Friday Evening Bike Ride

It was a rough week. Not rough with a string of bad days. But rough in the "things are a little weird right now" kind of way. Some weird and good! Some weird... and not exactly great. Fortunately, the shift in the weather means bike rides after work. I had my heart set on doing twenty miles today. I planned a route and set off. First the wind was a bit annoying. And then the wind got super annoying. And never at my back. The wind continued to chill, and I cursed myself for not having my entire arms and legs covered. I was about two-thirds of the way through my route when I had a decision to make at the end of the Hot Metal Bridge. Go right and I shorten my ride, but probably make it home without totally losing feeling in my hands or falling over from sheer exhaustion. Go left and finish the whole twenty miles, giving a mental middle finger to the recent memory of winter.

Note to self: Put binoculars in bike bag.

I went left and quickly realized I should've gone right.

Not the prettiest spring day, but I'll gladly take it.

I knew not long after I started back toward the city that there was no chance of making it all the way back to Bloomfield without stopping. My new plan was hatched in an instant.

I rode back into downtown, locked up in Market Square, and took a seat at the bar at Winghart's. It was super crowded, but I placed my order quickly while the rush they'd just been hit with poured over the menu. I wound up talking to the people next to me, when I reached nearer to them for a handful of napkins. They remarked that I needed more than I grabbed for a burger as messy as mine looked, but I assured them I had "eating a Winghart's burger" pretty much perfected. Then then told me that they had passed me not once, but twice on the trail that evening.

They had traveled to Pittsburgh from Minnesota for the Frozen Four tournament. The end of this week in Pittsburgh has been buzzing with collegiate hockey players. Someone must have given them a memo about Market Square, because they seemed to flock there for food. This couple travels to every Frozen Four; I believe they said for the past fifteen years. They brought their bikes with them, and had been going around the city checking out local breweries. They'd already hit Penn Brewery and the Church Brew Works, and were heading to East End tomorrow. They were staying at the Priory, which is super awesome for them. I advised them to check out the War Streets and step into Monterey Pub.

A Yale Marching Band in Market Square at lunchtime.

A few minutes later I was warm and full of burger. It was time to finish the last four of twenty miles.