful so, of the fiscal problems created under the Murphy administration. Remember Peduto was working in City Council when all the mistakes were made. Instead of accepting blame for the disasters that occurred under his watch he passes the blame to Murphy, O'Conner and his fellow members of council. If he was such a great leader and knew the fiscal problems were so bad, why couldn't he be an effective enough leader to convince others in office of his position?

Bill Peduto serves a very important role in our city. He challenges the status quo and forces us to think of new ideas. Unfortunately since he cannot convince other politicians to agree with him on a regular basis, his most effective role is going to be as contrarian or watch dog from City Council. Ravenstahl appears to be the more natural leader. With Ravenstahl youth and lack of experience comes risk. He will need to prove to be strong and confident in his own ideas and policies. He needs to break free of the cloud of the O'Conner administration and lay a solid foundation for his own administration. The only opportunity for him to do this is as an elected mayor and not as a mayor by attrition.

Sorrel River Ranch

2007-02-15T09:12:00.000-05:00

While in the Moab area we stayed at the Sorrel River Ranch, which is located on the Colorado River and Rt 128. 128 has been called one of the most scenic roads in America. It winds along the Colorado River in a canyon walled by red rock, mesas and formations. The road is tight and windy.

Sorrel River is a working ranch with luxury cabins and a spa. The cabins are right on the Colorado River. Above is a view from our room.

The rooms are decorated in a western motif. They are very spacious, with a kitchen, fireplace, sitting area, porch and a spacious bathroom with a claw foot spa tub. It is a working ranch, and has been for 100 years. There are horses and crops. The lobby building has an upscale, but pricey restaurant. The staff is very helpful in planning activities. There is a pool and hot tub and a well equipped exercise room. The most impressive feature are the unbelievable views, both across and down the Colorado and across the road at two towering wind weathered twin mesas. The ranch is about 20 miles down the windy raod from Moab, so you are a bit isolated. This can be a bit of a problem if you want to dine in town, as the drive is a bit tough after dark.

Mountain Biking in Moab

2007-02-14T19:27:00.000-05:00

The weather was cool, but clear this morning, so the mountain biking trip was on. I went out with Fred of Rim Tours of Moab (www.rimtours.com). Fred, who is originally from Canada ( pictured above) was a great guide; the Sidney Crosby of mountain biking. Fred is a racer, who used a single speed 29er, compared to my fully geared rental Cannondale. The bike they provided was a brand new Cannondale Prophet, which had over 5 inches travel from both the back and front suspension. The bike had SRAM components. Unfortunately it also had Cannondale brand components. Because of these, I learned that Fred is also a very skilled bike mechanic.

We did the Klondike Bluffs Trail. This trail is several miles north of Moab. The trail climbs through sand, dirt and slick rock ending at the back side of Arches National Park. The sand was tough. When it became to loose, you stop and can't start. The slick rock was very different to ride on. There are large sheets of rock. The challenge is riding from sheet to sheet. Sometimes they drop off. You need to pick your spot at just the right place or you can have a problem. At one point I didn't follow where Fred crossed. My front wheel stopped between the rocks, causing the shock to compress. My momentum continued causing me to flip over the handlebars. I wasn't hurt (except my ego), but the bike had a problem. Even though we were going at slow speed and I was off the bike, when the bike fell to the ground the brake lever snapped. Clearly it was a defective part. Fred took a lever off of his bike, put it on my bike, and did the rest of the tour without a front brake. Above is a picture of a dinosaur footprint. Several of these prints were in the slick rock. People have placed rocks around the tracks to protect them. People drive jeeps on the trails. The weight of a jeep can destroy the tracks.

When we reached the end of the trail we hiked a short distance into Arches National Park and had this awesome view of the region. We were able to see the Fiery Furnace and Salt Valley. the Salt Valley was created by the earth, below where we were, sinking.

The ride back was a totally different ride. down hill riding slick rock was a different experience. The bike seemed totally in control. Overall the ride was a blast.

If you are going to Moab, I highly recommend using a guide. Even if you are a good and experienced mountain biker from the east, this is different. So many things can happen to you if you go it alone. A guide finds the best trails for your abilities and transports you there. Even though slick rock trails are marked by white paint it is hard to follow the trail. You can accidentally follow a dried out river bed or abandoned mining trail and get seriously lost. On the slick rock everything looks the same. Similarly, if you are not experienced with the terrain it's easy to misjudge drop offs. The dull color of the slick rock can deceive you.

Guides point out interesting features that you would otherwise miss, like the dinosaur tracks. They tell you about inside local information: places to eat or shop, or other sights of interest. They also teach you techniques to improve your riding.

If you are injured, a guide can either take care of you or get you to safety. If you have a problem with equipment, the guide will take care of you. For example my broken brake lever, would have left me high and dry miles from help. A guide makes sure you have an enjoyable experience. If you tried it on your own and something went wrong you might be living a nightmare.

Moab - still stuck in the 60's

2007-02-13T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today the weather was bad. It was cold and rainy in the morning. As a result I postponed the mountain biking for a day. Instead we decided to drive to Canyonlands National Park. The drive is a series of switchbacks up the La Sal mountains. As we drove to with in 8 or 9 miles of the park fog set in. We couldn't see 5 feet in front of us. We realized continuing was useless. If we couldn't see 5 feet in front of the car, we couldn't see what ever was in th park. So, we turned around and headed back to Moab. Despite the mystique of Moab, it's not much of a town. Main Street is like most small town western Main Streets, except more bike and t-shirt shops. As you drive a few blocks off of main street it's actually kind of depressing: beat-up houses, an abandoned drive-in theater and trailer parks. We did find some more upscale adobe style homes up the canyon near Slickrock Trail.

Moab is best known for the Slick Rock area above town. Above is a picture of the beginning of the trail. There are a lot of warnings. It's an expert trail and quite dangerous as noted from the signs above and below. Slick is not what it sounds like. It looks like it would be slippery, but in fact the traction is excellent. This is what makes it possible to go up and down steep crevasses and sheer drop off ledges. The trails are marked by white marks on the rocky surface. If you look at the picture above or the bottom picture you can see a faint dark line. This has been made by thousands of tire tracks following the marked trails.

The trail was initially made for dirt bikes in the late '60's. In the early 80's people tried using "mountain bikes" in the rocks. They discovered the traction was great and the trail was a great challenge. Now 80,000 cyclist try the trail a year. On this day in February we didn't see one person riding on the trail. We did see people in Jeeps and Mad Max like vehicles climbing other areas of the park at impossible angles.

This picture was taken from above Moab. The canyon wall in the distance goes on for miles and miles, with Moab sitting at the canyon floor. Moab is a young persons town. A couple of spots we found that we would recommend are Arches Bookstore, which has a great coffee bar inside and McStiff's Brewery and Restaurant. Despite the unappetizing name the food was really good and reasonable. Moab hasn't gotten gentrified or developed yet. It's still a sleepy western town with a outdoor flavor. The influx of young people has given Moab a great flavor. I'm sure in another 20 years it will have timeshares and condos all over the place. Until then it is a nice way station for those people enjoying on of nature's greatest playlands.

Arches National Park

2007-02-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

We are staying about 30 minutes outside of Moab along the Colorado River at a Ranch Resort. Today we went to Arches National Park, hiked and saw some of our country's greatest natural beauty. The picture above is Landscape Arch. To get to this arch you need to drive 18 miles to where the park road ends. Then you hike for about a mile. The hike is magnificent, going through a trail that cuts between enormous red rock formations. It opens up to beautiful vistas of the La Sal Mountains. Finally you come to the Landscape Arch, which appears very delicate. It's quite big. The expanse seems as long as the Fort Pitt Bridge.
These arches are known as windows. Although you can see part of it from the road, you really need to do the loop hike to get the full view. Only the arch on the left is visible until you hike all the way up and toward Turret Arch. First you climb steep steps cut into the trail and you reach and can hike into the North Window. Then you follow the trail to the Turret Arch. As you hike around Turret you see this fantastic view of both Windows. This hike is only about a mile, but it entails a lot of climbing. The trail itself is well maintained and wide. Step are cut for the climbs.

This arch is called Sand Dune Arch. This is visible from the road, but to get the full effect you need to hike the trail. Almost the entire trail is sand. At the end of the trail you reach a rocky area. If you climb over the rocks you come up against the wall at the bottom of the arch, allowing you to look up at the underside of the arch.

This is the most photographed of all the arches. It's called Delicate Arch. The best way to see it is to hike. From the trailhead you can hike right to the arch. This hike takes several hours. We did not have the time to do this hike and the other ones we did. So we continued on the road and were able to do a shorter hike that lead to this vista. From the parking lot you have a choice of two views. The lower view is very easy to get to. It only takes a few minutes to get there and the view, although from a distance, is quite good. For a little better view hike to the upper viewpoint. This is a fairly steep hike. It's fun, but probably only takes 30 minutes round trip.

Close to the entry of the park are these rock formations known as Park Avenue. As you walk to the viewpoint the rocks look like New York City skyscrapers. There is a very good hike that continues through this area.

Snowmobiling in Logan Valley, Utah

2006-12-26T10:15:00.000-05:00

Snowmobiling in Logan Canyon

On Christmas day my son and I went snowmobiling from Beaver Creek Lodge. This is the first time we tried snowmobiling. After minimal instruction we were on our way. I started off slowly, trying to get a feel for it. Although the trails were groomed they were very bumpy. Also it was easy to catch an edge, like in skiing.The surroundings were beautiful as we rode through the Cache Mountain Range in Logan Valley. The area we were riding was near Bear Lake and the Beaver Creek Ski Area. This is the north east corner of Utah, bordering Idaho. Initially we rode through trails and up the mountain. We came to a basin that was like a snow field. Here we were able to open up the snowmobile and get used to it. We came upon a dog sled, which was very cool.

After I felt comfortable on the snowmobile and we were in another snow basin I let my son Max, who is 15 1/2 try to drive. Being the passanger was not nearly as much fun as driving. th operation is fairly easy. There is a throttle on the right grip of the handlebar and a hand brake on the left handlebar grip. Generally all you need to do is let go of the throttle and snowmobile will stop. So, in a sense it's as easy as a golf cart. The skis and the terrain makes it different. Max did a good job. He listened when I would tell himm to slowdown or move to the middle of the trail. I let him open it up on a flat, smooth snow field. We then rode several miles down a straight trail and stopped. We got off and walked off the trail to soak in a beautiful view.

I immediately learned that the snow was much deeper than I had anticipated. At the lodge, it was a few inches. We warned to watched for clear spots, but up here in the mountains it was a different story. I sunk to my waist in the snow. After digging, Max found same sage and explained to me how he can use it make a spindle to start a fire. As we were talking the dog sled approached us again.

After this I resumed driving. We headed back, but did a loop up the mountain. We went up a steep winding pass and came back to where we had been earlier.When we approached another basin Max asked to drive. Now I knew that technically he wasn't supposed to operated the vehicle. The age limit is 16, but I was thinking it must be such a drag to be 15 1/2 and stuck behind your dad for 4 hours. I also thought it would be good for him to learn how to drive the snowmobile away from traffic as he was getting close to the age for driving a car. I also think this is what most guys would do. As my wife has reminded me, our sex often makes bad decisions. In this case, blinded by testostorone, horsepower and the smell of gasoline, I did make a bad decision. Even though Max was doing a good job driving, I didn't think about what would happen when some little thing would go wrong. We were riding through a wooded trail that had been heavily traveled as evidenced by all of the tracks. There was a fairly steep drop off on the right, but other wise it was a fairly simple trail. As we were riding, Max was keeping a reasonable speed. The right ski caught an edge on something, perhaps a rock or a deep track. It forced the snowmobile sharply to the right and off the trail. Max let off the throttle as he was supposed to, but unfortunately we were headed straight down a steep ravine. Max couldn't turn the handle bar quickly enough or get the brake to stop us, but he did slow us down. It was as if it was happening in slow motion. We were headed straight for a tree, but since we were going slow we didn't seem to hit too hard. It was as if we were on a taboggan. Neither of us was injured, but the snowmobile looked bad. The right ski looked crushed and the windshield came off. The first thing we tried to do was to back up the snowmobile, but it was stuck. We tried pulling, but it wouldn't budge. I checked my cell phone to call for help, but there was no service. Then a group of snowmobilers who had rented with us came by. One of the guys said he could give one of us a ride. So I sent Max on to get help. A few minutes later a group of three snowmobilers came by and offered help. They were obviously very experienced. They extricated the vehicle: 1,2,3 and had it back on the trail. The ski popped back into place and the windshield is designed to pop off and it easily went back in place. They did find a crack to the front bumper and the snowmobile was running a little funny. They looked under the hood and found that piece that went to the exhaust shifted a little. We couldn't fix it there because we didn't have tools. They said it was a simple repair. I was on my way. The snowmobile was louder and I was breathing a little exhaust, but I was able to drive it the 11 or so miles back.

Unfortunately when I got back I learned that I hadn't totally dodged the bullet. Several parts needed to be replaced. The bad news was that the estimate was $1800. The good news was that I spent an extra $15 to get insurance. The bad news was the deductible is $600. All an all we had an interesting adventure. Fun in parts, beautiful in parts, frightening parts and expensive because of broken parts. $200 dollars for the rental, clothes, equipment, insurance and gas, plus the damage for a grand total of $800.

Some Turkey Got Too Close to My Car

2006-11-23T09:33:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not I took these pictures Thanksgiving morning in my driveway. I was infested with wild turkeys. Considering I live in the middle of the city it seemed to be a sign. I'll have an extra helping tonight!

Yellowstone

2006-10-22T12:32:00.000-04:00

Jackson Lake Grand Teton National Park

Saturday was out last day. We had to drive to Salt Lake, where we are flying out on Sunday. We were a bit disappointed having been so close, but snowed out at Yellowstone. I woke up early and decided to give the Ranger Station a call. They said the South Gate was currently open to Yellowstone, so we got up, packed and got going at day break. To get to Yellowstone you need to drive all the way though Grand Teton National Park. This was a treat, as we had not been above String and Leigh Lakes. The view from Jackson Lake was awesome. We stopped at a convenience store in the northern part of the park. The lady working their called Yellowstone for us and told us snow tires were advised, but the road was open. She encouraged us to continue, so we did.
We made it into Yellowstone. The drive was beautiful. We saw great valley views, Lewis Falls and Lewis Lake. We also saw a small herd of elk. The road goes over a windy mountain pass. The roads had a bit of ice and snow, but nothing too bad. Before we knew it we saw steam billowing from the valley below. We arrived at the lower geyser basin and Old Faithful. You can see geysers spouting all over the place. Our timing was great. A few minutes after we arrived at the Old Faithful viewing area, it began spouting. After the show we had lunch at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. We learned that this was the last service open in the park, and it was closing the next morning. After lunch we drove and looked around the lower basin area. We were very close to elk, mule deer and buffalo. We continued with our drive and stopped and walked around both the Middle and Lower Geyser Basin. They were very beautiful and interesting. We actually enjoyed them more than Old Faithful.

Again, I felt that our timing of the trip was good. It was cold. The roads were a little dicey. We had our Wildlife trip of Yellowstone canceled. On the other hand we saw so many animals in a short time. Seeing the trees and mountains covered in snow was beautiful. The roads through the parks were empty. There were very few people in the park, even at Old Faithful. The down side is that we only got about 4 hours in Yellowstone. There is so much to see. Hopefully we will return. We also never saw a bear. I was really hoping to see a bear in the wild. At this time of year the bears have moved up to around 9000 feet. Most of the roads leading up there are now closed.
The drive to Salt Lake was interesting. We drove through Montana and Idaho. I had never been in either state. Idaho has mountains, reservoirs, lakes and streams that make for world class trout fishing. There are vast plains between mountain ranges. Going through Wyoming, Montana and Idaho was a totally differnet experience. I would like to go through Montana and the Northern Loop of Yellowstone next time.
We spent the night in Salt Lake at a downtown hotel. We had a very nice dinner at an Italian Restaurant across the street from the hotel. The next morning I went for a really cool run. Starting downtown I went up Main Street, through the LDS campus and park, up a hill past the capital, continued up the hill through city residential neighborhood that dead ended at the foothills. From there I picked up a single track trail that climbed through the foothills. The views were tremendous of downtown Salt Lake, the Lake and mountains on either side of the city. The trail forked going on seemingly forever above the valley and parallel to the highway, or up higher. I took the high trail, which lead to an upscale new foothills neighborhood with brand new or under construction contemporary mansions. These had some of best views any city dweller could have.

Middle Geyser Baisin, Yellowstone

Best Laid Plans

2006-10-20T20:18:00.000-04:00

Elk near Teton Village

Moose in Gros Ventre
We had a very organized plan for our trip to Wyoming. Our first full day, Wednesday we decided to hike in Grand Teton National Park. Thursday, we had a phone conference at 3:00, so we decided to explore the Gros Ventre area and Grand Teton by car. This left Friday for a full day for Yellowstone Park. To make the most of it we had booked a trip with Wildlife Expeditions, a part of the Grand Teton Science School. This was to be a 14 hour Yellowstone Loop Tour leaving at 7:00 AM. The guide, Tenley, arrived on time. We were pleased that no one else booked the trip, so we were going to have a private tour of Yellowstone with a wildlife expert.

We started out, Tenley pointed out some elk on a hill side. We made it to the main entry gate of Grand Teton Park. To get to Yellowstone's South Gate, you drive for about 50 miles through Grand Teton. The ranger at the gate informed us that Yellowstone had been pelted with snow over night and the roads and gate were closed. Our trip to Yellowstone was snowed out by an early season storm. So, instead, we did a half day wild life tour of the Grand Teton area. Quickly, Tenley found some moose at a distance across a plain. She had a high power scope that allowed us to see the moose. I had never seen them in the wild, but it would have been nice to see them closer with the naked eye. Our guide then proceeded to an area where there was a herd of prong horned antelope. She also spotted a carcass that coyote were feeding on. We hiked across a field and up a hill where she set up the scope for us to observe the antelope and coyote.

Next she headed back to the Gros Ventre area where we had been yesterday. This is where we saw the herd of buffalo, but they were gone today. She quicky spotted several moose that we were able to get close to. This was fantastic. We watched them for quite awhile and took great pictures. We also saw a warm spring. Several years ago someone wanted to get rid of their tropical fish, so they dumped them in the warm spring. The fish survived and multiplied. Now the spring is teeming with small tropical fish.

After finishing the tour we went into the town of Jackson. While my wife focused on shopping, I read about the town. Jackson was incorporated in 1914, so it's less than 100 years old. This seems strange compared to our visit over the summer to Italy. Jackson started in 1914; a 100 year old building in Rome would be considered new. One would think that the old west wouldn't be an area of women's rights, but the town of Jackson was founded by women and in 1920 an entire slate of women was elected to govern the town. Jackson also had a woman sheriff.

On the way back to Teton Village from Jackson we saw an enormous herd of elk just off the road. It was funny, previously we were with a guide as were many other people, looking for herds of elk. The guides worked hard to find the elk, but we found a much larger herd right off the road across from the ski resort.

For weeks we were planning to visit Yellowstone in the Fall when few people would be in the park and the animals would be active. We thought by going on Friday, when we had the most time and going with a guide, would give us the best opportunity to see the wildlife and natural beauty of Yellowstone. The unpredictability of nature made it impossible for us to get to Yellowstone, but on the other hand we had even more time to see wildlife in Grand Teton. Some have called the area the Serengeti of America.

Hopefully we will have an opportunity come to northern Wyoming again in the future. We will probably have to plan a trip solely to Yellowstone. I would still plan the trip for Fall or Spring, so as to avoid the crush of people in the summer. We would have liked to have seen bear and a wolves, but it was really amazing how much wildlife we saw and how easy it was to spot it.

Jackson, Wyoming

prong horned antelope

Gros Ventre

2006-10-19T20:43:00.000-04:00

Bad weather was called for today, so we decided to explore the Gros Ventre area by car. Behind the parking lot is the massive ski run of Jackson Hole Resort, rising like an intimidating wall for all of the skiers to see as the first drive into the resort. Access to the top of the mountain and this run used to be by a large cable tram, but it was just decommisioned last week. A new replacement will be complete in 2008. The tram is also used by hikers to access great trails at the top of Rendezvous Mountain and the Grand Teton National Park. Jackson Hole means different things to different people. To some it is the Jackson Hole Ski Resort where we are staying. It is located 1 mile from Grand Teton National Park and about 12 miles from the town of Jackson. Some people think the ski resort and the town are one in the same, but they are not. The town, which is a touristy western town filled with motels, chain stores and fast food joints, has it's own small ski resort called Snow King. Jackson Hole is actually an entire area, the valley below the Tetons.
It was recommended that we drive through the Gros Ventre area of the National Park and the National Forrest to see wildlife. We also did two small hikes.

Shortly after driving off the main road to the Gros Ventre area we saw a big herd of wild buffalo. They are enormous and were only a few feet from the car. They have a prehistoric look to them. As a kid I remember that they were almost extinct. It was amazing to see the large herd with 100's of animals is flurishing.
Our first short hike was at a turn off after climbing up the road on switchbacks. At first we saw a canyon and a view of mountains. I followed a trail and saw a magnificant view of the Grand Teton Mountain range across a valley. They view was even more magnificent than the view from Inspiration Point.
We continued driving and came to the slide area. In 1925 there was one of the most massive landslides known to man. The rocks came crashing down from 9000' landing on the Gros Ventre River and creating a new lake. We hiked on a trail that went through the area were the rocks landed and remain.
We kept driving through the area. the road turned to a rough dirt road. We continued on the road for quite awhile going past all kinds of terrain, camp grounds, mountains and ranches.

Driving across Wyoming

2006-10-19T00:50:00.000-04:00

After filling up at the Donut Ranch we left Saratoga for Jackson Hole. The weather hadn't cleared and seemed to follow us. It was cold and overcast with snow squalls. We stayed on the two lane road for 20 miles until we hit I-80. The drive on the interstate was rough. The speed limit is 75 and people tend to go a lot faster. Just as in Pennsylvania, 80 in Wyoming is a truck route. Our rental car is a small Saturn Ion. It was windy and dreary. The trucks shot snow and ice on our windshield and our wipers froze over. The visibility was scary bad. The drive was tense. We did see some very interesting rock formations in the stretch east of Rock Spring. At Rock Spring we got off of the Interstate and headed north on the two lane black top, 191, which leads through Jackson and to Yellowstone. Towns were few and far between. Those towns were tiny with populations between 100 and 300. Luckily the weather cleared. We came to a bigger town (pop. 1700), Pinedale, and stopped for lunch. It had the feel of a western diner. My wife had a cheeseburger and I had a quesadilla. As is required at a diner we had homemade pie ala mode, which as is always the case, looked better than it tasted. We noticed there were a lot of energy workers eating at the diner who were living in motels in town. They obviously were from out of town. We learned there is an energy boom in Wyoming, which includes a pipeline through the state.

After lunch we still had about an hour and a half to Jackson. The drive turned beautiful as we
rode through the Teton National Forest. We stopped at a scenic view and saw a father and son fishing on the Hoback River. We also saw a heard of Big Horn Sheep on a hillside across the river. We stopped. I got out to take pictures and walked to a spot directly across the river from the wild sheep. As if they spotted me they came running down the hill toward me. Their real motivation was not to ham it up for the camera, but to get a drink of water from the river.
We continued, stopping for gas in Hoback Junction and continued over the Snake River, on to Jackson, and then from Jackson to Teton Village.

Boulder to Saratoga, Wyoming

2006-10-19T00:27:00.000-04:00

On Monday we dropped our daughter off at Boulder and then started our journey to Jackson Hole. Our plan was to make it about half way or a little more to Rock Spring. We got off to a late start out of Boulder. Before we reached Fort Collins my wife realized that she left her fleece coat in Niwot. Without a coat she was going to be in trouble in Jackson Hole as the weather wass turning cold. We stopped in Fort Collins and replaced the missing coat. We then continued into Wyoming taking a back road to Laramie. From Laramie we took a mountain pass road called the Snowy Mountain Pass with great views of Medicine Bow. The name of the pass held true. When we reached the 11000' peak the windy mountain road turned snow covered and icy. The drive became very slow. It was 6:15 and getting dark by the time we reached the base in the tiny town of Satatoga.
Saratoga is an old western cowbow town that hasn't changed much in over 100 years. The town's claim to fame is a thermal hot spring that has been turned into a municpal pool open 24 hours. I stopped by, but the bathers looked rather shady. Reading the local paper, I later learned that some of the local teens entertained themselves, when not at the pool, by dousing a passed out drunken kid with gasoline and trying to set him on fire. They were arrested. Even though some of the locals aren't charming, the local hotel, the Wolf Hotel is charming. It is a classic western hotel, originally openned in 1892. The current owners, who bought it 30 years ago, restored it to it's original splendor. There is a long wooden bar in the saloon, with swinging doors and mounted trophies hanging on the walls. The restaurant features steaks from the local ranches.

Our room was a two room suite, with a comfortable bed and period antiques. I felt like I was sleeping in Deadwood. Prices were from another era too. The spacious two bedroom suite was $79.
Before leaving town the next morning we stopped at the Donut Ranch for breakfast. This was the elderly local hangout. This is where people meet and swap stories over coffee and breakfast. Kids stopped by on their way to school for donuts. We sat down for a full breakfast. The coffee was good. I had hotcakes and eggs, while my wife had the french toast. The food was excellent and extremely filling.
On the drive to Saratoga we did see some wild life. We saw a heard of antelope and got very close to some mule ear deer.

Grand Teton National Park

2006-10-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

We hiked today through Grand Teton National Park. Our hike started at String Lake, went along Jenny Lake and then climbed to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. The weather was cold in the morning, around 20 and the high was low 40's. It was generally sunny, but there was snow on the trails. The weather and conditions were perfect for hiking. Before we left we bought treking poles at REI in Pittsburgh. My friend, Tom Jones, who works at REI suggested I buy them and said they will make a big difference. Tom was right. They really make hiking easier. The conditions in some of the areas were really icy, particularly on the rocky, steep climb to Inspiration Point. The poles made it a lot safer.
We were really hoping to see wildlife and we really lucked out. About half way to the falls we saw a bald eagle circling and soaring. Fortunately we borrowed some binoculars at the hotel, so we had a great view of the bird. Just after ending the hike and getting into the car we saw a few female elk. Where there are females a male has to be around. We saw this guy with this most impressive rack.
I think we also did really well with the time of year for the visit. There were very few people on the trails. The roads were almost empty. The wildlife is out and about. In addition to the elk and eagle, yesterday we saw Big Horn Sheep, Mule Deer, Antelope and a fox.
The timing was also really good for getting a great deal on a room. We are staying at the Teton Mountain Lodge. Although we got a regular room for only $91/night, we were able to upgrade for a few dollars more to an awesome suite with a bedroom, two baths, full kitchen with granite counters, a lving room with a fireplace and a large balcony with great views.

Republic of Boulder

2006-10-15T00:22:00.000-04:00

We spent the day in Boulder visiting our daughter for Parent's Weekend. Our daughter is a Freshman at the University and Colorado. In one day I can see why she fell in love with the school. The campus is absolutely beautiful; tasteful red tile roofed buildings framed by the foothills of the Rockies. The student body is made up of bright, attractive young people.

The Boulder community is creative and liberal thinking. Such products as Cellestial Teas and Crocks started here. The shopping district of Pearl Street has many boutiques. I found out the hard way, accompanying my daughter and wife. Fortuantely I picked up a copy of the Onion from a newspaper box. I have heard of the Onion, but didn't realize that it was published in Boulder. It is a satirical paper skewing current events. One headline was Bin Laden's Mother Worried Sick. I sat on a bench on the walking street reading, laughing and crinking coffee, while they helped the GNP of the Republic of Boulder.

In the afternoon I attended the football game with my brother-in-law Brian. The CU team, nicknamed the Buffs (no they don't play naked) is loved by the students. Unfortunately they have fallen on hard times. In previous years they were nationally ranked and had been National Champions in 1990. This year they started 0-6, and had lost 10 in a row going back to the previous season. Since Pitt moved their games downtown to Heinz Field, I have forgotten how electric an on campus college football game can be. The CU stadium is located right on the campus. There are views of the mountains from the endzone. The stadium is very interesting, not feeling too big, actually almost intimate for a football stadium. It has been expanded over the years. The one side is actually a basketball field house with stands built into the side. Another seperate building is in the far end zone and it has a scoreboard attached. The Buffs pulled a big surprise and crushed Texas Tech 30-6. After the game the fans stormed the field and the marching band marched right out of the stadium and through the campus.

The Republic of Boulder does seem like a perfect island of higher education.

Parent's Weekend

2006-10-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we leave to visit our daughter for Parent's Weekend at her college. She is a Freshman at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I'm really looking forward to seeing what her college life is like. I also love the town of Boulder. It's the ultimate college town, beautiful mountains in the background, a brick walking street lined with funky shops and great bars and restaurants. I didn't get the chance to take her to school so this will also the first chance for me to see her dorm room and meet her friends.

As much as I love my daughter she drives me crazy. 18 is a tough age. 18 year olds constantly remind you that they are adults and independent. On the other hand they are totally dependent on their parents. Last Sunday I got a call from my daughter. It went something like this:

"Hi Dad"
"Hey what's going on. What did you do this weekend?"
"Well I have a problem"
"What or should I say how much"
"My cell phone broke"
"What happened?"
"It fell in the toilet"
"How did that happen? Why were you talking while you were on the toilet?"
"I wasn't talking to anyone"
"How did it happen?"
"I was texting and it slipped"
"Oh"
"The worst part was I had to fish it out."
"Maybe it will dry out"
"I don't think that will help out. I dropped it in after I finished"
"Finished what?"
"You know, Dad!"
"Oh"

So, I told her I would help her. I told her I wasn't willing to pay a lot of money for a replacement phone. We had just commited to two more years on our contract to get the toilet infested phone. To replace it on Ebay would have been $250.

I remembered that we just replaced a lot of cell phones at work with Treos, and we used the same company at work as at home. On of my work friends had a nice cell phone in good condition that he didn't need any more, so he gave it to me. I took time out of my day to get it activated, pack it, find a charger, and then ship it overnight, so she wouldn't be without a phone. The phone was a flip phone with a camera, color creen, speaker phone and a clock on the front. I thought I did pretty well for her.

When we talked to her the next day I was expecting a big thank you. Instead, she was mad because it was a "three year old model." Since when did phones become a status symbol or fashion statement?

Probably I made a mistake even getting a phone for her. Adults who break or lose their phones replace them themselves. Of course had she tried to replace it herself she would have had a hard time. Only the contract holder can activate a phone. Maybe it would have been a good lesson.

Its amazing what are necessities for college students now. In addition to the out of fashion cell phone she has a laptop. They also have in their room:a flat screen tv (courtesy of roomie's dad), a fridge, a microwave, a dvd player and of course the ipod and ipod speakers. Somehow I think I will be informed this weekend about all of the things she needs. I think she confuses "wants" with "needs" often.

Why having a party when parents away is "Risky Business

2006-10-10T23:47:00.000-04:00

R ecently I went out of town for a few days. My 18 year old daughter stayed behind. We told her not to have people over. When I got back home I discovered my bike was missing from the basement. She was shocked that it was missing, but fessed up that she had a "few" friends over. She gave me a list of all the "guests". I had her get the message out that if the bike was not returned that I would be letting the police sort through the guest list. No one came forward. I made my daughter accompany me to the police station. We filed a report with my daughter being compelled to give the polic e the list. Within two hours the bike magically appeared at my house.
`` I really like the bike. It's a Motobecane Vent Noir. I commute to work downtown as often as practical. With the time change, shorter days and colder weather my commuting days are going to be limited until the Spring. Next summer I'm planning on riding the trails from Pittsburgh to DC. I may have to get a different bike for the trip. I'm not sure if this one can handle the trails.

Cycling in the Burg

2006-10-10T23:06:00.000-04:00

I really enjoy biking in Pittsburgh. You really need to ride defensively, but things have gotten a lot better in recent years. Now there are great riverside trails. Now you can ride for miles without having to deal with much traffic. On the Southside you can access the trail at the far end of Station Square and ride past the South Side Works ending just short of Sandcastle. On the Northside you can start beyond the Science Center and ride all the way to Millvale. They have created a nice little park in Millvale. You can also start in Schenley Park in Panther Hollow and ride the Jail Trail to downtown. From the downtown side of the jail trail cross Grant and you can stay on the sidewalk to the Southside and access the Southside Trail. Soon there will be a bike and walking lane for the Hot Metal Bridge.

If you like to climb there are a few rides that I like. Sometimes I take the Jail Trail downtown, cut over to the Northside and cross the West End Bridge. I climb Greenleaf, which is a long and steep climb to Mt. Washington. I then ride across the ridge of the mountain and come down to the Southside. I ride the Southside trail, connecting to the Jail trail and head home.

Another ride I do is to take the Jail Trail to town and cross to the Northside. I then take East Street, cross 279 on the bridge and continue to Ivy. This is a nice challenging climb past WPGH. I come out on Perrysville, which I take to Cemetary Lane. This a fast windy decent. I make a right on Babcock and take it to Evergreen. I then follow it through Millvale and cross 28 to the Millvale trail. I take the trail back to town, ride through town and pick up the Jail Trail. I also enjoy riding through Fox Chapel, Harmarville, Oakmont and back to Highland Park. I climb through the Zoo and back to Shadyside.

One caveat when you are riding through Panther Hollow, beware of the wild turkeys. The Toms attack cyclists. See Brian O'Neil's P-G articles:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06190/704197-155.stm or http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06208/708918-155.stm

I've noticed a lot more young people riding single speed or fixed gear bikes. They are getting old racing bikes and retro fitting them. This is great. I would like to try one of these bikes. Climbing up the hills might be tough, but they would be perfect for the riverside trails.

Road Rage

2006-10-10T08:56:00.000-04:00

What is it about drivng a car that can turn an otherwise mellow person into a raging angry maniac? Honestly, it happened to me this morning. There is a crazy intersection coming out of the Schenley Park at Phipps Conservatory. Coming from the park you have a stop sign. Traffic coming in the other direction doesn't have a stop sign. In order to go toward the Boulevard of the Allies you need to wait for the traffic to break. I was at the stop sign. The idiot behind me started honking. I looked back. He was driving a black Mercedes sports car talking on his phone. He continued to honk as if he wanted me to push my way through oncoming traffic and risk life and limb for him. I watched him as we got on the Boulevard. He weaved through traffic, inbetween lanes as he continued to talk on the cell phone.

I admit. I talk on my cell phone while I drive, but I use a head set. I keep my eyes on the road. Really, if you can afford a brand new Mercedes roadster I would think that you can afford a Bluetooth headset. I wonder how many accidents are caused by people yapping on the cell phone. After I parked this morning I crossed a cross walk that has bright yellow "Yield for Pedestrian" signs. As I was half way through the cross walk a car comes flying down the road, ignoring the crosswalk, signs and pedestrians. I looked up at the car, my life flashing before my eyes, and I saw a lady talking on her cell phone. She did come to a screaching look and gave me a "sorry" look. I really think it's time to make it illegal to talk on cell phones while driving without headsets.

It's not just drivers of cars. I have also seen a new trend: people talking on cell phones while skateboarding. I've seen it by the Squirrel Hill library and in Oakland. I actually saw a guy go flying on his skateboard, through traffic, against a light, while talking on his cell phone. It would have been poetic justice if he got hit by a lady talking on her cell phone while driving a minivan.

I also experienced another form of outrageous inattentive driving recently. One morning I was riding my bike to town using the Jail Trail. At the end of the trail I waited for the light to change so I could merge onto Grant Street. As I crossed the intersection, a woman ran the light, almost hitting me. I pulled along side her and looked into her car. She was reading a novel while she was driving. It wasn't even a good book, it was some trash supermarket novel. I knocked on her window and asked her if the book was good. She seemed surprised. I then explained to her that if she kept reading and driving at the same time she would have a lot of free time in her jail cell to read, after being convicted for vehicular homicide. She promised not to read and drive at the same time anymore. I am rather certain that she is now talking on her cell phone while she drives, or maybe she put a dvd player in her front seat and watches "B" movies while she drives.

I guess the thing is driving can be very dnagerous. It is really insulting that some people have so little respect for others on the road that they feel that they don't have to pay attention while driving. Multi-tasking is great. Rush hour is boring, but let's make sure that we aren't turning our vehicles and boredom into weapons of mass destruction.

Pittsburgh Guy and Steeler Fan

2006-10-10T07:52:00.000-04:00