OK Folks, For those that do not know, I cancelled my parking lease last month in downtown and decided to start riding in from Highland Park.
Had a great ride this morning at 6:30. Down One Wild Place, then Butler St to the 61st bridge. Over the bridge and then rode the railroad tracks and North Shore bike trail all the way to the point. 50 mins door to door.
As you all told me, One Wild Place is bit dicey, but that stretch from the Zoo to the 61st bridge on Butler just sucks. Once you get to the 61st Bridge life is sweet all the way to the office ( I basically work at the point)
I will probably just start parking in Sharpsburg, to avoid that mile of Butler St. I am sure if I ride Butler St everyday the odds will eventually catch up with me and I would become a statistic.
So anyway folks. Thanks for all the support, I would not have tried this without the advocacy of BikePGH....
that is fantastic! Slowly taking back the asphalt, one cyclist at a time.
Though, I'm surprised to learn that butler is dicey that early in the morning. I know the inbound side is very wide with vehicles parked only up by the ice cream joint.
Granted the traffic is pretty fast, but I always felt there was plenty of pavement between me and the passing traffic. Shame there are no decent alternate routes...
If you don't like One Wild Place, ride through Morningside and go down Baker Street. If you go down toward the zoo, you'll catch the light at the ice cream joint, and that makes dealing with Butler a bit easier, since you avoid the two lane stretch on the bridge over Heths Run.
You could also go west on Baker (from Morningside Ave), but getting on Butler there is a bit dicey, since there's not a signal.
Congratulations!!!!! 
Woo-hoo! good job.
Very good to hear! Enjoy the ride in the mornings, that sounds like a great commute.
And enjoy your reunion with your money!
seconding the suggestion to ride through morningside. chislett to greenwood to morningside then left on baker is my usual way to head toward etna/sharpsburg. getting onto butler from that end of baker can be tricky, but once you're on it, it's downhill to the 62nd street bridge, and it's quite short, so you can avoid that stretch of butler you don't like.
You'll want to have fenders if you haven't found out allready. Also I've found a little pump up sprayer you can get at Home Depot for $10 or so will be good for cleaning the mud off your bike...
+1 on fenders.
Eppi, I have been parking at the Sharpsburg Riverfront Park on 13th and riding to Gateway Center from there. There is plenty of parking and the lot has video surveillance. So far it has worked out well for me. Maybe I will run into you on the trail.
@Rimerman, you are the best. I park there this AM and had a blissful commute. 3 minute mosey to the trail and then 31 minutes straight to the point. WOO HOO.
Thanks a million
