Ridin' the Suburbs

High today (PIT): 28 F
Low today (PIT) 3 F

Mid-travel I was slightly derailed and ended up back in Pittsburgh a lot sooner than I had been planning on.  Dave let me borrow his singlespeed mtb (thank you thank you thank you!!) so I was able to get some fresh air and riding in despite being completely unprepared for a Pittsburgh January.

Reed cranks uphill from his house.

So the funny thing about Dave's bike is the whole singlespeed deal.  Though I rode one for years in college, riding around my old neighborhood in Pittsburgh with one gear is something worth mentioning.  We don't exactly have any flat roads, anywhere.  The main reason why not too many people drive stick-shifts in this area.  It created some slow-going on flat parts and downhills, and some serious cranking up the hills.  I had one goal for the week - to get up this one steep hill by my parents house that has been my nemeses since I was little, and anyone's nemeses when it snows - it took me two tries but I was a very excited camper when I got to the top!!  Yeah!!!  It's the little things in life.. The photo above isn't that particular hill, but another massive one Reed and I came down which was absolutely sketchalicious.

Now this is pretty cool.  So this WAS a bridge/road.  Last summer, my old neighborhood had a 100 year flood.  In the local valleys, all of the runoff just created a giant river on the 'main road'.  The 6th picture down on this article is the road we were on.. you know, the one where there's a car stuck in the water and other cars at the intersection in a state of shock.  This wimpy little creek rose probably about 10-15 feet in a rampant flash flood.  I am quite impressed, really.  There are a lot of other signs still of where the flood just uprooted the road, and road crews are still out replacing the hillsides.