So when Mrs. Crappy suggested that we take a bike ride down to the North Shore Trail this morning, I said “Sure!” while I thought that the hottest day of the year so far might not actually be the best time to ride down to the trail instead of driving to the parking lot just south of the penitentiary.

Our access to the trail is actually pretty easy — a quick ride down California Avenue, being careful on the parts where we str technically riding the wrong way on the one-way portion of the street.

And it’s all downhill.

The first part of the ride was great; we rode to the Water Steps near PNC Park, where we found a swimsuit photo shoot, about a dozen dogs and Dr. Yohe, who was walking the trail Sunday morning. We had a nice, refreshing stop in the fountain.

Looking for pix of the bikini model? Here you go...

And then we had to ride home.

Getting back to California Avenue wasn’t hard, but we did pick a way that required us to drag our bikes up a loooong set of steps from down by a park and ride lot off Beaver Avenue. And when I checked my phone, I saw that we were just barely two miles from home. No problem, right?

(Ahhahahahahahahaha! That’s funny…)

That two miles is all uphill, except for the part where you get to Davis Avenue and then get to coast for the last quarter mile it took us to get home. Mrs. Crappy had to walk a decent part of that stretch, but I am happy to say that I was able to ride the whole thing, with a couple of short breaks.

We then ate mountains of bacon and I took my pre-work nap while Mrs. Crappy headed to the pool.

No, we didn’t die. Yes, we now know we can make that ride and leave the car at home.

And, yes — maybe next time we won’t try it on a day when it’s already 80 by 10 a.m.