Hi everyone, Just moved here from Erie. Im an average rider. Biking purely for pleasure. Ride a hybrid with a three yr old in a babyseat as a rear fender/copilot. Looking for some ideas on ten to twenty mile windy hilly trails,we generally ride three or four days a week.
We have trails along all three rivers, but none of them are windy or hilly.
Though you will get some great suggestions from here, I still suggest picking up a FREE BikePGH bike map (available at all local bike shops, and other cool businesses around the city) since you are new to the city. It covers the whole city and a little outside city limits, and gives you a very good idea about terrain and what the riding environment is like on certain roads.
The Freeport-Butler Trail is pretty - not windy or especially hilly, but a nice ride on a bike with a "copilot."
Hard to go wrong with the Montour Trail.
I rode 30 miles on Montour yesterday, from Ikea/Robinson to Library. There are a few wet/soggy spots and a couple minor washouts, but the whole thing is quite ridable.
For a pleasant little ride, I'd suggest starting at Robinson and riding to the tunnel at the Findlay Township line. That's about 15-20 minutes each direction without trying to hurry.
frick park has a bunch of (unpaved) slightly windy and somewhat hilly trails. plus it has the added bonus of being pretty much the most idyllic area of the city.
while not technically trails, riverview park is great for both windy and hilly, and the roads you'd ride on are low-traffic, one way, wide, and have bike lanes (often on both sides, or at least it appears that way).
I second the recommendation to try out Frick Park. Schenley Park has some nice trails, too. Great playgrounds in both parks in case that 3-year-old needs to run around a bit.
You can finds maps of the four city parks at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Web site. I think you can get printed copies at the Schenley Park Visitors Center.
Quick word about Frick: Some of the trails are wide and gentle, and some are pretty narrow and steep. It's not obvious from the map which are which. If you're heading to Frick, you might want to ask folks on this board about specific trails. Or PM me.
Next to Frick Park is a wonderful cemetery to ride around. Very little automobile traffic, nice scenery and the road are both windy and hilly. When Frick Park is too muddy to ride through, I go there. Watch out for deer.
Frick is awesome, but as @Mary says some of the trails turn surprisingly steep and do so w/o much warning.
That being said, it has a good variety of inclines. I feel comfortable taking people from out of town there since I can gage the ride based on their idea of 'Hilly.' Both my brother who lives in very flat Rochester, NY and my sister who routinely cycles and hikes in the Adirondacks are able to find challenges there.
+1 on the cemetery. Some of the monuments are stunning. There's a pyramid, a few obelisks and IIRC a few Weeping Angels around there too. ( Don't Blink! )
As long as we're mentioning cemeteries, Allegheny Cemetery has tons of "paved" roads, and is both hilly and windy. They recently opened it up to cyclists (but careful not to stay in past closing time, or you'll be locked in). It is open to auto traffic, but I can't say I've ever had a run in with a car that wasn't parked.
North park is also a nice place to ride, though it's been forever and I don't recall much about it other than "gee this place is awesome, I wish we lived closer". Boyce has some crazy rabbit warren trails that fit your windy criteria. Both of those are 'burbs parks, but in the county.
Hilly + Windy... when you say that to a Pgh-er, it might mean something different than to someone from a flatter place (I believe Erie is flatter by comparison, I'm guessing it's similar to Cleveland). So take all these "not very hilly" with a grain of salt until you try them - perspectives will vary.
I still reccommend the trails by the rivers even though they're "flat and straight", you cant beat them for off-road city scapes.
Welcome to Pgh and the board 
You're going to run into 200-foot elevation changes anywhere you go around here. The question is always, over what distance do you get to make that 200-foot change?
Around the city, there are a lot of staircases. If it's possible to lug your gear and your passenger up 50+ steps, you can expand your horizons greatly.
With the three-year old onboard, I'd like to suggest two key points on the Montour Trail.
At MP31.5 there's FarmHouse Coffee (hot chocolate, ice cream), At MP7.5 there's Enlow Station (world famous soft serve).
Kids love dad-rides that involve snacks.
Thanks for all the great recommendations. Eventually we will hit them all. In the old days I would have just went out and explored. These days its easy to compile a bunch of maps and ideas from internet searches, but to me asking people who know is the best route.Our short range maiden voyage will be in Frick Park then as the weather picks up a little we will head out on the Monitor trail.
@ajamieb - A question for you, as I don't think it's ever come up before on this board. Have you ever tried to carry your bike on a bus with a baby seat attached? Is it possible? Is it possible or feasible to detach and reattach the seat?
The regulars on this board know me as a transit fanatic -- a description I encourage, btw -- but there are things I don't know, and this is one of them. I'm always chasing all over with a bike on the front of a bus, but I've never had to deal with a baby seat, bus or not.
If you could do that, I'd suggest investing in a few bus rides and see where all you can go, and maybe bike back. PM me if you need specifics. Example: 28X to Ikea, bike down the hill, hop on Montour Trail, go to Coraopolis, bus back into town.
@StuinMcCandless- our seat made by Topeak detaches quickly by removing a pin. The manufacturer recommends removing seat when bike is on car rack because it acts as a sail and wind force from driving can distort both the seat and the frame. Attached to the front of a slower moving bus shouldnt be a problem. Do the buses go on the freeways?
The prospect of a bus/bike ride excites Peep my copilot since she loves both bikes and buses. To me a ride that doesnt involve the car sounds sweet. We live in Plum. I see buses here and there and would love to learn more about the system.
We are both experienced travelers. Currently our only logistic concern is access to "pottys" when in or near civilization.
If you have an idea of a Plum based excursion involving public trans we are definitely interested.
We will gladly give a full report on public trans/bike kid seat concerns.
in Plum? We're neighbors! (well, almost, I'm in Penn Hills). Definitely check out Boyce, since it's right here ( http://www.alleghenycounty.us/parks/bpfac.aspx ). There are a handfull of buses that go through Penn Hills/Plum, depending on what part you live in. Holiday Park flyer is near you, though may be less convenient schedule-wise (it's a commuter bus). Oakmont has pretty regular bus schedule too.
a confusing but official source for bus schedules: http://www.portauthority.org/PAAC/tabid/164/Default.aspx
a totally clear map by a guy who is awesome: http://www.publictransitguide.info/Home/
Stu, I'll let you fill in the details, as you probably even know my local busses better than I do.
It sounds like you're raising a wonderful child.
You should definitely test-fit one of the bus racks at one of their layover locations. I know at the end of the West busway, the drivers sit until it's time for their next scheduled trip, so maybe there's something out your way. My only concern would be if the seat blocks the drivers view, but if yours pops off easily, then that wouldn't be an issue.
If you haven't already, sign up for Pedal Pittsburgh, in May. It's a great way to see town, several different ride options that should work;
http://www.pedalpittsburgh.org/
A million thanks for posting the link to the transit guide, ejwme. Even after 10 years here, I still can't make sense of that Port Authority Web site.
Someone once told me that the numbering system for the buses is arranged like the face of a clock. Think of a clock face superimposed on a map of the county. If you think of the hand of a clock pointing to the 12, somewhere to the north, the route numbers are low. If you imagine the hand going around the clock (clockwise, of course) the numbers get progressively higher as you make your way around.
Then again, I heard this from some random guy on the bus one day, so take it for what its worth.
I've been riding PAT buses for the past 24 years, and wasn't able to make much sense of them until that map came along. I'd always felt like it was proof that I'm not a "real" Pittsburgher... like PAT is some kind of Yinzer Code.
Thank you edmonds for the link to Pedal Pgh, I keep forgetting about it - maybe this year I can join in the fun
@mary If you imagine the hand going around the clock (clockwise, of course)
Too much sense - wnen viewed from above, it goes in a counter-clockwise fashion.
Oh, that's classic.
In a similar vein, CCAC has an online map of its Allegheny campus. I stared and stared at the map and couldn't figure it out. Finally I realized the map is drawn so that south is UP, but there's no legend to alert you to that.
Welcome to Pittsburgh, ajamieb.
Short answer, yes, the buses go on the freeways, be they I-376 (Parkway East), one of the busways (East, South, West), or the HOV Lane on I-279. They routinely will hit 60+ mph on such roads. Aside from that, whether freeway or not, the bike will get a good shaking. If there is any chance the seat can come off unintentionally, or may be tall enough to be a vision problem, I'd remove it for the bus trip, esp if easily done.
@Mary, bus numbering starts at the Allegheny River (1 Freeport Road) and continues counterclockwise (91 Butler St). Most of the routes just got renamed/renumbered; the 61/71 series and the 28X are the few exceptions.
The single-letter prefix is now the new goofiness:
* "O" (not zero) for Orange for routes using the I-279 HOV Lane;
* "P" for Purple for routes using the East Busway;
* "G" for Green for routes using the West Busway;
* "Y" for Yellow for routes using the South Busway;
* "R" for Red for yet-to-be-implemented Rapid Routes that will supplement the 61- and 71-series routes. (I wouldn't mention this except that they're already programmed into the headsigns and so make an occasional appearance.)
The aforementioned awesome guy with the map site grew up in Plum and occasionally posts on this board, so ask away.
Yes, also CMU likes to show the map with North facing down! It took me quite a few minutes to find that out when I saw Forbes Avenue above Fifth Avenue!
BTW, I am the author/creator of the map (http://www.publictransitguide.info/Home/) that @StuInMcCandless and @ejwme have referred to. I grew up in the Coxcomb Hill area and nearly every stretch of pavement (that existed in the 1990's) was touched by my two wheels or two feet. I can help you plan a trip from anywhere in Plum depending on the ride specifications you want (such as challenging hills, fast downhills, slightly rolling, etc.) and based on your level of comfort with other vehicles.
Bus routes that touch or go reasonably* near Plum:
1 - Does not enter Plum, but has fairly good service 7 days per week. You can pick it up at Central City Plaza in New Kensington and at Freeport Road/Hulton Bridge in Harmar (across the river from Oakmont).
67/P67 - 67 Goes within 1/4 mile of Plum at the CCAC Boyce Campus on Weekdays. 67 Operates from Downtown to Monroeville Mall 7 days per week. P67 is the express route from the Mall to Downtown and operates on peak periods only in the peak direction.
68/P68 - If you ride to Monroeville Mall, you can take either route to Downtown (68 requires transfer at Wilkinsburg Busway Station)
77 - Weekdays along Unity-Center Road and CCAC Boyce/ 7 days per week from Alcoma Apartments in Penn Hills to Downtown.
78/P78 - Does not enter Plum, but serves Oakmont on weekdays. P78 goes to Downtown Pittsburgh during peak periods and 78 only goes as far as Wilkinsburg Busway Station for transfer to a P1 to complete trip to downtown.
P12 - Rush hour only service Holiday Park Area on Route 286. This route has reverse commute trips.
P16 - Rush hour only service along Unity-Center Road and near Plum along Hulton Road in Penn Hills. Also serves the intersection of Coxcomb Hill/Hulton Road in East Oakmont (does not go past Golf Course or Ramparts). It only operates in the peak direction.
*My definition of reasonable may not agree with everyone, but I took the rule of approximately 3 miles away from the border of Plum to determine if the route is worth mentioning due to using a bicycle and to show some routes that operate 7 days per week.
Feel free to message me here or get me on twitter, also at @TransitGuru.
I just get warm fuzzies knowing you're out there, TransitGuru You and Stu are my heros.
Mine, too!
I never would have guessed there's a letter/color key to the new bus routes.
