Independence Day Populaire

[Dan Blumenfeld]

For those who are not already aware, there's a populaire being run tomorrow, July 4th, at 9 AM. It's a Wheelmen ride, with proceeds benefiting Bike-Pgh and snazzy posters available. Details available at http://anklebiter.net/idp/idp.html.

It's a fun course...starts in Morningside, crosses the river to Shaler, and heads up north to the Red Belt. Out to Ambridge, then back to Sewickley and across the river to the (usually) tailwind-assisted, jet-propelled ride to Coraopolis. Return is via Neville Island, McKees Rocks Bridge, and the North Side.

Some climbing, but nothing to be afraid of. The worst is Starz Rd, and it's pretty early in the ride. (Both Dan Sullivan and myself rode this course on 'bents a few weeks back.)

The populaires tend to be neat rides, if for no other reason than the variety of folks who come out. Club riders, bike messengers, randonneurs, and even the occasional recumbent rider, with skill levels ranging from "65 miles is a warmup" to "this is the longest ride I've done all year".

--Dan

[Andrew]

That's awesome! do rides like this ever start at 5:00AM or earlier?

[Dan Blumenfeld]

Sometimes. (Helpful, eh?)

In the randonneuring world, brevets often begin at what rational people consider unreasonable hours, like 4 AM or 10 PM. The idea being to either A) get people accustomed to riding in the dark or B) try to get people done riding by nightfall.

In Pittsburgh, well, not much usually starts before 7 AM. However, I often do early AM (defining early as 'riding to meet somewhere at 6 AM') starts for my weekend rides, and could probably be persuaded to do a 5 AM start.

Actually, I know a really nice century route (here to East Liverpool, OH; only 4000' of climbing, almost all of which is in the first 45 miles), and was kicking around the idea of doing a 4 AM start, so as to easily be home by noon.

[Andrew]

I've seen your east liverpool route. I'm not quite ready to join you for that one, but I think a metric century is realistic. As I get better accustomed to the bike and have a few more hours in the saddle, I'm considering your route...it looks like a good one.

 

How's the Baron? I would LOVE to try that one and will definitely stop by RBR next time the wife wants to see her parents.

 

Thanks for the info...hopefully the weather works out well for your riding.

 

-Andrew

 

P.S. The Thracians look great, but the whole non-dished rear wheel didn't work out. I'm working with Hostel Shoppe to get that figured out. The original wheel with 7-speeds is not dished and ceters in the frame, but the Thracian, which is an 8-speed is offset to the left by about 1". Weird.