BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Great that you want to ride more!

I saw bike helmets at Costco at the Waterfront for about $25. I didn't look closely enough to see if they were kids or adult sizes.

erok can probably answer this but they might be able to help you find a decent helmet that fits

i will point some northsiders here! (i'm not in the city now or else i'd step right up)

PS what area are you in?

Helmet-wise, any helmet sold in this county will work fine. Low price means the helmet might be a bit trickier to adjust and not as well-ventilated. Big-box retailers usually have cheaper ones.

Depending on what neighborhood you live in, commuting downtown and back just means getting to the jail trail and back. It's pretty low stress.

Thanks - I live near Heinz Field.. and guess I would just go across the Ft Duquesne bridge to the park but is there any way to get from the park to the jail trail without going on Blvd of the Allies? *laugh* am old fat and slow so want to annoy others with my slowness as little as possible.

Think it would be relatively safe to ride home through Point State Park after 11pm?

As important as the helmet is equipping the bike, and yourself, with proper lighting, esp. if you're going to be out in traffic at night. Expect to spend $40ish for at least front & rear lights.

Safety: Maybe I'm naive, but what are you afraid of in PSP at 11pm that wouldn't be on any street corner any other time of day? I more fear getting hit by motorists than getting mugged.

All I ever came across in the park at night are urban campers and couples making babies - and drunken revelers.

As far as the connection to the jail trail, there is construction work on the Mon Wharf which *when completed* will connect the trail around the perimeter of the park to the jail trail.

So you may have to double back off of the Ft. Duquesne stairs into the park and around the fountain to meet the extension at the Wharf.

I'd be nice scenery for a commute - like a UPMC commercial.

KMart has a couple models for around US$20.

+1 for lights.

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-3040-Superflash-Headlight/dp/B0015R9PZI

As far as routing around Mon Wharf and avoiding Blvd. of Allies -- you could try going over Ft. Pitt Bridge and then go down past Incline (sidewalk) to start of the Southside Trail. Take this to Smithfield bridge. Then take Smithfield Bridge back over to downtown downtown /jail trail. Not sure where you are heading on the commute, however.

You want to get a helmet - it makes you less vulnerable in the park as well as on the street.

I understand the hesitancy of going through Point park in the middle of the night, but remember - you will be pretty tall in your bake (and even taller with a helmet!) and moving at the pace of someone running fast. If someone is looking for victims, they won't be expecting that.

If you messae me, I'll send you my number. If you call about 10 saturday morning I could introduce you to biking in a city. I'm no-fooling-around old (you wouldn't believe what my age is in dog years) and relatively slow and fat.

I do not crush commonwealths during my days off.

Mick

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Would be looking for the easiest/safest way to get from my place on Western Ave to work on First Ave downtown.

Now that you've reiterated that, I think you need to concentrate less on who's going to jump you in the park, and more on dealing with traffic in broad daylight.

Coming out of PSP at 8am and getting from there to First Avenue, the way I would do it is to get out onto Commonwealth Place to get the red light at Liberty (first in line), left onto Liberty, duke it out with cars and buses on Liberty over to Stanwix, right on Stanwix, get in the left lane, left onto Fourth Avenue, right onto Wood (if you work on the lower end of First Ave) or Cherry Way (if you work farther up), then right onto First Avenue. There might be other ways to do it, but there is no way to avoid just getting right out there in traffic lanes and taking up space alongside cars, buses and trucks, and in this thread we haven't really gotten into that yet.

There's an art and a science to mixing with traffic, especially Downtown, and all the text in the world isn't going to give you what you need: experience. Many of us here would be happy to ride with you and give you pointers. Just say where and when, and at least one of us will make sure we're there.

Be safe, but be bold. "Don't let the bastards get to you" is (IMHO) a much better policy than "I'd better stay out of the way and not make trouble".

Thanks - it's not so much I'm worried about getting jumped myself but just wanting to be aware if anyone has had issues as you don't really hear about things.

I start work at 1 pm Mon-Thurs and would happily meet anyone in PSP anytime before hand. Will be getting lights next Thursday. Am off Fridays and Saturdays.

Am always amazed watching bikers riding effortlessly with traffic downtown but they are lithe and fast and I am the opposite plus very uncoordinated *laugh*.

everyone was that way in the beginning.

once you get confidence, you'll be flowing with traffic in no time.

one thing that i recommend as far as urban cycling goes is to at least look confident. if you at least look like you know what you are doing, drivers are less likely to get nervous and panic and more or less leave you alone. if you look squirrely and riding like you don't know what you are doing, then drivers get nervous and get mad at you.

Practice looking back over your left shoulder as you ride. You might want to practice this on a trail or a quiet street to get the hang of it. The trick is to be able to look back without inadvertently steering to the left at the same time.

The obvious reason to do this is so you'll know what's behind you. It also gives the drivers confidence in your riding. Drivers have this deranged idea that cyclists don't know the car is right there. The more you look, the more they know you're paying attention, and the better they treat you.

Franzen's suggestion of looking back is excellent. Empty parking lots with marker lines are excellent tools for perfecting this.

I still practice that after decades of cycling. I do some neck stretches before I start.

Mick

An old school trick on how to learn to look over your left shoulder without weaving is to practice in a big parking lot or empty road. When you go to look around extend your left arm straight out sort of behind you and and look down it as you pedal. It kind of gives you a reference point to keep your mind steering you straight until you get the hang of it.

Find your comfort level on your bike and slowly push it through some of the group rides around here. There is no shame to keeping to the trail systems and figuring out your own car-free routes around, connecting things together as you can. With a bit of guidance and creative routes, you can get all over the place with minimal road sharing these days if you wish.

i bike from the northside to downtown/strip almost daily. i've got a weird schedule so i'm on the road in the mornings/evenings/late nights. take advantage of "off peak" driving/rush hour traffic downtown. if you're leaving for work at 1pm and for home at 11pm, you're not likely to face traffic challenges.

it gets easier every day. practice riding down north avenue to get used to traffic lights, pedestrians, signaling, etc.

it's kind of incredible how different off-peak riding is. unless there's a pens game, then the whole city sucks to ride in all day, especially up/downtown

it is incredible. sometimes i ride home at night all "look mom, no hands!" the whole way.

Yesterday I made my way down from my place on Western Ave to Point State Park - totally due to chatting with a wonderful gal who offered to meet me for a ride (she came from Greenfield). I am in no shape for hills *laugh* yet. After meeting in the park we rode back over to the north side and made our way to the parks and Allegheny Center. I had a wonderful time - and very appreciative that meeting her gave me incentive to finally get on my bike.

Currently getting up the nerve to venture over to Giant Eagle on Cedar - need to get cat food and litter *laugh*.

Is it ok to ride on the sidewalk in uncrowded areas? Not sure I want to cross over three lanes of traffic yet when going around Allegheny Center - even tho there probably won't be much car traffic.

Again thanks for all the advice!

Just got back from the store - was much quicker to get there than driving

technically, you are not allowed to ride on a sidewalk in a business district. however, this is rarely if ever enforced. i'd say do what feels comfortable, with the intention of riding on the street. just know that if you're on the sidewalk, peds always have the right of way, and should be respected.

Oh definitely know peds have right of way and the section of sidewalk I'm using around Allegheny Center has little to no pedestrian traffic for the time of day I'm riding.

want to read a good story about a local cyclists encounter with a couple of thugs downtown? go to urbanvelo.org click on magazine downloads and see the article urban assault in issue 13.

what does that comment have to do with biking on the north side? seriously.

Ithought this would be an appropriate read for LK when he posted,

"Thanks - it's not so much I'm worried about getting jumped myself but just wanting to be aware if anyone has had issues as you don't really hear about things"

as the incident described in story is true and it occured during an evening commute between the northside and town.

uhm thanks... for now that just reinforced that I'm not going to be entertaining riding to/from work for quite a while - at least until the mon wharf part is done.

oh, that's such a freak occurance.

people get mugged every day, but you still need to walk around. every day, someone in the region dies while driving, but no one ever thinks to stop driving due to that.

erok, re your "if you at least look like you know what you are doing, drivers are less likely to get nervous and panic": The key thing here is that if you are being squirrely, drivers just don't know what you're going to do, and that frightens them, because they think you're going to suddenly lurch out in front of them. And they're probably right.

As for riding on the sidewalk, if you absolutely must ride on the sidewalk, please do it on the right-hand side of the road. Riding on the sidewalk against traffic is a really effective way to get hit by someone exiting a driveway or approaching from a cross street.