Friday was CarFree Friday and so I took it upon myself to ride into town for the first time since I moved from East Pittsburgh to Penn Hills. I can express this ride in a single word, and that word is - HillGodInHeavenWhatWasIThinkingTheHillsIThinkImGoingToDie-InFactGodIfYouAreTherePleaseKillMe
Yeah it may be a big Hyphenated word but it works for me. Still I made it, sure the 12 mile trip took me 2 hours and I'm pretty sure that my friend Dave could of Jogged it quicker, But I still make it. So I will have to remind myself to be proud of this, when my vision clears and I stop wheezing that it.
Still the ride in was both invigorating and educational. You see the trip from the suburbs to downtown pittsbugh go through some of the less desirable parts of the city, Parts of the city filled with abandoned buildings and collapsing houses. I was unsurprised to recognize street names from the recent reports of cyclists being attacked. I have to be honest that I was more than a little concerned. It was then that a strange thing begin to happen while I was riding through these neighborhoods.
I started to notice
Things like the mean looking man on cell phone who nodded and smiled as I passed.
Things like the three story moral of Giant flowers on the side of one of the buildings.
Things like the garden I saw, the large impressive well tended in a way that makes me jealous, garden.
I would like to think that what I noticed was Common Courtesy and Hope.
Amidst the reports of clueless or vindictive drivers. among the reports of attacks, threats and near collisions, among the anger, justified, exaggerated and imagined, I rode to town.
No one Hit me or even tried
No one attacked me
and I got 5$ off breakfast (Go Carfree Fridays Go)
I hope your Friday went just as well.
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