BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

riding up the sidewalk on fifth and cutting down to forbes on craft is fairly common and accepted practice

I live in Oakland, work at Mercy. I go down fifth Ave.

Coming back - Usually I ride on Forbes. Not for the faint-hearted.

Sometimes, I ride up the bus lane on Fifth. I carefully keep an eye out for buses, and get on the sidewalk if one comes. The sidewalk is in good shape, and my uphill speeds are sidewalk appropriate.

The scary part is that, regardless of whether you are on the bus lane or the sidewalk, drIvers making a left intO the Parkway entrance will often ignor the large, well-lit "YIELD TO ONCOMING TRAFFIC" sign.

You could play it safe and head INTO town from Mercy, then pick up the Eliza Furnace Trail back out to Oakland. (I know, counter-intuitive, and adds miles, but viable alternative.)

You could cart the bike up and down the steps by Duquesne U to Second Ave & the Armstrong Tunnel, and ride a bit of Second Ave sidewalk to the entrance to that parking lot, which will put you on the trail.

There are 210 steps, and you're pretty much guaranteed not to encounter a car.

Thanks everyone for these suggestions!

I considered the Jail Trail. Definitely out of the way, but safer.

Yeah, Mick, that entryway to the Parkway is scary. And what about biking across the Birmingham Bridge Entrance? I could walk cautiously at these two points.

If you want to use the jail trail home, another option is to go out Forbes then make a right on Brady St. - which is a short curvy road that goes under the Birmingham bridge and connects you to 2nd ave. There used to be a dirt path up to the trail at the bottom, but I haven’t looked for it for awhile so I’m not sure whether it’s still there or not. If not, you can make a left on 2nd ave and it’s only a few blocks until you reach one of the official entrances.

Streetview http://g.co/maps/5qwbs

I usually walk across the birmingham bridge entrance. It is wide and leaves one vulnerable but I generally feel better respected as a walking pedestrian than when I'm on a bike on the sidewalk.

I just zip through the Birmingham Bridge entrace at a fairly high speed - the scary part of Forbes at and after the exit from the Parkway.

I suppose that if I just sopped at yielded to traffic at the Fifth/PArkway entrance, there really wouldn't be much danger.

It angers me that cars seem to expect that, regardless of the sign telling them to yield, but safety should trump anger. I guess.

There's at least one vaguely hazardous intersection between the end of the jail trail and Mercy, so you wouldn't gain much from the extra distance there.

5th Ave inbound is do-able if you have tough nerves and good brakes/tires. I have encountered hostile bus drivers several times. If the timing is right (between buses / rush hours) it is a fast and scenic route downtown.

You could also try Ellsworth>Neville>Junction Hollow>Jail Trail & double back to Mercy once you are downtown.

If you are comfortable with hills, try Hamilton>~Broad>~Penn Circle>Baum>Melwood>(up/down Polish Hill via Dobson/Herron)>28th>Penn Ave & on to downtown.

[edit to add] I personally am not comfortable riding through parts of Uptown alone at night. You may feel differently. Bussing through part of your route is always an option. If you have a bus pass an awesome option is to bike from Mercy to the E Busway. Rack n roll to the E Liberty stop & bike home from there.

Go down Brady, and even before you get to the corner with Second, hop off the bike, jump the left curb, and navigate as best as you can to the gravel trail that takes you up to the trail. It's an equipment storage yard, so stuff moves around a lot, but it's right there; the most difficult part is getting up over the curb. You can probably ride from there. Might be muddy or gravelly, might be just fine. Too many variables.

Personally, I avoid Second Ave btwn town and Technology Drive. Too many cement trucks, speeding cars, doors, and rotten pavement.

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I think the take-away from all this advice is that there are 30 ways to do it, they all work, some will work better for you on one day, others on another day. Learn them all and you'll have quite an arsenal of howdyagettheres at your disposal.

Thanks again for all the responses. This is very helpful.

Pseudacris, I hear you. I was hoping to avoid purchasing a bus pass, but I could always get tickets and rack n roll one way.

^ I like to buy the 10-pack of bus tickets and keep a few in my wallet or seat pouch. They're great to have when I run out of cash/change and don't want to find an atm, get change, &tc.

Just a heads-up on bus tickets, there's a fare hike coming in July, which means the tix become usable only through September; i.e., your Zone 1 $2.25 ticket will be usable with an additional 25 cents, for three months after the fare hike goes into effect.

Sometime later this year you'll be able to load up a plastic permanent Connect Card with use-it-whenever fare.

You are on a bike - enjoy the long way! Get to Central Catholic and ride through the Panther Hollow. Get on the Jail Trail to PNC then get to Mercy. Simply reverse it on the way home. I used to work at the Steel Bldg and took this route most often.. It is an enjoyable ride either direction.