Well, I didn't quite make 25 miles last week, so I was determined to hit it today. I did. Humid day out there this morning, I was glad the rain held off. Another mini tour of Pittsburgh, if you will. Not sure what's up with the elevation profile on this one. According to the stats, I had an altitude gain of 709 and an altitude loss of 808 - but the elevation profile just seems to indicate the drop. Oh well, here's the route:
May 2009 Archives
Got in a nice ride out at Bavington this morning before work. Got a brief sprinkle during the ride that I wouldn't have minded had it continued. Little bit humid, but one very fine example of a day. Starting to get the hang of the different loops out at Bavington - got the next one planned out, which should make for minimal retracing. Still, today worked out pretty well. Trails were wonderfully dry.
Got in a nice pre-work ride today, chalking up nearly 23 miles. Weather was just right, not too hot, not too cold. Rode out through Schenely to Frick Park and did a couple loops out there, turned around and game back through Schenely, onto the Jail Trail to Station Square and then down the South Side trail to work. Glad there's showers here at work.
This week was the week to ride to work, nationwide. Today, specifically. So I rode today before/to work. Here's the map. Bed beckons. Riding sometime Monday or Tueday - probably both.
Apparently leaving at 10 to ride an hour away is too early. As such, I was solo on my trip to Roaring Run. Long story short - really enjoyable trails (even some of the ATV trails) and had a good day, getting in just over 15 miles. As has been the trend, this ride comes in two maps. This was due to my Storm freezing up. Nice. Luckily, I had just stopped to take pictures when it ultimately locked up and SMap had apparently gotten all the points uploaded before the phone bit it. Lots of climbing - over 4k feet, twice. Longest ride of the year thus far, felt really good the whole ride, too. Here's the maps:
Navigating a touchscreen phone with gloves on can sometimes be a tricky undertaking. As a result, I accidentally stopped, rather than paused, the route mid-ride. The first map went out from the lot and where the trail starts we went left down the hill, came to a rain-swollen creak which was deemed impassable, so we retraced a bit and headed back out up to the lot. Climb was brutal with the soggy ground and wet roots. But every climb was quite satisfying. After rolling back through the lot, went back to the trail head and stayed on the ridge, and to a nice tight, back and forth section that weaves through a huge grove of pine trees. This comes out as a loop, its too fast and with jitter removal, doesn't catch the trail as it really is. Headed out of there and stayed along the ridge, to where the route got cut off, and onto the second map. Did a quick loop out and back due to the time, kept up a much faster pace on the final three miles. Got real dirty on this ride.
Went on an late-in-the-day ride to Moraine State Park yesterday. Left home around 4, got back around 10. It really is nice that there's so much decent single track within an hour of Pittsburgh in any direction. First time out at Moraine and as a bonus, some new trails were just completed. Did a nice ~7 mile loop, getting back to the car just as we lost light for the day. The trails at Moraine are not for the faint of heart. Very rocky and technical. Very fun. Pretty much all the climbs are switchbacks so you aren't killing yourself - but all the climbs are definitely rewarded. The big wheels shined on this ride for sure. Dave had some rough times on his FS 26er, though his fork is kind of Swiss cheese-esque at the moment - the trouble that really kept plaguing Dave though was flats - 2 within about 15 minutes of each, first rear then front. Rear was a pinch flat and front was a thorn. Oh, and its not a good idea to carry a tube with you if has yet to be patched. Luckily he had some temp scabs to fix up the holes and we carried on. Tire pressure is a finicky beast out at Moraine - too high and you have no traction on the roots/wet rocks, two low and you'll pinch flat for sure. I was lucky nd didn't have any issues, though there were a few times I thought for sure I was going to pinch flat. All said, it was a great ride and going to have to get back there soon, when we get some more clear weather.
Now, as for the GPS data, there was a spot where the GPS blipped out for a bit (Dave's and mine!) so there's some missing data. Fortunately, on the way back we looped back over the same stuff - I'm just including the last map taken, which covers everything we hit today, minus ~2 miles from when the first route/GPS died on us.
Now, as for the GPS data, there was a spot where the GPS blipped out for a bit (Dave's and mine!) so there's some missing data. Fortunately, on the way back we looped back over the same stuff - I'm just including the last map taken, which covers everything we hit today, minus ~2 miles from when the first route/GPS died on us.
Unfortunately, my phone didn't want to grab a GPS signal, so no map. I'd have to guesstimate I covered about 6 or 7 miles. Trail conditions were fairly wet but not overly muddy. Everything was just kind of slick, with no lack of puddles. Didn't have a big build-up of mud though. Will have to get back out there and get some map data.
Location: 40.32513359047642, -80.015949010849
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Fire Eagle
I'm at Pittsburgh, PA
