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| A "very unique" homemade bike on display in front of Bicycle Heaven |
Friday was a day that ended up being devoted to a few things that are unique to Pittsburgh. Two are permanent features of the city and one, well we just happened to be in town for it. All three were unique and all three were certainly entertaining.
Pittsburgh is loaded with "things to do". Many of these are museums such as the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Carnegie Science Center. These museums are fantastic and made possible by the generous donations of families and foundations. However when it comes to museums, as well as the overall number one thing to do in Pittsburgh, according to Trip Advisor, it's Bicycle Heaven, the worlds largest bicycle museum and bike shop.
Bicycle Heaven was started in 1996 with one bike that a gentleman named Craig Morrow found in the trash. He started repairing and selling used bikes and collecting antique and vintage bikes. He initially stored them in friends garages in the neighborhood where he and his wife Cindy lived.
The collection grew, and grew, and grew until he had over 3,000 bikes. I would assume out of necessity and to keep peace with the neighbors, he consolidated his collection in 2011 to a warehouse located just a few blocks off the Ohio River. The museum is free (donations are appreciated) and it's well worth carving out an hour or two to spend roaming through what is part museum, part sales room, part repair shop and for some strange reason it also contained what looked from the outside like a nail salon.
There are bikes and bike parts everywhere, including some that are valued at close to $50,000, some that were used in movies, and some which never really caught on such as the ones with wooden wheels and the one that had stationary pedals and was powered by bouncing up and down on the seat. I guess you'd call it "butt powered". Walk, drive, Uber or ride your bike. No matter how you get there be sure to check it out.
Bicycle Heaven
Conde Nast Traveler-Bicycle Heaven
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| Bicycle Heaven...……...TripAdvisor's top rated "Thing to Do" in Pittsburgh |
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| Bikes galore from ceiling to floor. Here is a row of Schwinn Sting Rays. I found one of these under the Christmas Tree many years ago |
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| Bowden Spacelanders, the first fiberglass bikes manufactured. They are now valued at up to $50,000 each. |
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| The second floor |
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| Huffy Radio Bike |
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| From the film Pee Wee's Big Adventure |
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| The neon and black light sprocket room |
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| The Gene Autry Bike |
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| The Butt Powered Bike. The pedals are stationary, power is supplied by bouncing up and down on the seat. |
Unique is defined as "being the only one of it's kind; unlike anything else". I think it would be fair to describe Andy Warhol as "unique". Andy, whose real last name was Warhola was born in Pittsburgh on August 6, 1928. He lived here through his college years and developed his love of art attending Saturday morning art classes as a child, and later graduating from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). He died on February 22, 1987 in New York after undergoing what was described as "routine gallbladder surgery".
After his death efforts were made to create a museum to honor his life and works as well as to inspire other artists. The Warhol Museum which is located just across the Andy Warhol Bridge from downtown is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. It was estimated that at the time the museum opened in 1994 that the works in the collection numbered over 3,000 and had a value of more than $55 million.
There is a nice introductory movie on the main floor, and multiple floors featuring both his paintings and films. There are also rotating exhibitions on a couple of the floors. If you're going to go and you're in town on a Friday, wait until after 5:00 PM. Admission is half price after 5:00 and the museum is open until 10:00 PM. Like Bicycle Heaven, the Warhol Museum is well worth a visit.
The Warhol Museum
Below are some pictures of his artwork that are on display in the museum:
Last but certainly not least, when it comes to "unique" there is an event going on at the convention center that has brought thousands of unique souls into town. It's called Tekko and is described as a four day convention of gaming, music, fashion, and Japanese Pop Culture. I'm no expert on these types of events but it seems to be a comic con type event with a Japanese flare. Our hotel is a convention center hotel so we're in the middle of the action. It's actually been fun to see, mostly young people, dressed in every sort of costume you could imagine. I'm sure they're getting a kick out of watching us, watching them. They seem to be having a great time and it's certainly added a little more fun to the great time we have already been having.
The convention runs through the weekend. I read online that tonight (Saturday) there is a big dance. Now that would probably be quite a sight to see, unfortunately by the time it gets cranked up we'll be gone. However, there is a happy ending...……..we'll be spending the next three days with Ben.
Below are a few pictures that I pulled off the internet from the Tekko Convention:
