BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

bikely.com is a good place to start. you'll have to sift through a lot, but there are plenty of routes that you should find enjoyable. one of our members here has a number of good ones of varying ranges: http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/by/bjanaszek

i highly recommend riding north out of the city. there's just tons of low-traffic, rolling hill, country roads that are all in good condition. and pretty scenic in spots. saxonburg, dorseyville, middle, and all the main drags through fox chapel are fun rides, and you can wind your way out to (or past) the red belt and back if you want to add a bit of distance. it's where i do all my moderate-to-long distance rides.

+1 for the North recommendation...lots o' good riding in them thar hills.

Also, you may wish to grab a copy of this book; highly recommended reading for rides in the area.

I usually do moderately-paced longer rides (metric to century+) on Sunday mornings, pretty much year round...feel free to PM or email me (dan.blumenfeld at gmail) if you're looking for a tour guide.

Thanks for the link, Dave.

Yeah, north rocks, plus heading north allows you to be on quiet roads pretty quickly without dealing with too much traffic.

Oscar's book is also required reading, and most of the stuff under my bikely account is based on his rides.

Thanks so much everybody, that was a great response.

Oscar's book is where it's at. He knows everything and then some. The rides aren't written turn by turn though, so bring a map. Or a cell phone.

Oddly, I really hate going north. The immediate north is suburbs for miles and miles and it's probably the hilliest terrain which makes for a bad combination. That said, it's the quickest stuff to get to from the city.

I personally like west or south or some combination there of. But part of that is because I live here and it doesn't take me 45 mins just to get to the edge of good riding.

Before committing to Oscar's book (or Three Rivers on Two Wheels, or Free Wheelin Easy), check out a sample or two of what's out there at:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/spok/bike/

It features a couple old routes from the Western Pennsylvania Wheelmen. They have more than a hundred rides in their current ride book -- available through their website in paper or CD format. They also sponsor rides on a regular basis, if you want the company of others on the forst long forays out. Do you know about the rides from Tazo D'Oro and other places -- another great way to create a local knowledge base.