Thanks to the Wildings and the Bennetts for making the second annual trip to Lake Powell an absolute blast! Now for some pics...
As GinaBina mentioned, we've both been on business trips this week, she's been in Austin and I've been in "The City of Steel", as it's known, Pittsburgh. We both had great trips but hate spending the time away from home separately.
Pittsburgh is now on my "good" list of cities, thanks in large part to a colleague's brother taking me around and being the best tour guide ever. Thanks Mark! What's more is while my tardiness almost inhibited a nice leisurely bike ride through the city, Mark was nice enough to wait for me and take me around the insanely steep hills in and around Pittsburgh. Here's a general map of roughly where we went. The map is not exactly accurate because I got pretty lost on some of the streets on top of the mountain, so I just followed Mark's wheel. Hopefully Mark will send me the pic he took on top of Mt. Washington while we were riding. In the meantime, here's a quick snapshot of the night view we saw.
Mark also took me to Girasole one night (see mini-review below) and Point Brugge Cafe the next night (again, mini-review is below).
Girasole:
Because I was just following Mark like a blind man the whole night, I was enjoying the Shadyside neighborhood in my own little world when Mark ducked down a small flight of stairs into a bustling, tight and quaint Italian restaurant. When the door opened, the dense aromas of Italian food and wine billowed out the door and into the patio where we were standing at the bottom of the stairs. The owner, who they call "Pai" greeted Mark as if he was family (Mark's daughter, Ryan, works there too). Pai got us a table while the rest of Pai's family and other servers were bustling around the tight quarters. I ordered the Bucatini on suggestion from Ryan and it was perfect. Long, straw-shaped bucatini was swimming in a mix of pancetta, peppers, spicy sauce and of course... smoked mozzarella. It had just enough kick to open the sinuses while filling my mouth with that great smoky taste of the pancetta. mmm, I'm making myself hungry again. Dessert was Tiramisú and it did indeed "pick me up".
Point Brugge Café:
After the great ride, we swung by Mark's house to clean up a bit (he's got some amazing scooters, one is restored beautifully and almost completed, the other is classically "antique"). After throwing out a few suggestions, Mark threw out a "great Belgian restaurant that has really good mussels." That piqued my interest and we were off. The neighborhood of Point Breeze was Mark's old stomping ground when he would visit his G-ma and G-pa. The little cafe on the corner had a floor-to-ceiling glass front that opened completely to the street with a few tables on the sidewalk. It was fairly minimally (in a good way) decorated restaurant that was playing none other than a Luna song when we walked in! We started with a Tomato and Spinach dip at the bar until Ryan got there. Hearty Belgian beer and seafood smells filled the air. The menu looked great, but I had to try the mussels. I ordered a pound and a half of the Red Curry mussels along with a side of belgian frites. To put it simply, I ate every last one and left wishing I had a doggy bag of some more. Ryan had a few connections with some of the people there so we got the Belgian Chocolate Cake and the Pumpkin Roulade free. Can't beat that.
Primanti Bros:
Last but not least, on my way out of town on Friday, I stopped off at the infamous Primanti Bros. for one of the most unique sandwiches I've ever had. The 'chef' slapped out two huge slices of white bread onto the counter and loaded one side with philly cheesesteak. He continued piling with fresh cole slaw, tomatoes, and a healthy helping of french fries - on the sandwich, not on the side - before he slathered some sauces on and squished the other slice of bread on top. The monstrosity was about 8 inches tall before he leaned over it with his body-weighted hand on top and compressed it into about 3-4 inches tall. Then tightly wrapped it in paper and handed it to me. If you go to Pittsburgh, go to Primanti's at least once.
PS, we got the first snow of the season today! It was like the middle of January here with about an inch or more of snow blanketing everything and more coming throughout the day.
This is the first actual video I've seen from Canon's new digital SLR camera (probably the first posted anywhere). Yes, I said "video" and "SLR" in the same sentence. What's more is that it films through any SLR lens you can imagine and it does so at 1080p resolution! All of you out there can finally take advantage of your hi-def TV's when watching your family home videos of the kids in the tub, haha!
See the stunning, un-enhanced video made by Vincent Leforet here using the as-yet unreleased Canon 5D Mark II camera. That pre-order list just got really long.
For more reading about the camera and the making of the video, see Leforet's blog here and here.
Forget those lame mashups that people have been putting together the last few years, I'm ready for some quality independent films on very low budgets.
It just doesn't get any better, crisp mountain air, chilly alpine lakes, the girl I love, and a night in the mountains. Far, far away from any of the worries of life. Now for some pics, since I do still call this blog "Two Wheel Photos".
A few "artsy ones" first:
Just had to post this quick shot of the sunset tonight. Look at those clouds! They were on fire.
The Tour of Utah turned into quite the nailbiter towards the end of Stage 4. With Salt Lake native Jeff Louder putting in a major attack on the lead group of riders to catch and pass Blake Caldwell (overall leader at the time) on the final climb up to Snowbird Ski Resort. After Stage 4, Louder was only 7 seconds down from Caldwell with a short time trial to come in Stage 5. After 14,000+ feet of grueling elevation gain on Saturday, the racers headed out to Miller Motorsports Park on Sunday to finish things up with a short and fast time trial of 12km around the LHM track and surrounding area to finally finish in front of the grandstands on the butter-smooth asphalt of the world-class racetrack. In the end, Louder knocked off 8 seconds from Blake Caldwell's previous 7 second lead leaving Louder wearing the yellow jersey on the final podium.
What a great race, and congratulations to Jeff Louder, representing for the "801".
Pics of Stage 2 and 3 to come soon from me. More pics on Cyclingnews.com and Velonews.com
Thanks to thefredcast for this great video of the Tour of Utah Stage 3 in downtown Salt Lake City.
Full results can be found at this link on Cyclingnews.com Here's a short quote from their write-up:
"Argentina's speedster, Ricardo Escuela of Successful Living, treated the crowds to a sprint showdown, winning the bunch kick ahead of Fast Freddy Rodriguez (Rock Racing) and Jonny Clarke (Toyota-United)."
Stage 2 yesterday was amazing, I got some great pics that I'll post as soon as I get some time. See the write-up on Cycling News to read about Stg. 2.
Stage 3 is the spectator-friendly criterium starting and finishing at Pioneer Park in downtown SLC tonight. Start time is at 7pm. Then stay for the Friday night movie in the park starting at 9pm.
Stage 2 is tomorrow, and it's the first brutal mountain stage of the Tour of Utah.
Stats:
Distance: 137km (84.6 mi)
Elevation: 3,226m (10,585 ft)
Three cruel climbs evenly spread throughout the day with the first coming at mile 6. Then one minor climb just 8 miles from the finish to smack the racers around one more time before the long downhill approach to the finish at the U of U Orthopedic Center. Should be a great race. Best places to watch are the top of each mountain pass, especially the decisive and aptly-named "Big Mountain." Click the map below for an interactive approach to the race course map.
Watch for early attacks on the climb up North Ogden Canyon with more serious attacks coming on the second climb on the backside of Mt. Ogden, and finally the climb up Big Mountain starting at about mile #62 will surely have fireworks all the way up it.
