Day 0: exploring Pittsburgh

Today after breakfast at the hotel, we got on our bikes and wended our way down to the Monongahela River. After a few missteps, we eventually found the detoured bike path toward downtown along the river. It is like being in the middle of a sandwich, surrounded by three highways and some railroad tracks -- noisy, smelly, and without a view. The trail ends unceremoniously, dumping you onto city streets. We rode a bit further to Point State Park (junction of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers) where we got onto the Allegheny South trail. Our destination, the Andy Warhol museum, was quite good. We didn't have enough time to do justice to their large collection of his videos, but there was plenty to see and learn about his personal and professional life, his attempted murder, his collaborations with other artists, etc. From there, we headed over to the Strip District. While the reason for this name is unclear, it was and is a lively shopping area. Plenty of people, traffic, and food shops. We had lunch outdoors at a Vietnamese restaurant. I had an undistinguished green papaya salad. Tony tried a beef pho.

Returning through the culture district to downtown, we decided to head to the Southside to find Ted's Excellent Bike Repair, where Tony hoped to get his miscreant front brakes sorted out. Ted doesn't sell bikes but he really knows his stuff when it comes to repair. After dealing with the brakes, he tweaked the derailleurs, pumped up the tires, gave the whole thing the once over, and then asked for $10! At that point I decided that my rear wheel could use a truing and though I could do the job myself, I'd never do it as well as Ted. Indeed, after truing both wheels, he adjusted my rear derailleur hangar, seat post, and shocks. I learned an immense amount from him in the process. Unfortunately I also learned why my hybrid is less than well made. But it has served me well for several thousand miles already and I'm optimistic that it will continue to do so. Total price for tuneup plus advice: $18. Try getting that back home!!

After bidding Ted adieu, we headed back to the riverside trail and continued east to the Hot Metal Bridge. But along the way we got sidetracked by
- the world's first oil well pump (powered by natural gas)
- a gigantic air compressor for a Bessemer steel furnace
- the Hofbrau beer garden, a very pleasant timeout on the river, pouring real German beer and playing recorded beer hall music

After a rather strenuous climb back up the hill to the hotel in rush hour traffic, we've already covered 15 miles by bike.

Tonight's dinner was at the top of the "incline" in the Southside. Despite great reviews, it was a pleasant but unremarkable Italian dinner at a red sauce joint. Nice views from atop the hill though, and a pleasant evening for walking around.

- Jim