Dan is the MAN!!!

Dan, being the Dan that is the captain of Pitt bike racing team and the man who rode me into the center of Pittsburgh through constant rain. He is also preparing for a trip where he will follow the Tour de France every day (riding the same route) except for a break while they're in the flats when he'll swing down the the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Being a pre-med student (who's already been accepted to med school) and bike mechanic, he needed a break for the summer. Sheesh! Dan works at TRM Cycles (they are the best!) and fixed a couple of mechanical problems and volunteered to help out on his day off. I never would have made it into the city without his help, that's for sure. We had to walk over some railroad tracks and sneak through a fence, but after that we had a great ride along the river and over the bridges into the city. The best pieace of advice he gave me was to ride the Great Allegheny Passage to Washington. He's done it five times so far and plans to do it in August in 2 days (365 miles).

It was startling to see the changes in the city that featured the biggest R.E.I. I've ever seen (and other high end shops/restaurants) where there used to be rusting out steel factories. Pittsburgh [at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela to form the Ohio river] is a very vertical city and is known for having the most bridges per capita in the world, but did you now it has more trees per capita than any city in the U.S.?

Ed, Bill and Jessie met near Allegheny hospital and we rode to the center of the city. Then I rode to Carnegie Melon University for a radio interview (thanks to Jess) and then hung around at Bill's place until the concert at the Union Project Great Hall and Cafe. It's a very interesting venue in a renovated church. Lots of music and spoken word and I didn't pee my pants talking to everyone from the stage. Many, many thanks to Bill for hosting us and helping to put the events together. He is WAY one of the good guys. Maybe he'll run into Dan in Pamplona.

Forgot to mention: My sister send me a five pound bag of gummy army men (ugh) and got a call from out of nowhere from Manute Bol. Pretty cool...