Canadian riders from Brantford Ontario - riding into Pittsburgh on Saturday August 11th. Last leg is from Blairsville - any tips on the route into downtown Pittsburgh?
You might find this thread interesting for crossing the Ohio, which is the hard part: http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/routing-recommendations-steubenville-to-westmoreland-county.
After you get on the Panhandle Trail you can connect to the Montour Trail and take that to Neville Island, then come up the Ohio River valley to Pittsburgh.
@Steven, good point. I forgot about the other Blairsville, which makes more sense depending on which way they go around the lake.
Blairsville OH (near Cincinnati) or Blairsville PA (30 miles due East of Pittsburgh)? Seems like Jonawebb is assuming the former.
If the latter, maybe take the bike trail to Slickville, get to Delmont (don't know this part) and take Old Wm Penn Highway to Murrysville?
I've looked at the Google Maps (bicycle option) route for the trip from Blairsville, PA to Pittsburgh, and it looks good from the Monroeville area through Pittsburgh.
(Basically paralleling but avoiding Routes 22/376 to Churchill, then through wilkinsburg along Penn Avenue, eventually catching the Eliza Furnace Trail into town.)
I don't really know the Boyce park area, but the Google route recommends Old Frankstown for a good stretch. Isn't that a climb on either side of 286? Or am I thinking of another road.
(edited to add clarity that this was in reference to a Blairsville PA to Pittsburgh route)
Yes, the route out of Murrysville via Logans Ferry Road climbs about 200 feet. There's often no shoulder on the narrow roads, but traffic isn't too fast there. The section through Boyce Park is another 200 foot climb; Cooper Road in particular has a pretty steep section, though traffic is slow and it seems safe enough.
A possible alternative to minimize climbing is to take Route 22 for the 2.5 mile stretch from where Old William Penn Highway disappears (near Murrysville) to where it starts up again. Route 22 is posted as 45 mph (vs a mix of 35 and 25 for Google's hillier route), but mostly has very wide shoulders (except for some descents). Taking Route 22 replaces two climbs with one smaller one, and is much more direct.
There's also a small trick that lets you do most of the the remaining climbing without tangling with Route 22 traffic. From Murrysville, follow Old Wm Penn Highway west. When it ends at Route 22, go straight, into Plaza Drive, an access road that climbs up to a strip mall. At the far end of the strip mall take the sidewalk along Route 22 to McClure Road. This is the top of the hill, and you can now continue down on Route 22's shoulder until you turn off onto Old William Penn.
(But I haven't yet tried taking Route 22 there, so this might all be a really bad idea. Next time I go I'll try it though.)
I've ridden the shoulder along 22 through Murrysville before. It's not TOO bad. It's wide. Unless you start going back roads to get to Logan's Ferry the only way there's no more direct way of getting over the climb into Murrysville.
Would it be too out of the way to instead head south to the GAP and ride that in? 22 and Murraysville in general strike me as the least picturesque ride ever, but it may just be because I'm used to seeing it.
Anyplace along Rt 22, you are roughly as far from the GAP as you are from Pittsburgh. So the GAP woudl be nice opnce you got there, but the ride to it isn't that good.
Oscar Swan has some rides that are out =by the distant Saltsburg road and such, but I'm not familiar with them.
I's a shame there isn't a rail-trail along Turtle Creek.
@Mick - They are working on it.....
Here's the route I took last summer from Indiana: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/702761.
Basically, get to 286 and follow it until it turns into the Golden Mile Highway and then take 380 into the city. There's a point, not far past Saltsburg, where you need to make a left to continue on 286 (Alcorns Cross Road). The turn is easy to miss...I went right past and stayed on 380. It's not the end of the world if you do, but it means more hills and much crappier pavement.
Overall, the route is fairly nice. The shoulders are generally good, and traffic is fine until you get into the city. The pavement is pretty beat up in parts, though.
