BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Heh. If you're descending on Powers Run to Freeport Rd, make sure everyone has brakes in good working order. I've seen people on the verge of shooting straight through the light at the bottom into traffic on Freeport. Personally, I'd probably either take Guys Run to Freeport and deal with the traffic, or do something like Guys Run->Locust Hill->Indianola->Gulf Lab->Pearl->Freeport, to skip most of the mess near the turnpike.

If thes folks haven't trained on a bike or haven't done much in the way of distance, you might want a shorter ride. At once poing, after I'd been doing about 25 miles per week of utility riding, I did a 15 mile tour of river trails (+2 miles to and from the official ride). It wiped me right out.

My first route iteration was using Guys Run to Freeport Rd, but one of my coworkers described it thusly: "I have ridden Harts Run and Guys Run Roads before (I rode from Monroeville to Allison Park and back one Sunday morning) and found that even on a Sunday there were sections that were near suicidal (due to impatient/very fast drivers)." so that sparked my concern. I'm hoping to do a bit of scouting this weekend or next and see it for myself. I do like the idea of taking Locust Hill to Indianola. It looks like it'll streamline the routing and give a nice, long downhill section where even if there's traffic, we should be moving at a pretty good clip along with it.

+1 on Guys Run instead of Powers Run, its a much more fun downhill tooo .

JaySherman5000 wrote:

I’m hoping to do a bit of scouting this weekend or next and see it for myself. I do like the idea of taking Locust Hill to Indianola. It looks like it’ll streamline the routing and give a nice, long downhill section where even if there’s traffic, we should be moving at a pretty good clip along with it.

Drop me an email when you plan your scout, if you'd like some company.

@Mick: I think the employees I'm preying on expecting to show up are the ones that already do a fair amount of long-distance riding. My intention is to issue as many warnings about this not being for the "faint of heart" as possible. We already have a "Cycling Enthusiasts" group at work. There are a few roadies, tourists, and the like that I think would appreciate this ride, but we'll see.

Yeah, I was less concerned when you quoted one of them as riding from Monroeville to Allison Park - and back - one day.

"At once poing, after I’d been doing about 25 miles per week of utility riding, I did a 15 mile tour of river trails (+2 miles to and from the official ride). It wiped me right out. " But didn't you describe yourself as an elder recently?

A lot of these roads are ugly. I would go out of my wayto avoid mt royal. I would just ride out to middle and go left on harts run. Maybe head north to mcculley back over middle to church to dorseyville to guys run to locust over 910 to jacoby.. deer creek.

helen s wrote:“At once point, after I’d been doing about 25 miles per week of utility riding, I did a 15 mile tour of river trails (+2 miles to and from the official ride). It wiped me right out. ” But didn’t you describe yourself as an elder recently?

Yeah, but the ride I was talking about was last century. I was just a young whippersnapper of a middle-aged man back then. Looks like JaySherman's co-workers might be able to deal with this anyhow.

To avoid both Powers Run Rd and Guys Run Rd, use Campbells Run Rd. It gets no through car traffic because it's closed to cars in a couple places (huge rocks blocking the road down near the bottom, and a gate a block from Fox Chapel Rd, as I recall) but this ghost road is bikable and WAY safer than those other two alternatives. I've biked it. What you'll find: some crumbling asphalt, gravel in places, a sign saying "Consolidation Coal Company [old name for Consol Energy] Harmar Mine AMD plant impoundment", a reservoir with a strange color (AMD = acid mine drainage), no cars on the road, steep, dog-walkers, perhaps. And if they haven't fixed it although I reported it, a little bit of sewage leaking out of a manhole cover in the road -- yeah, lovely!