Mon Valley tour back for second year
The second Tour de Mon, an at-your-ownpace ride on a paved trail through the historic Mon Valley, will be next Saturday.
The rain-or-shine tour, sponsored by the Mon Yough Area Chamber of Commerce, offers participants four out-and-back rides along the Steel Valley Trail segment of the Great Allegheny Passage:
A 5-mile family fun ride, a 10-mile ride to Duquesne, a 20-mile ride to McKeesport and a 30-mile ride to Boston. Each ride begins and ends at the Pump House at 880 E. Waterfront Drive in Munhall.
The Pump House is owned and operated by the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area. Chamber president Maury Burgwin invited riders to visit the Community Heritage Market at the Pump House before and after the tour.
“With the support of our community partners and members, we are excited to showcase our region’s recreational attractions along with the picturesque landscape that makes our region so special,” Burgwin said. He said there will be food, music, crafts, face-painting, henna hand art and other activities.
Henna is a plant used as a dye since the Bronze Age, primarily in the eastern Mediterranean, and continues to be a popular form of temporary body art in India, according to Art-is-fun. com.
The website said henna hand art is “a great project” for children and adults because it teaches them about other cultures, the role of patterns in abstract art, how to create those patterns and “how to express themselves in a symbolic way.”
The tour registration fee — adults $25, children 17 and younger $15 and family $60 — includes a commemorative medal, door prizes and a T-shirt, while supplies last.
Don’t forget your helmet, your camera and your water bottle.
Information: www.monyoughchamber.com; email director@monyoughchamber.com and 412-678-2450. The following city streets will be closed Sunday morning to accommodate the 35th annual Richard S. Caliguiri/City of Pittsburgh Great Race: Beechwood Blvd. to Forbes and Morewood avenues, 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Forbes and Morewood to Fifth Ave. and Bigelow Blvd., 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Fifth Ave. and Bigelow Blvd. to Fifth Ave. and the Oakland ramp to Blvd. of the Allies, 6:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Fifth Ave. and the Oakland ramp to Blvd. of the Allies to Liberty Ave., 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.