BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Routing: Yes, get down to river level and take the trail. Just short of the old jail in Manchester, turn right off the trail, then to Eckert, McClure, L Antrim (brief steep hill), R Fleming (long moderate hill, not much traffic), L Termon, R California, L California at the next corner. Going straight up McClure is OK, but tends to be busier than Fleming. Trails: Often not plowed, which is a problem if it's deep (over 3 or 4", in my experience) but less than that, not that big a deal when it's fresh. The bigger problem comes when it's had a day to soften and refreeze. It's a learned art. Still ridable, but you have to go slower and be careful. Like driving in snow, I guess. I run my tires a bit softer in winter than summer, but not so soft as to get pinch flats, maybe 50# instead of 80. The idea is to increase traction a bit. Same tires as summer. YMMV. ETA: I will leave it to the city-ers to advise on routing to get from Friendship to the river. You may want to use a sidewalk to get across the river; just be courteous to any pedestrians you meet, pass slowly or stop for oncoming, if necessary. 40th, 31st, 16th, all are OK.

Not sure what level of experience you have, but this is a great commute. I would go Friendship ave to Liberty to 31st street bridge. I would take river ave or the trail. You need to get up by the clark building. Merchant Street (?) from the north shore area to up near west park. I would do West North to Like Manhattan. This area can be dicey as a single woman. Check it out. Cross the bridge over to California. You can literally ride california and the various iterations of its name to bellevue. its fairly flat and pretty safe. One of the neighborhoods along the way even has sharrows!!!

Trail starts at 40th street and you can take it all the way to Westhall St/New Beaver Ave. but I ride 23 mm tires and prefer to jump off trail at Prebel Ave/W.North Ave and stay on Prebel then right on N.Franklin St and left on Metropolitan St left on Branchport and right on Prebel again. Left on Beaver/New Beaver, right on Eckert, left on Woods Run, left on McClure. Here you can stay on McClure to Davis (very gradula hill), left on Davis right on California Ave, or take first left of McClure to antrim St -- very short and steep and take right on California. Taking Fleming of Atrim ia another good alternative to small steep hill and converting it to long gradual Fleming to Davis.

@McCandless - what kind of tires do you have that you ride the same all year? Thanks for all the route suggestions! Super helpful. I'll just have to try a bunch and see which I prefer, I guess. I am definitely hesitant about riding through slush and re-frozen snow that hasn't been plowed, but I'll just allow extra time on those slushy days. BTW, google maps said the commute will be about an hour. Does that sound right?

I think these are all great suggestions..... It sounds WAY, WAY more complicated than it really is. But, I have to interject my route(s), as I avoid the trail as much as possible. Heading to Bellevue, from Friendship, I would take the Liberty Avenue bike lanes inbound, shifting to Penn/Smallman in the Strip District. At Point State Park, take the Fort Pitt Pedestrian/Bike Bridge to the north side. From the landing there, follow Tony Dorsett Way to Merchant/Scotland (bike lanes!) behind the Clark Building. At West Ohio Street (T), turn left, then right at light onto Brighton. After about a mile, turn left onto California. Stay on this for several miles. After you climb the hill (you knew there would be one here somewhere.....) and enter a small business district, turn left at the stoplight. This is either Termon Avenue or Brighton Heights Blvd., depending on how long you have lived here. At first stoplight (3 blocks or so), turn left onto California. As you cross the bridge you will enter Bellevue. California becomes Lincoln Avenue, Bellevue's main drag. Inbound, California Avenue has about a half mile of total danger, so I go a slightly different route: Lincoln Avenue inbound, at stoplight with Termon/Brighton Heights Blvd (T) turn left. (Note that signal for left turn arrow may not detect you on the bike.) Follow Brighton Heights Blvd for two long blocks. Turn right on McClure. Follow McClure about 3 blocks to a left on Orchlee. After about a block, turn right. Almost immediately, Shadeland (level) will split from Brighton (big hill). Follow Shadeland for about a mile and a half. Just past Horace Mann school, turn left onto Woodland, then right onto Brighton at the T. Brighton will take you to West Ohio Street (stoplight, entering the park.) Before the first stoplight, turn right onto Scotland/Merchant to get to the lower North Side. Follow the trail to River Avenue, River Avenue to 31st Street Bridge, Penn Avenue to wherever you need to go in Friendship..... I commute into downtown from 3 miles past Bellevue. I am a very old and very slow rider. I can do the ride from door to desk in about an hour. That includes the time to lock the bike, and do a quick wipedown/clothes change in the restroom. The ride home (more uphill) doesn't take much longer. Plan on an hour to start. You'll get faster. Good luck.

Thanks so much! Will definitely use your route on the days where I don't feel comfortable riding the trail. Thanks for the great detail.

Big whooops....... What I meant to say was: At West Ohio Street (T), turn left, then right at light onto Brighton. After about a mile, turn left onto California. Stay on this for several miles. After you climb the hill (you knew there would be one here somewhere…..) and enter a small business district, turn RIGHT at the stoplight. This is either Termon Avenue or Brighton Heights Blvd., depending on how long you have lived here. At first stoplight (3 blocks or so), turn left onto California. As you cross the bridge you will enter Bellevue. California becomes Lincoln Avenue, Bellevue’s main drag. As you get to the top of the hill on California and hit Tom Friday's Market, the Liquor Store, etc., you turn RIGHT onto Termon/Brighton Heights Blvd. Left would take you down a steep cobblestone hill. You don't want to do that!

Time for me to pick your brains again! I just found out that I'll be going to West View a couple days a week for work. Planning on biking. Any route suggestions? Also, can anyone recommend a GPS app that will talk to me while I ride, tell me when to turn? I like google maps but as far as I know there is no way to program your own route in and have it guide you. In the summertime I write route directions on my hand, but it's a bit cold for that now.

Google maps has a navigate feature that will guide you. But I don't find it that helpful on a bike. A dedicated GPS like Garmin would work, but certainly be overkill for you.

Where specifically in West View? (or at least close) This is up in my neck of the woods, so I pass through there almost daily. Useful thing to know: Going south out of West View, there is a staircase that goes up behind McDonalds that cuts having to climb Perry Hwy. That and a trail that cannot be ridden but it's fairly easy to push a bike through.

Yes, Google Bike Nav will talk but there's no way to set via points on the mobile app. Still, it's a pretty good option and if you know where you want to deviate from the route, you can just do it and it will re-route. I've never been too happy with the routing features on the Garmin 800. It also only beeps, it doesn't talk. If you have it do its own routes, they're not bike specific (aside from being able to set "avoid highways"). I tried making a route and uploading it to the device but it didn't work so well when I went off route, it wanted to return me to the place I left the route... you can recalculate but IIRC it drops all your via points. It went poorly enough that I didn't try to do it again. I don't know if there's a better option.

@StuInMcCandless 100 block of Ridgewood Avenue. Is this the same staircase next to the bus stops on Center Ave, next to the Ridgewood Assembly of God? I've been really happy with the Google Maps voice feature in the past. Deviating from the route and letting it recalculate is a good idea. I'll try that.

I'd like to pile on and ask for advice for moi. Does anybody have a recommendation for a bluetooth ear-clip-phone thingy? That would work well for transferring my Google-bike-map spoken-audio directions from my pocket to my ear? TIA, Vannevar.

StuInMcCandless wrote:a trail that cannot be ridden but it’s fairly easy to push a bike through.

Stu, is that the same trail where I encountered poison ivy while pushing the bike? Just asking, because: poison ivy.

The trail I refer to would likely not be of great value here. This address is steps away from the 8 Perrysville bus route, and there is a staircase from Center up to Ridgewood. Are you coming from the Oakland area? Here is how I'd do it. 40th St Bridge, wiggle through Millvale (Grant Ave, North Ave, to Babcock Blvd), to Rochester, L on Evergreen Heights, R Clearview, L Lansing, L Slate Alley, R Brightwood. I am not intimately familiar with climbing through this neighborhood, but it's going to be a strong climb in a low-traffic residential area. The alternative is to climb Perrysville or Federal from the North Side, which while direct, is a helluva climb, and Perry Hwy is very busy. The staircase and trail I was referring to starts across from the Dunkin Donuts. Any poison ivy that's there is easy to avoid, but footing might be tricky if it's wet.

Yeah, I've taken the 8 before (which was not bad), so I know the bus route, but I'd prefer to bike if possible. I'll follow your route in on Tuesday and see how it goes! Thanks again! @Vannevar, I'd suggest earbuds if you're not opposed to wires. That's what I use. I leave the left one in my bag so I can hear traffic and keep the right one in my ear. I picked up a great pair on amazon for like $5.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I did find a way to make a custom route on google maps. https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3045850?ctx=c2n_places2 And then you can supposedly use those maps through phones: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.m4b&referrer=utm_source%3DPlayboard%26utm_medium%3Dwebsite%26utm_campaign%3DPlayboard

Thanks!

littleyellow wrote:Also, can anyone recommend a GPS app that will talk to me while I ride, tell me when to turn?

I use http://ridewithgps.com and http://www.cuesheetapp.com/ on my android phone. Cue Sheet Pro has a mode with screen turned off and voice prompt that does exactly this. So I first create a route in Ride With GPS then upload it to Cue Sheet application and hit start button.

Vannevar wrote:I’d like to pile on and ask for advice for moi. Does anybody have a recommendation for a bluetooth ear-clip-phone thingy? That would work well for transferring my Google-bike-map spoken-audio directions from my pocket to my ear? TIA, Vannevar.

I use cheap Platronics bought at Costco 4 years ago -- similar to http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-Explorer-233-Bluetooth-Headset/dp/B002VJJLM6/ref=pd_sim_cps_1 -- I use it while riding in a car mostly. I cannot say it's very comfortable with a helmet on my had but it does its job when I need it. As per poison ivy -- http://www.lonehomeranger.com/2012/07/jewel-weed-natural-poison-ivy-treatment.html -- this works like a charm and it's considered to be a weed and it's growing almost everywhere around Pittsburg.

@Mikhail perfect!

Oh, is that what that's called? I have about 200 of those plants growing alongside and in my driveway. My family calls them "sproing plants" because of the entertainment value in setting off the exploding seed pods. I had no idea they were useful as a balm for poison ivy.

OMG! I can't believe that you have jewelweed available and don;t know what it is or how to use it! Fabulous stuff! Pretty innoucous green shrub, but the yellow or orange flowers by mid July make it pretty recognizable. Just mash up the leaves and stems, and use it as a poultice for poison ivy. Something in this plant breaks up the oil in the poison ivy. FYI.....(and yes, threadjacking here), you can use the broadleaf weed known as plantain as a poultice for blisters and insect stings/bites. Plantain is the wide leafed weed with the seed stalk that you find in lawns, berms and other non-weed controlled areas.

Swalfoort wrote:Just mash up the leaves and stems, and use it as a poultice for poison ivy. Something in this plant breaks up the oil in the poison ivy.

One of recommendation from native american is that you can smash leaves and stems and put juice on your skin before you go to a place where poison ivy is a possibility. :) It works very nicely as preventative.

Since we're on the topic, I will tell you about my experience with poison ivy. It's pretty easy to avoid, if you know what you're looking for. Also very easy to walk smack into if you're not paying attention. Even easier to walk through it without knowing, and transferring the oils to your skin long after your shoes or clothes made contact, even days later. Think of working with horseradish or jalapeno pepper. After doing food prep with one of those, wash your hands real well, then touch the corner of your eye, and you will rapidly figure out that you didn't wash your hands all that well after all. The oils in horseradish and hot peppers do not wash off well, and instead embed in your skin. Similarly, brush a tomato plant closely enough and you'll get a strong smell of tomato plant on you. Same with urushiol, the oil in poison ivy. The leaves let go of the oils like tomato plants, and any broken leaves or stems act like cut peppers. The trick is not to contact the plant (leaves, twigs, stem, root, any of it) close enough to disperse the oil in the plant, either by brushing, like a tomato plant, or touching, like a hot pepper. Once it's in the skin, though, it's devilishly difficult to get out, and functions much the same as a chemical burn like lye, just slower. Expect it to take 24 to 36 hours for contact dermatitis to appear, then a week for it to burn its way through your skin until it's dispersed enough. Which is where the jewelweed would come in. If applied to the same patch of skin where the urushiol touched, it can apparently soak in and nullify to some extent its chemical effects.

...and I hope that between Plantronics and poison ivy and Perrysville buses, we've figured out how to get you to West View! A word of caution, if you're not real familiar with Babcock. There are at least four places where you need to get left to continue going straight where a right turn lane appears on your right. You have to get bold about visibly getting left and taking the lane, or at least staying maybe a foot to the left of the dividing stripe where that right turn lane appears. I go through here 100 times a year, so it's second nature to me, but can be a bit scary if you're not used to it. The spots are: * north end of Millvale, just before Rita's * Thompson Run Road corner * McKnight interchange, both for northbound and southbound McKnight And of course the left onto Rochester, for which you have an explicit left turn lane. Just be visible and predictable.

I'm immune to poison ivy. Although, of course now that I said that I did some googling to see if that's a real thing, and the answer is, kind of - it's an allergic reaction, and allergies come and go. So, I'm not going to press my luck, but I have never had a reaction to it. When I was a kid, my grandfather gave my dad some land from his farm to build a house on. So, my dad was going to plant a yard - he cleared out the field and plowed it, and I remember he sat my brother and I on a wooden pallet and towed us behind the tractor to level out the dirt a bit. Apparently this was a terrible idea (probably for many reasons, but...) - I think my brother came as close to dying from poison ivy as possible, I'm pretty sure they had to take him to the hospital because his airway was swelling shut. I was completely fine.

Indeed! I feel very well prepared now, thanks :) I'm biking to West View tomorrow and Bellevue starting next week I think, so hoping it all goes well. @StuInMcCandless maybe we will pass each other going to and from West View

LY, I hope you had sense to NOT bike to West view for the first time today! Roads were not friendly to cyclists, or to anyone else.

I don't know if you've left yet or not, but today would be a good day to bus the bike to West View and bike back. This snow is supposed to taper off after 2pm, which would mean the streets should be reasonably clear by late afternoon, making a bike trip back more feasible than a bike trip there.

Thanks for the concern all! I actually did bike today, left around 8. It took over an hour but it wasn't too bad. I survived, obviously, and looking forward to some hot soup later! The 40th Street bridge is in really bad shape for anyone who is thinking of going that way.

Wow, you earned your badass patch.