On Friday we walked around and checked out the Pittsburgh downtown. The weather was pretty good. We ended up at Fort Pitt state park, which is a huge park right downtown where the Ohio starts from the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. It was a French, then British fort. You can still walk into a blockhouse where they shot from.


An old pay phone booth gives no information


The bridge between downtown and the park. A highway runs on top, but you would barely know it.



A detailed map of old Fort Duquesne. They helpfully labeled the toilets, where the sewage ran into the river, and the music chamber. Not the same rooms btw.


Cute boys.

Across the river is the Duquesne incline. It's an old rail car that goes up and down the hill - the view of downtown is amazing at the top. Sadly we didn't get to go ride it.





The historical flood levels inside the blockhouse. I can't image how downtown wasn't submerged from these.

I booked an Airbnb for our trip since hotels were ridiculous. We were able to get a whole apartment nesr downtown for less than a fifth per night than a downtown hotel.

Unfortunately (e:Paul) was allergic to some mold there. So he called the next morning and had the money refunded. It turns out the next night, a cancellation happened at the super fancy omni hotel we booked before (Pittsburgh's former Statler). With Priceline we were able to book it for almost the exact price of the Airbnb. Look at Paul in all his bougie comfort.

Despite the mold I would still book an apartment rental again. In Germany you can book new apartments in the city centers for almost $30 a night. Its insane.

On Thursday we headed down to Pittsburgh for the Little Green Cars concert at Thunderbird Café. For only $10 it was of the best concerts of my life. The venue was smalm and had only about 40 people. The band was better than the album, and even played songs that haven't been relased. All of the band harmonized well and the girls voice was crazy.
At the end of the show, we all went outside so they could serenade a girl who came to see them, and didn't have her passport to get in.

At work they replaced the old vending machine with a new one that takes cards and NFC payments, including Android Pay. for some reason its called healthy vend even though it vends nothing healthy. The idea is kind of cool but you also get charged 15% more for it using cash.

The system itself is connected using either WiFi or a cellular connection, and the payment computer is running some version of before Android 4.x (looks like 2.x). I wonder what vulnerabilities are left open by running such an outdated OS.

So the fly building at 17 Allen Street didn't have flies last time I posted about it. Now it has hundreds of the most disgusting, fattest house flies I've ever seen. (e:paul,44776) wrote about the same thing years before and it turned out to be a dead body decaying inside.

Something is seriously gross a out this building. I wonder how much longer it'll be standing.

The lunar eclipse took place last night. It was the first one I've seen in a long time.

We went to (e:mike) and (e:libertad)'s house for a crazy party.

(e:paul) and I took a bike ride up for him to get a new phone. He almost decided not to upgrade, but he ended up getting a Note 5.


A comparison pic I took so we could compare the 4 and 5 cameras. Not too different.

On the way back we stopped at the Hajjar Restauraunt on Hertel Avenue. I think it was an Iraqi restaurant. I had a delicious falafel sandwich - for 50 cents more, we got fries and a huge bowl of hummus. Falafel is my absolute favorite food.


Paul and his new toy.



On the way back there was this ridiculous store with a gold(maybe?) crib in the window. For the tacky baby in your life.




Later when after we got home, I went out to brick bar for my old friend Tim's birthday. It was real bro but I got to see him and another old friend Julie.

Terry and I went on the Thursday ride. There was bridge climbing, South Buffalo shuffle board and pizza. What a good night.

It's pear season which means Basra is constantly drunk on fermented pears. He's also covered in yellow jackets constantly.

He has decided up against the house is a good place to burrow. Should we be looking for a new home for him?

We rode up to North Tonawanda via the Riverwalk for lunch. The total length of the ride was 25 miles. It was perfect weather for a long ride.





First we went down to Canalside - I saw this QR code from Dug's Dive in the ground. I never encounter QR codes in real life so I didn't have an app to see where it led to.


On the way up the Riverwalk you pass this old dock and crumbling shack. Is this part of the old Erie Canal? If so I think they should build historical replicas down in Canalside ;)



The Army Corps closed the bridge over the 190. It seems kind of ridiculous to close anoverpass to the other side of the path. Instead you're forced to ride up Niagara Street all the way up to Ontario Street.


Asphalt dog park at Black Rock Park.


Once you get into Tonawanda, they have a marker advertising a historical site off in the woods. It's a cruisey clearing where part of the original canal went through. You can see a small hill along the side which I think was the towpath, and a few rocks from the canal wall sticking through the dirt.


The Tonawanda bike path is still very industrial and smelly, but a lot less so without Tonawanda Coke and Huntley. Thanks Clean Air Coalition!

Once we got up to the end of Riverwalk, we were hungry, so we ate at Yummy Thai in North Tonawanda. The food and prices were terrible but the waiter was super cute. They did have a sweet Thai iced tea though.












In North Tonawanda there's the start of the Erie Canal trail. Ride to go visit (e:uchina), anyone?


On the way home, I almost got into a fight with another freaking car. At Sheridan Drive and Delaware Road, a giant tank of an SUV starts honking at us, yelling at us to get off the road. I start yelling back, they start flipping us off, and this guy in the back of the car starts hanging out the window saying he was going to kill us. I pulled off on the sidewalk to ride back and yell at them after they pulled off - but I called the police first since we were right near the Tonawanda station. (e:paul) talked to them, and said they said they were afraid they were going to hit and kill us. Seriously? They saw us - how hard is it to not run into cyclists and kill them? I couldn't freaking believe it. If you haven't heard, I fucking hate cars.