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What is that foreign object hanging in the sky? It so bright and shiny you can barely look at it. It seems to be radiating warmth. Im so happy I can understand why the some ancient cultures worship the sun.
ICE JAM!!!!
Dinky Bridge is still a little icy. Kristen is taking the high road.
As was mentioned in previous posts the next major project for the new space is exposing the original brick walls. We love that Kindred Cycles is calling an old Pittsburgh industrial space home, just like that old bike that you keep on the road even though there are newer flashier models available.
The walls were supposed to be pressure/steam cleaned to remove the old paint, but the frigid temperatures for the last two weeks would have caused the water supply trucks lines to freeze. We turned to another option so we could keep on schedule. A chemical peel. Check out the pictures below to see the progress.
Katharine is super stoked to see more clean brick.
The application is a little tedious.
Close up. The chemical paste goes on. Then the plastic sheets. Let it sit for 24 hours and the paint flakes off.
End Product.
I just got finished riding Frick and felt the need to spread the good word. The park is in great shape with a packed inch or so of snow covering the trails. With the forecast calling for daytime temperatures below freezing for the next week or so the conditions should stay great and most likely improve as the remaining snow gets packed down making the trails even faster. Word of caution! as the trails see continued use ice is likely to form under the snow creating some slippery conditions.
As you can see I am pretty happy to get out. If you can get past the initial shock of the cold you warm up pretty quickly. I know it looks dorky but I like to ride with ski goggles in conditions under 20 degrees fahrenheit as It keeps my eyes from watering and tear freezing to my face. Disregard the time stamp in the pic!
I like riding my single speed in the winter as there are no derailleurs to freeze and quit working. Also, I'm more likely to take a spill in the winter so I don't have to worry about wrecking my der. hanger. I prefer studded tires in conditions like these. They grab like velcro. The only downside is they weigh three time the weight of normal tires so going uphill takes a little patience. Good news is that when they come off in the spring you feel faster right away!
The building has a lot of beautiful brick hidden beneath old plaster. Here is Aaron using an Air Chisel to remove plaster and expose the original brick wall.
Here is the wall after we got done with it. Next week it will undergo further cleaning. Then we get to grind out all of the old mortar joints and repoint the entire space. Fun!
More newly exposed brick!
That stairwell will be disappearing soon giving us more space to work with in the front of the store.
The entire ceiling is now exposed! The last bits of plaster and drywall were torn down from the ceiling this past weekend. The Joists are now going to get steam cleaned to knock about a hundred years of dust off them and expose that pretty wood. The white painted brick is also getting taken down to the original brick which should also happen this week.
We just settled on a space for Kindred Cycles to call home. Its 2515 Penn Avenue and it used to house the Pittsburgh Peanut and Snacks factory. We got the keys last week and we decided it would be fun to stop by and help the landlord demo most of the existing walls and ceilings. There was a small office in the front of the space and an ugly aluminum ceiling both of which had to go. We spent the day ripping out the ceiling and tearing out walls.
Here is Katharine taking out some aggression.
We have a little section of exposed brick. Watch it grow until the wall is all exposed.
We exposed the ceiling and it looks really good. We're gonna leave it like that.
Some of the junk we ripped out of the space.
The front of the space.
Here is Katharine getting physical ripping out some studs.