BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I don't imagine that a lot of people with Steeler tickets would bother to ride bikes... football games are overpriced as it is and don't tend to attract urban cyclists in the same way that baseball might (at least in my opinion). On the flip side of that, I imagine that quite a few Pitt students would ride bikes to one of their games... so that might be an angle to take, working with the University to get bike racks at Heinz.

If your company uses it for conferences, other groups probably do too. I'd guess that might happen more often in the off season when biking weather is good, so maybe that's another approach. If your company rents their facilities on a regular basis maybe they could suggest the idea?? Maybe drop a suggestion into the mayor's office or the Sports and Exposition Authority? Tweet the Steelers and ask for some? That might be all it takes now that the Mayor has given biking some nice momentum.

There are racks at the river level IE: if you're arriving via the RiverWalk and riding under North Shore Drive to the plaza there's a handful of racks down there. But, yes.. just ask them, they might install some more. It worked for me! FYI: I asked the Ballpark's President. In this case it would probably be Jim Sacco, Director of Stadium Management.

I would push the idea of other, non-football events there. Or maybe even Pitt games might need to accommodate more paying customers who arrive by bike. I'd further play up the need for events at AE needing increased bike parking. Yeah, AE put in some minimal racks, but they could easily use to accommodate 250 bikes. If the two facilities together could play nicely on this, they and we would all benefit.

I've seen quite a few dozen bikes locked up during the first two Pitt games. In addition to the racks on the river-walk, a lot of bikes have been locked up to the fence outside Bettis Grill, etc. I think asking those restaurants for official racks might be a good idea too.

> I don’t imagine that a lot of people with Steeler tickets would bother to ride bikes Pitt games are also played there. At least early in the season it's nice enough to ride.

"Pitt games are also played there. At least early in the season it’s nice enough to ride." You clearly didn't read my second paragraph... LOL

I park by the Casino when I bike to Heinz Field for Pitt Games. There are racks and plenty of foot traffic. Hopefully the traffic discourages thieves. A year ago or so I contacted Pitt Bicycling Club and gave them an idea of holding a ride to a game as a fund raiser for their team. Nothing ever came up of it. I thought it would be cool to get a group to ride from Oakland. Maybe they could make up some sort of coral, complete with a "fender" gate.

Just remember that one of the big issues with biking to any of the games is that the security personnel do not let you bring most bags or tools into the stadium. They want you to use one of those clear plastic bags with their logo on it or a gallon-sized ziplock bag. [start rant] I saw a guy with an average sized trunk-bag turned away at the Heinz Field gate even after he emptied the contents out of the bag. I think they are less concerned with security and more concerned about the power they have over the public. As exhibit A - I had to remove my baseball cap to get into the last game. Really?! I mean what kind of bomb could I possibly have hidden under a ball cap that I simply would have been able to hide in my pocket? It's a bunch of B.S. Think of how many sporting events there are: football, baseball, basketball, hockey, rugby, soccer, etc. Multiply this by professional, college and high school games - times the thirteen years they have been doing this. Now tell me how many terror plots have been stopped by these security checks. Ironically, all these security checks do is create a security problem by concentrating people into a confined space. It's stupid. Why dont patrons of the theater district have to go through security? or do terrorist only like sports.

Oh man, I forgot. My wife was turned away for having a large (but empty) purse. She even showed them she could roll it into a small ball and they wouldn't let her in. No warning of rule changes or anything. (It was empty because we were going to hit the strip later). I've never had an issue at PNC Park. Maybe Heinz field just doesn't want our kind (e.g. anyone not paying for parking) there.

Something like this would be nice at various locations throughout the city: http://www.lockers.com/products/vented-metal-locker-six-tier-box-style-3-wide-6-feet-high-15-inches-deep/

You can get a locker at the Carnegie Science Center if you need to. [rant] I remember going to a Pitt game last year and enduring the security farce. The chain link corrals, pat downs, and searches all by gate A underneath the flag have completely turned me off to going to any more football games. Those seeking to put the nail in the coffin of our freedom should just coordinate a series of pipe-bomb attacks whereby the bombs are brought in up people's asses. Then we can all have cavity searches as a part of our daily lives too! Edit: I worked in an intelligence related field for several years and there really are a lot of people in the world that would seek to harm you or I only because of our religion, nationality, or simply because they're nuts. Those people are not hiding behind every corner.