Today, we discovered that a Turkish Web site has paid homage to USAToday.com’s fall 2012 redesign:
Same design firm or just lifted? Based on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, aksam.com.tr changed designs within the last few weeks.
Last section of bicycle trail connecting Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., set to open – Post-Gazette
On my list of things I really want to someday is the approximately 335-mile bike ride from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. via the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Tow Path. The Great Allegheny Passage is expected to be officially completed in June.
Mind the GAP & avoid getting in a rut
From the Allegheny Trail Alliance’s About the Trail page:
The trail has a packed crushed limestone surface for a smooth ride. Built mainly on abandoned rail beds, the trail is nearly level with the average grade of less than 1%. The steepest eastbound grade – 0.8% – is from Harnedsville to Markleton and Garrett to Deal. The steepest westbound grade is from Cumberland to Deal at 1.75%. Near the Big Savage Tunnel, the trail crosses the Eastern Continental Divide. From that point going east, the trail drops 1,754 feet in 24 miles to reach Cumberland and, going west, it drops 1,664 feet in 126 miles to reach Pittsburgh.
From Cumberland to Washington, DC, you drop 625 feet to sea level on the C&O Canal towpath. The towpath is overall much less improved than the GAP, as it was built for mules and not railroads. Be prepared for ruts, tree roots, mud and mosquitoes.
Hmmm, maybe I just psyched myself out. Still, it seems like a great adventure, perhaps one of the best challenges for an Eastern cyclist. BikeCandO.com has a Trip Planner if you are interested.
2012 story from The Post that I never got around to blogging: Biking the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal from Pittsburgh to D.C.
O NOZZZZ! The Washington Nationals are apparently switching to the same hot dogs as the Philadelphia Phillies. TAKE BACK THE PARK HAS PHAILED!1!!!!1 Stan Kasten must have done it before he quit. Why didn’t you stop it Andy Feffer?! Selling Phillies hot dogs isn’t NATITUDE1!!!!!1
OPENING DAY 2005: Phillie Phanatic fires Hatfield hot dogs at spectators, few injuires
Based on the newly released 2013 Nats promotional schedule, it looks like the Nationals Park will be selling a different brand of hot dogs this coming season, Hatfield. Way back in 2005 when I went to the very first modern Nats game ever up in Philly, I had a Hatfield hot dog and enjoy it. Plus, there was a hot dog shaped cannon on a cart that the Phillie Phanatic used to fire freebies to/at the crowd.
Is 2013 the last season for mock outrage about the Phillies? Or am I behind the times? Either way, I’ll skip the hot dog and have a Ben’s Chili Bowl half-smoke anyway.
