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A ride that touches every single Pittsburgh neighborhood

has anyone ever done this? I would count riding along, say, Penn Ave as being able to count 2 neighborhoods at once.


erok
2012-01-23 18:11:25

Nope. Sounds like you need to lead this ride for bike fest this year.


eric
2012-01-23 18:18:49

This is a perfect application of the traveling salesman problem. I'm down.


PS - It only counts if you go to Brunot Island. I think the only way to get there is by boat or the pedestrian walkway on the railroad bridge.


abracadabra
2012-01-23 18:33:07

hmmm. it is neighborhoods. i think you need people living there to have a neighborhood


erok
2012-01-23 19:18:36

would you do it as a spiral starting from the outside in? or do it as zig zags?


erok
2012-01-23 19:20:05

do a spiral around the city, ending at the cathedral for a stair climb to the top


erok
2012-01-23 19:21:17

Ah, but can you so arrange the ride so that you visit each neighborhood once and only once?


jonawebb
2012-01-23 19:22:53

@erok: You are running this ride, right?


reddan
2012-01-23 19:23:08

all the city neighborhoods are labeled on the map. I think the hole is the borough of Mt Oliver.


tabby
2012-01-23 19:50:01

That would be Mt. Oliver Borough, not officially part of the city. However IIRC, the residents pay a 2% earned income tax to Pittsburgh Schools and 1% to the borough itself.


chemicaldave
2012-01-23 19:50:20

Yeah, the hole is the borough of Mt. Oliver. (As opposed to the adjacent neighborhood of Mt. Oliver.)


mrdestructicity
2012-01-23 19:50:42

i thought it was beltzhoover, if it isn't where is beltzhoover on this map?


chefjohn
2012-01-23 19:52:22

here's a route ending at Spak Brothers Pizza




erok
2012-01-23 19:54:01

Please do this ride


stefb
2012-01-23 19:58:11

I would have thought it impossible. So simple, so beautiful.

Crush the Burghhoods.


edmonds59
2012-01-23 20:01:45

'Rahn the Tahn (n'at)"


atleastmykidsloveme
2012-01-23 20:03:29

I was going to plan this really! for last year's bikefest but then I got lazy & didn't do anything :(


nfranzen
2012-01-23 20:12:27

It would be bonus points if the route stayed carefully within the city limits everwhere -- avoiding Mt Oliver.


nfranzen
2012-01-23 20:13:32

no sliberty love?


dmtroyer
2012-01-23 20:21:04

nate, did you plan any of it out?


erok
2012-01-23 20:21:20

Although a small alteration would fix this, it doesn't go through East Liberty.


mick
2012-01-23 20:21:53

darn lincoln place and east carnegie


erok
2012-01-23 20:22:56

haha. whoops


erok
2012-01-23 20:23:22

East Liberty isn't a REAL neighborhood... it's more of a state of mind...


atleastmykidsloveme
2012-01-23 20:24:51

Then we'll just have to end at Oh Yeah! for dessert.


stuinmccandless
2012-01-23 20:42:30

what's the distance on that?


It would be awesome to take a picture with everybody "in" every neighborhood. (gotta get to 'sliberty)


Bike the Burghs.


ejwme
2012-01-23 20:58:54

Tangentially related, from one of my crazy co-workers: http://pac.tom7.org/


salty
2012-01-23 21:03:35

salty, your crazy coworker is awesome. I find his project intensely satisfying, and may completely copycat it in some form. Very happy you shared.


ejwme
2012-01-23 21:26:06

Oh Yeah! is in Shadyside. I vote Kelly's.


dmtroyer
2012-01-23 23:12:40

I wonder how many miles this would be.


rubberfactory
2012-01-23 23:43:03

Amazing that erok's map only crosses the rivers 3 (or is it 4 times?)


teamdecafweekend
2012-01-23 23:57:35

Because even Pittsburghers who are cyclists rarely cross rivers!


kgavala
2012-01-24 00:10:11

Ha, Kayla. That's funny, I hope it's not really true.


teamdecafweekend
2012-01-24 00:21:21

Has anyone ever done a ride where you ride on every single street in the city and carry bikes up/down streets that are stairs?


stefb
2012-01-24 00:31:50

I'm going to bet somewhere between 65-75 miles.


eric
2012-01-24 01:02:06

Three rivers. Three crossings.


Sounds right to me.


mick
2012-01-24 01:08:37

But you have to bike through Slib to get to OY from Spak.


(Out of context, that doesn't make a bit of sense.)


stuinmccandless
2012-01-24 01:11:02

But you have to bike through Slib to get to OY from Spak.

Sounds almost Suessical.


reddan
2012-01-24 02:28:52

Ah, but can you so arrange the ride so that you visit each neighborhood once and only once?


It would be bonus points if the route stayed carefully within the city limits everwhere -- avoiding Mt Oliver.


I think it's not possible to do both of these in the same ride, due to the way Baldwin borough surrounds Hays on three sides, cutting Hays off from the parts of the city to its west.


Of course, the solution is obvious. Two rides!


steven
2012-01-24 03:56:28

i just noticed that Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar goes above the Allegheny. how is that the city, but Milvale isn't?


erok
2012-01-24 14:48:10

That bump out of Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar is just big enough to encompass the water facility across the street from The Waterworks mall in Aspinwall.


bradq
2012-01-24 14:51:54

Also the Waterworks mall itself, the reservoir just north of it, and UPMC St. Margaret to its west, according to the city's map. All in the city but disconnected.


steven
2012-01-24 14:58:16

i didn't realize that waterworks mall was in the city


erok
2012-01-24 15:55:42

Oh yeah, and don't forget the airport!


jonawebb
2012-01-24 17:45:23

Wait, really? Is the airport technically city property?


I did not realize the Waterworks Mall and St Margaret's were also in the city. Thought it was just the water treatment facility. Interesting. I wonder why?...


bradq
2012-01-24 17:59:24

I don't believe PIA is owned by the city. And it's certainly not a neighborhood so I wouldn't include it on the ride.


chemicaldave
2012-01-24 18:21:33

At one time there was a very narrow contiguous path leading from Pittsburgh to the airport, or so I was told. But that was before they built the new airport, and possibly the original report was in error. I can't find any evidence of it on the Pittsburgh city maps etc.

Looked up ownership -- it's organized under Allegheny County. So the claim of ownership by Pittsburgh some time ago is starting to seem fishy to me.


jonawebb
2012-01-24 18:34:22

I've never heard that. There might be a proposed right-of-way for a transportation corridor, but it would be neither city property nor a neighborhood. In any event, both airports are county entities of one sort or another.


stuinmccandless
2012-01-24 18:45:31

Ok, so who's putting the ride together? Erok, did that route have roads associated with it or was that just Paint guestimating?


ejwme
2012-01-24 19:18:22

Chicago's city limits include a 200 foot wide strip of land connecting it to O'Hare, most of which is part of the city. Wikipedia: "This land was annexed into the city limits in the 1950s to assure the massive tax revenue associated with the airport being part of the city." Perhaps somebody confused that with Pittsburgh.


steven
2012-01-24 19:42:19

@brad, the reservoirs north of the mall are part of the treatment facility. the mall is actually in the middle of the city waterworks.


cburch
2012-01-24 19:44:36

that was just a photoshop estimate. haven't worked out any route


erok
2012-01-24 20:04:01

If you would like help, I can come up with a route. I'm kinda not very busy these days


stefb
2012-01-24 20:31:49

I vote this is called the ninety (?) boro bike tour.


abracadabra
2012-01-24 23:04:49

good name


erok
2012-01-24 23:06:28

Scr*w NYC and their puny 5 Boro Tour. There are 130 municipalities in Allegheny County. 80 of those are Boroughs. We could have an 80 Borough Tour!


atleastmykidsloveme
2012-01-24 23:10:42

How about a sponsorship? The Heinz Catch Up Yinz'r twelve neighborhoods behind tour?


headloss
2012-01-24 23:18:26

We could call it Le Tour De Pittsburgh or The Tour of Pittsburgh. Would this be a casual fun ride or an all out ride?


marvelousm3
2012-01-25 01:00:09

Le Tour de Hoods?


steven
2012-01-25 05:43:58

Hoods N' 'At.


ejwme
2012-01-25 14:41:08

TERRIBLE TOUR!!!!! woooooooooo!!!!!!


ejwme
2012-01-25 14:41:58

ooooo. that's good


erok
2012-01-25 15:58:44

I feel a tour title that incorporates some pittsburghese would be appropriate. Discuss.


dmtroyer
2012-01-25 16:10:54

The airport is located in Moon and Findlay Townships. The old terminal building and the development along Beers School Road (hotels and restaurants) that used to serve the old terminal are in Moon Township. The new terminal is in Findlay Township.


Allegheny County owns the property. The Airport Authority operates the Airport. The City has no involvement in property, ownership or operation of Pittsburgh International Airport.


swalfoort
2012-01-25 17:27:23

I love this ride. If the earlier comment about Brunots Island not being a neighborhood is accurate, then can't the same be said for that section of the City that falls north of the Allegheny River? I don't think it includes any homes. So, not an independent neighborhood......


swalfoort
2012-01-25 17:33:45

If you started at Bike Pittsburgh (Lower Lawrenceville), you could reroute slightly to go from Upper Lawrenceville to Bloomfield to Polish Hill, then do Friendship, Garfield, East Liberty (or Friendship, East Liberty Garfield, to end at Spak) at the end.


swalfoort
2012-01-25 17:38:10

@dmtroyer: Terrible Tooor an'nat...


Steel City Dahntown Tour an'nat


....I had some other but they were jabs at the Pirates, I decided to keep it positive.


sew
2012-01-25 17:42:01

This is the Pittsburgh long distance tour that scores of people have been yearning for ever since the demise of the Pedal Pittsburgh long routes. Or at least a few people. Since last week.

+1 Terrible Tour. Is "Terrible" copyrighted?

I would be willing to develop out the West segment from the McKees Rocks bridge to say "Ridgemont". If a number of people took a section they are familiar with to detail out, it would be more do-able.


edmonds59
2012-01-25 17:54:30

I picture a bunch of cyclists with terrible towels pinned to their jerseys like race numbers, toodling all over pittsburgh...


I don't see how anybody in Pittsburgh could mind if we used the word "terrible", in fact I bet we'd get cheered on. I don't see how anybody outside Pittsburgh matters.


ejwme
2012-01-25 18:59:44

Terrible Tour is great and I think Rahn the Tahn is hilarious. And if it matters I vote for casual fun ride vs all out.


rzod
2012-01-25 19:43:50

Terrible Tour Rahn' Tahn.


now we just need a route.


ejwme
2012-01-25 19:47:16

We could do it in August and have each cyclist wipe off a little sweat with the towel. It would be terrible enough before the end.


mick
2012-01-25 19:51:23

If the earlier comment about Brunots Island not being a neighborhood is accurate, then can't the same be said for that section of the City that falls north of the Allegheny River?


FWIW, the city's neighborhood maps page shows both Brunot's Island and the Waterworks section as parts of other neighborhoods.


steven
2012-01-26 01:31:38

Here's a first pass, basically following Erok's line. It's in 3 parts...Google maps stops allowing you to add destinations after U.


[edit these links are too long to manage in one post]


All up, it's only 74 miles.


mattre
2012-01-27 07:53:51

mattre, you are awesome. the route looks good for the parts of town I know, which, apparently, is very little. 75 miles, I'll have to train a bit to do that in a day, I'm outta shape.


So when is the ride? ;)


ejwme
2012-01-27 15:00:34

We should do this as a group ride -- but with *everyone starts from + ends with their home neighborhood* Everyone gets picked up along the way, staggered start, staggered end.


nfranzen
2012-01-27 15:18:07

We could do an endless perpetual loop, with people joining and dropping off every other cycle... biCycling throughout Pittsburgh in a perpetual motion machine...


ejwme
2012-01-27 15:24:12

If this doesnt come to be, I'm going to be severely disappointed.


boostuv
2012-01-27 17:30:53

I would ride this from beginning to end. I don't want to miss exploring any of the neighborhoods. A 75+ mile route sounds great as long as the pace isn't too fast.


marvelousm3
2012-01-27 19:10:12

Very cool ride


teamdecafweekend
2012-01-27 19:18:23

Such a fantastic idea. One of the reasons why I loved the 60-mile Pedal Pgh distance so much as a newcomer to the city was that I got to see so many cool neighborhoods.


chinston
2012-01-27 19:19:50

When Nate and Mary set up the "tippy top" ride a couple of years ago, it was such a hot day, and there were enough medicals and mechanicals, plus people getting lost, that keeping a couple dozen people together became a logistical problem. As a result, it got split into two parts. We might need something like that for this, too. Plus hardly anyone knows the whole city. We'd need one person with GPS, maps, etc., for every I'd say 10 people.


stuinmccandless
2012-01-27 19:28:17

Would there be anyway to do signage along the route? This ride is an awesome idea, and like many others here I think we definitely need to make it happen.


willb
2012-01-27 19:40:04

"We'd need one person with GPS, maps, etc., for every I'd say 10 people."


Honestly, I doubt that is necessary. I took a similar ride in Chicago recently (4star-biketour) and didn't have much of a problem between the que sheets and road markers (arrows painted on the ground, more or less). The only thing that screwed me up was an inconsistency between my que sheet and an earlier (out dated) one that some riders were using.


headloss
2012-01-27 19:53:31

There are some areas like say, Fairywood, that you want to make sure you go through with at least 10 people, and stay together. Dip your wheels in Fairywood as briefly as possible. As delightful as it sounds, the fairies are mean, and they want your junk.


edmonds59
2012-01-27 20:34:24

^ True. I was speaking to directions, not safety of numbers.


I'll smack those fairies with my terrible tour towel!


headloss
2012-01-27 21:03:42

I mapped basically the same route in ridewithgps.com with a couple of changes to touch neighborhoods I missed the first time...total length now shows as 81.1 miles.


Check out the hill profile at the bottom ;)

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/914682


mattre
2012-01-28 03:46:41

Did you throw in some DD hills? I'm seeing some 15-20% grades.


chemicaldave
2012-01-28 05:37:23

Detail: At the McKees Rocks bridge get off at Helen, go Helen > Munson > River > W.Carson > Stanhope > Stafford. Better.

81 miles, perfect, that's the Pittsburgh "Century" I was asking for in a different thread (I contend that 80 mi +- around here is equivalent to a century most other places).


edmonds59
2012-01-28 05:45:24

Miles 1-9 I know pretty well. Nice touch, turning off of Federal Street onto aptly named Mercy Street. From Jefferson to Mercy is shown as a 10% grade, but I'd guess it to be more like 13-15%.


Of some concern are downhills. You only need muscles and a properly functioning cardiopulmonary system to go up. You need good brakes to go down. Henderson St is both steep and incredibly long.


I recommend that anyone going on this ride get a good brake inspection and on-road test. You don't screw with Henderson St.


stuinmccandless
2012-01-28 13:12:43

There is a munson street in Pittsburgh?! I love it.


stefb
2012-01-28 14:02:35

Wow. Flock of Coronaries.


Looks like fun. :)


reddan
2012-01-28 16:12:45

The spike from 27 to 30 is about 1/3 of my commute home. Nice to see that particular coronary represented graphically.


edmonds59
2012-01-28 16:57:25

nitpic: you miss Carrick, Knoxville and Bon Air.


Fix: From mile 36 go down Brookline Blvd to Glenbury st., 51 for two blocks of ugh, to overbrook blvd., to Spokane, to Parkfield, to Brownsville, to Amanda, to Charles, then back on your track.


marko82
2012-01-28 17:38:54

OMG, Crane eastbound off of Banksville (Mile 33). I can just imagine dozens of cyclists, one at a time, taking the whole goddamned lane because you f'n have to, all day long.


Worst part of the trip, so far. Maybe even including Marko's piece of 51.


stuinmccandless
2012-01-28 18:44:18

Mile 46.5, a perfect opportunity to do a Dirty Dozen hill -- Eleanor-Holt-Barry -- downhill! It would break the boredom of going down Arlington just to turn around and come back up it.


I think this gets a better bite on those neighborhoods of South Side Slopes, Arlington Heights and Arlington: Eleanor-Holt-Barry-Josephine-Arlington-Devlin-Spring-Mountain.


Similarly, I think I'd rather make a loop through New Homestead via Mooney-Lindberg-Interboro than merely out-and-back on trafficky Mifflin Road.


EDIT: I've been using this page to get better close-ups by neighborhood.


stuinmccandless
2012-01-28 20:26:00

BTW, from looking at the Google Earth overlays we should double-check the route for these neighborhoods:


Lincoln-Lemington

Terrace Village

Spring Hill - City View

Duquesne Heights


Couldn't tell for sure about these. Might be that the route touches briefly:


Ridgemont?

Carrick?


urbanrider
2012-01-29 02:15:26

Am I the only one not excited if this ride includes DD hills.


marvelousm3
2012-01-29 03:00:28

Hills will need to be climbed to get to certain neighborhoods, but I could see how certain streets and dirty dozen type climbs could deter people.


stefb
2012-01-29 03:44:51

I think the biggest turn off regarding DD hills is this ride is already going to be an entire days worth of riding and if it does happen will almost certainly be unsupported.


boostuv
2012-01-29 04:54:03

Have the main route avoid DD hills if possible. Then have alternate segments with DD hills or whatever for special "achievement unlocked" points.


chinston
2012-01-29 05:24:52

It is not possible to hit all the neighborhoods without doing the climbs one way or another. But I do think this ride should avoid DD hills if possible, the goal should be complete the entire route. 80 miles will be daunting enough.

There should be one group designated as totally no-drop, non-competetive, walk hills if you have to. I would hope no-one would be totally discouraged from doing this because of the climbs. Plus there are tons of easy bailout points if someone gasses out, it's never more than a couple of miles from town.

I officially vote for the taco stand at Las Palmas Supermercado in Brookline (mile 36) as the first official food stop. Mmmm.


edmonds59
2012-01-29 13:46:20

If the route goes past a participant's house, do you think a family member/roommate would be around to provide water and snacks?


stefb
2012-01-29 14:00:39

I so want this to happen.


kgavala
2012-01-29 14:29:31

Another detail, around mile 57, consider instead of Hazelwood, go Flowers>Kilbourne>Tesla>Harlem>Hazelwood. Pleasanter. And neighborhoodier.


edmonds59
2012-01-29 14:45:32

I Don't mind hills or hard climbs, just not feeling up to DD hills. Two groups sounds great, I usually ride with the faster group the first half of my rides then end up in the back of the slower group the rest of the ride.


marvelousm3
2012-01-29 14:48:28

In the event that I am able to get in shape to even attempt this, I vote for June 17 or 24, when there is 15 hours of daylight. Just, you know.

The possibility of this happening goes a long way toward me getting my ass on a bike today. Looks nice.


edmonds59
2012-01-29 14:55:38

If I get a chance today, I might ride some of miles 1-14, particularly 7-9, the section through Fineview.


I'm less worried about DD hills and more about serious traffic issues, like Crane. We had a thread here about climbing Crane a couple years ago. I've never done it, but I've driven it. Nowhere to walk or stand, either side of the road, and heavy traffic. And a >15% grade. Might be better to go down Banksville to Goldstrom, just as steep but less traffic. (One beyond that is Coast, where Canton is.)


Found that thread.


stuinmccandless
2012-01-29 14:57:50

mm, agree. Better to stay on Carnahan to Maydell>Rosanne>Younger>Chappel>Coast, then do a wiggle to get up to - what is that, Duquesne Heights? Then back on track.

Eee, except no stoplight at Chappel & Banksville. Iffy.


edmonds59
2012-01-29 15:16:56

And we wonder why we have so few cyclists in the S Hills.


If this ride does nothing else, it will allow everyone to see just how challenging it is to get around Pittsburgh on a bicycle.


btw, I am really psyched about this ride!


stuinmccandless
2012-01-29 15:28:01

I think there are buttloads of cyclists in the south hills, they just can't get into town from there.

Ok, Carnahan to the light at Banksville, tiny bit of Banksville (downhill, not bad) to Coast. That would be my call. Then the nuts have the option of doing Canton and meeting up in Beechview.


edmonds59
2012-01-29 15:42:56

So how many hours do you estimate this ride will take? I'm guessing it would start around 6a.m.ish on a Sunday?


marvelousm3
2012-01-29 16:11:22

What's the longest ride you've ever done, Mr. Marv, and how long did it take?


edmonds59
2012-01-29 16:23:10

Let's put it this way: the normal route for the ms150 is 70-80 miles. It is hilly and there are inexperienced riders who don't train. It starts around 7am and the corse closes at 5 or 5:30 (in the past). There are a lot of rest stops that people spend a lot of time at. I don't think many people have to be sagged to the finish line at the end. We should be fine if we start at 7 or 8am. If someone has to bail, the city is small enough that anyone can beat the nightfall home if they don't have lights


stefb
2012-01-29 16:29:19

Also kind of depends how many official food stops I request to be added to the course.

Ooh, "Donuts" at mile 26, Steuben Street. Yeah.


edmonds59
2012-01-29 16:36:53

I would love to do this ride.

Team Dropped, anyone?


pseudacris
2012-01-29 16:40:50

@ Pseudacris you know we will represent Team Dropped.


@ edmonds59 Pedal Pittsburgh 60 miles plus ridding around town afterwards is my longest day on the bike by the end of the day I put in 100+ miles. Even with rest stops, lots of socializing, and that crazy woman who keeps crashing into me all the time I finished PP in 3 or 4 hrs. We did ride it at a very social slightly faster than Flock pace, I know I could ride way faster.


marvelousm3
2012-01-29 17:05:07

Both of those last two setences cannot be true. 3hr/20mph is a pretty ridiculous pace even with no stopping. 4hr/15mph with stops that probably means 17mph moving which I would describe as "hammering" rather than "social". Flock pace is well under 10mph and often more like 6-8.


I am not fast by any means but I average a bit under 15mph moving in the MS150 and 11-12mph overall (taking a long break for lunch brings the average down a lot). And I suspect this ride will be somewhat hillier than the ms150.


salty
2012-01-29 17:36:53

Yeah I did the 60 mile pedal pgh and it took me just under 4 hours, and i was going pretty fast (for me)


stefb
2012-01-29 18:28:08

Had to look back at my GPS and I did PP in about 4hrs, the GPS automatically paused at rest stops, or any time I stopped more than a minute, including long traffic lights etc. So I guess I did 4 hrs of actual riding but I don't remember how long it took including rest stops and stop lights.

(Edit) 4hrs 33min. 28 seconds


marvelousm3
2012-01-29 19:18:53

incidentally, i'm not sure you guys really grok what 8000 vertical feet is like. it's probably more than the dirty dozen (i don't have the dd altitude change in front of me, but i think it's like 7500?). i think re-tooling the route to stay up high as much as possible, once you get up high, would be better for all involved. as much as that is possible, of course.


hiddenvariable
2012-01-29 20:44:27

@mattre - i see you even threw in 1.5 mi cobblestone section (Wyoming on Mt Washington) ala Paris-Roubaix. nice touch


@edmonds59 - isn't Flowers/Tesla combo DD hill #13?


urbanrider
2012-01-29 20:48:45

@HiddenVariable - good point...for reference here are the two rides climbing stats


DirtyDozen


TerribleTour


urbanrider
2012-01-29 21:34:51

I tried to check Flowers/Tesla before I made the suggestion, It sounded familiar, but dannychew dot com has been down today.

I've been up it and it has to be easier than going straight up Hazelwood.


edmonds59
2012-01-29 22:06:57

Hazelwood is easier than Flowers/Tesla. Hazelwood is a straight steady 10% top to bottom. Flowers is 8% till the end then 25% ish.


Thought about Bigelow St? One of the best roads in the city, takes you out to the same spot, less steeps grades, just a lot more climbing.


mayhew
2012-01-29 22:45:27

@ Pseudacris and mr marvelous - I'm in for Team Dropped. Considering the climbs involved, I may self-drop long before the 80+ mile finish line, but I'm willing and anxious to try it.


teamdecafweekend
2012-01-29 22:54:37

@TDW - Dan, come on I've seen you climb some pretty steep hills. Might be that some short sections (~25 miles) of the longer Tour could be used in the coming year's Team Decaf rides? Not sure if this is possible until the final route is decided on, but this would give riders that don't want to commit to a longer ride, a chance to do the Tour over a couple of weekend rides.


urbanrider
2012-01-30 00:42:03

^ I like this thought. Break it down into a set of 20-30 mi training/route scouting rides, then string them together on the big day.


p.s. Yay, Mr M & TDW!


pseudacris
2012-01-30 00:46:25

Team Dropped all the way.


marvelousm3
2012-01-30 00:55:12

Heh...I was wondering how the reaction to the hills would go ;)


The first draft was more or less a blind following of Erok's photoshop line on page one. The second one was just a re-drawing of the first with a preference for green bike routes and no attention paid to hills. Now is the time for serious tweaking ;)


I agree with the general consensus that it's best to avoid busy roads and DD hills, and where possible/reasonable climbs should be reduced (e.g. moving the SS Flats to the final leg and going straight to Allentown from Mt. Wash: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/918102).


I'll keep playing and add in some of the suggestions and see if I can reduce the number of climbs...should have another draft in a couple of days. In the meantime, it's put out there as a public file so anyone can save a copy and edit (or export to use in another tool).


mattre
2012-01-30 02:22:25

@teamDecafWeekend Considering the climbs involved, I may self-drop long before the 80+ mile finish line, but I'm willing and anxious to try it.


80+ miles with more total clamb than the dirty dozen?


Anyone else want to make this a two-day thing? Half on Saturday and half on sunday?


Maybe even a three-day Memorial weekend thing?


The neighborhoods were originally defined by topography. In Pittsburgh, Topography = hills + rivers.


That limits the options for smoothing out the ride.


mick
2012-01-30 16:46:56

I will train for this. If I ride it, I will walk any hills that look obscene. I like the epic one day thing, but I see the sanity in making it a multi-day ride. Just not sure how day 2 (or 3) will feel after day 1 (and 2).


If for some reason I can't ride it, and a date is set before I buy summer vacation plane tickets, I will be follow car with gear, rack, food (potluck?), beverages, whatever is required. Will that help make it more feasible for people? If I do ride it, the threat of the hills and exhaustion involved might induce my husband to be follow car for us anyway - schedule will be super important.


It is very important that this happens.


ejwme
2012-01-30 17:02:38

It is very important that this happens.


hear hear!


hiddenvariable
2012-01-30 17:09:21

I got my butt out on Sunday in anticipation of this. I plan to start biting off segments of this route as soon as possible.

I think a key positive to mattre's route is that in my mind the most difficult parts are in the first half. A person could ride the first half and easily bail around mile 44. Or mile 50, or anywhere thereafter.

Also personally I could see doing this as a 45 mile ride in the morning with a 36 mile ride in the afternoon, with a 2 - 3 hour lunch in the middle. I would take 12 hours to do this thing and feel no remorse. I am becoming a committed pootler. http://ht.ly/8oDcS


edmonds59
2012-01-30 17:23:16

wow, this really got some teeth. i like the crowd sourced routing of this off of my quick and dirty photoshop.


if this really is 80 miles, taking 10-12 hours to ride this with a group is probably a decent guestimate. Also, if the cue sheet is made, it could also be available at the start for people to ride this brevet style - basically ride at your own pace, alone if you want, with people if you want. the ending could be at a bit more of a public hang out spot like a bar/restaurant, although i like the idea of Spak being on there.


Carry on.


erok
2012-01-30 18:05:38

One routing suggestion: having several out-and-back legs (like the run up and down Mifflin Rd on the existing map) adds to the fun, because faster riders will be coming back while slower riders are still outbound...gives people a chance to say hi other than at the start and end.


reddan
2012-01-30 18:15:00

so, i just spent entirely too long making this map, which i think might be of use to anyone trying to get the routing done properly. have a look, and i hope it is of use to someone.


hiddenvariable
2012-01-30 19:04:50

whoa


dmtroyer
2012-01-30 19:07:44

Hey HiddenVariable, is there some way to make that neighborhood overlay permanently visible to the world? Because I can see all sorts of people finding it useful.

Also, reddan -- I was disappointed when you posted and didn't include a ride report. Taking some time off?


jonawebb
2012-01-30 19:39:04

@jon: If you're referring to my few-and-far-between blogular endeavors, I just haven't had much to say in recent months. ("I rode next to the river today. It was windy.")


That will likely change this winter/spring.


reddan
2012-01-30 19:41:51

@mattre - I really like your map. But, I can't seem to make the first 40 miles of the cue sheet appear (or print). No matter what I do with the map, the cue sheet starts with a right onto Williams at mile 41.


What am I doing wrong?


swalfoort
2012-01-30 20:49:36

HV, your overlay skills are impressive.


I love maps.


re cue sheets... I have never been able to make them work much for me. I can't steer/stay upright and read things off paper that I have to hold in my hands. Is this a skill that everyone else has? Or do other people have more useful dashboard accessories than I have?


ejwme
2012-01-30 21:33:59

Brad, you are awesome. this is going on my bike tonight. Now I just need to bike somewhere I've never been to try it out :D


ejwme
2012-01-30 21:55:50

@swalfoot: I'm getting the same thing with that version. The only way I could figure out how to edit properly was to export into .gpx and then re-upload, but doing so wiped out the control points on the map...I think it's making the cue sheet only from the ones I added back in.


For now, use the original version: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/914682. *Drawing* using ridewithgps is as easy as it gets, but I'm finding it to be a bear to edit with. Does anyone have any suggestions of other programs/websites to try?


@HiddenVariable: That is brilliant! It will make verifying neighborhoods so much easier!


mattre
2012-01-30 23:14:53

@mattre, have you tried bikely.com?


swalfoort
2012-01-31 01:14:59

This makes me think of the Allegheny County Quest. These guys drove around Allegheny County trying to document each and every one of the 130 municipalities here. They list that their next project is a similar quest to visit every Pittsburgh neighborhood but it looks like they've stalled out.


http://alleghenycounty.wikidot.com/


ieverhart
2012-01-31 02:15:10

@swalfoort, not yet, but I'll give it a look tonight.


I had another go at it, using HiddenVariable's overlay map and Erok's suggestion from page one that a border street counts as two neighborhoods. I managed to trim seven miles off the distance and eliminated some of the hills while picking up a couple of neighborhoods I missed. I *think* they're all at least touched now.


Thoughts? It still needs work, but this one is a little better.


http://ridewithgps.com/routes/920535


edit: Looking at the metrics, I see that the max grade has gone up to 32% from 24%. Can anyone see where that happened? I'm guessing it's somewhere in the South Hills...


mattre
2012-01-31 02:55:04

Coming out of Frick Park is 28.8%.


I believe I've gone down that road and I dont'; recall it being THAT steep.


There is a function on the graph where you can change it from "Elevation" to "grade" and look at where the grapjh is the highest. I think it's the Frick exit.


mick
2012-01-31 04:15:41

For the section from Browns Hill Road over to the bottom of Frick, why not just cut over and use the Nine Mile trail below Summerset to get to Frick instead of climbing all over Beechwood and down Commercial? Unless you want this to be mostly on road. Just wondering.


sarapgh2
2012-01-31 15:00:14

as a single person riding a bike, I'd normally vote for trails over Commercial, hands down.


in a group, I think it might be safer to take Commercial, depending on time of day and day of week. If it's prime "take the dogs/kids to the park" time, getting a group of cyclists through the park on the trails around leashes and families could be tricky, especially if the group is strung out enough for people to let go of their little ones between cyclists.


(in my head, there's a large, thumbed, responsible creature trying to restrain an incredibly enthusiastic, flexible, and strong smaller creature from the Object Of Intense Desire across the speeding cyclist filled trail, with a potentially horrible ending... perhaps this is a statistically unlikely event, but I cannot help but identify with all parties in the situation enough to wish to avoid it.)


ejwme
2012-01-31 16:15:28

ejwme, I can understand where you're coming from with that. I've never been on that trail at a "peak" time, so it's always deserted for me.


Personally, I never ride down Commercial, solo or with a group. Way too crazy. This cut through takes out some of the elevation change, it's basically flat instead of climbing up to Beechwood then coming back down Commercial.


sarapgh2
2012-01-31 17:24:11

Six months ago I was messing around with some google mapping tools + js, and had something that worked the way I wanted it. But I never got it hosted anywhere. Right now I don't think I can get google sites to run javascript, so all have at the moment is this woeful prototype. If I have something else worth looking at I'll link it in the next few days.


nfranzen
2012-01-31 17:50:08

Six months ago I was messing around with some google mapping tools + js, and had something that worked the way I wanted it.


nerds of the world, unite!


also, if anyone wanted to solve that graph traversal problem mentioned a few pages back:


Ah, but can you so arrange the ride so that you visit each neighborhood once and only once?


(well, a subset of it, since there are more than two neighborhoods that are accessible by exactly one other neighborhood.)


i (geez i don't even want to say this) hacked up a csv file containing an edge list of the connections between pittsburgh neighborhoods. feel free to find the minimum spanning tree, or the most "central" neighborhood. or whatever else.


hiddenvariable
2012-01-31 19:09:52

To All

Sorry this post is so 24-hours later


@ urbanrider

Great to see you posting on the board, and great idea about making several Team Decaf rides from pieces of the whole.


teamdecafweekend
2012-01-31 19:12:52

a group of cyclists through the park on the trails around leashes


Good news/bad news!


Good news: I often ride through Frick Park and it is never a problem because of leashes stretched across a trail.


Bad news: That is because dog owners almost always (illegally) let their dogs run uncontrolled as the owners walk through the park. I usually have to slow way down (no more so than for oblivious pedestrians) but occasionally I am concerned that a dog is going to run out in front of me and make me fall and/or bite me.


ieverhart
2012-02-01 13:39:29

iever - Animal Control has been doing sweeps and writing tickets on weekends lately. I know, because my normally silent, sweet, shy dog barks non-stop at their little van in the most embarrassing way. She's 100% leashed, licensed, and vaccinated and we also carry all her vet papers with us, but it still freaks me out that they'll decide she's a problem and take her. She only does it to their van, the park maintenance vehicles (and all others) are ignored. We did NOT teach her that trick!


Unleashed dogs bother me, but what bothers me the most are people with ~100 foot "leashes" (like that dog is under anything resembling control). THOSE are the leashes that stretch across trails acting as lovely trip wires, with both dog and owner paying no attention whatsoever. sigh.


ejwme
2012-02-01 15:32:39

Slightly improved hosting now for the neighborhood lookup map. I haven't really looked at this in half a year and the interface is lousy but if you are in the city, it should tell you where you are.


nfranzen
2012-02-04 19:52:43

Awesome, Nate.


jonawebb
2012-02-06 01:38:35

Dude, I don't see any cool neighborhood maps there, but maybe I missed it.

OK, at the bottom they do have neighborhood maps, but the labels are kind of lacking in some places, mispositioned in others.


jonawebb
2012-02-07 16:10:21

Didn't want to forget this. Has anyone done any more reconnaisance on this, partial sections or anything?


edmonds59
2012-04-07 12:04:18

Bumping. Bikefest. Someone do.

Wife just scheduled some family vacation right in the heart of bikefest (grinding teeth together).


edmonds59
2012-06-19 16:20:22

Why not just do it? Set a date & time. Say August 18 at the end of BikeFest (so it doesn't conflict with PedalPgh and can work as a closing event), start at 8 am (it's a long and challenging ride), Penn Ave & 34th St (the arbitrary starting point of the map at http://ridewithgps.com/routes/914682).


jonawebb
2012-06-19 16:52:24

@edmonds- my family vacation was either at the beginning or middle of bike fest. I chose middle cause I didn't want to miss pedal pgh.


stefb
2012-06-19 17:29:59

I'm in. August 18th 8am at Penn and 34th.


joeframbach
2012-06-19 18:42:40

Wait, does that route hit east liberty or not? And are we adding a trip to Oh Yeah?


joeframbach
2012-06-19 18:48:05

One more post, okay I see it hits the intersection of Penn and Negley. Close enough.


joeframbach
2012-06-19 18:51:22

Cool. Not to leave you hanging, I'll try to be there, too. Lets me see all those remaining untagged neighborhoods.


jonawebb
2012-06-19 19:27:58



sorry, couldnt resist :7


melange396
2012-06-19 20:58:28

it seems like a ride of this size could use folks getting together to coordinate. i might even be a good idea to have it over two days, for example.


also: lulz at the seat angle!


hiddenvariable
2012-06-19 21:05:30

Ok Rain Man. Make sure you get home in time for Wapner.


stefb
2012-06-19 21:08:43

Cute about the seat angle. But I see myself in more somber clothes.

I'm totally down with whatever people decide but I would prefer not to have to ride on Sunday if possible because then I would have to skip my Quaker meeting. Ahab was a Quaker, you know.


jonawebb
2012-06-19 21:13:10

if we do it all in one day, the less experienced of us won't find out what a bad idea it was until after it's over (it's like a thousand miles or something, right?). if it's split over two days, the second half may suffer for the overnight realization of what has transpired. *ahem*


ejwme
2012-06-19 21:48:57

Captain Ahab? I thought he was just a quack.


I'd prefer a single day as well.


joeframbach
2012-06-19 22:41:02

I have not delved into the details of the roughed-out route, but it should be easy enough to identify a middle-ish bailout point, with folks who want to do it in 2 days to arrange the second day meetup and resume.

My longest ride this year was Sunday, 55 miles, felt good, but it was a lot of flat. It would be fun to shoot for the whole route at once, but it would also be fun to stop at any pierogi/taco/noodle truck/ice cream places on the route. So far undecided.

8/18 is my Bday, family allowing me to exscape for a day would be an excellent gift.


edmonds59
2012-06-20 15:36:44

dude, I think refueling stops for snacks and lunch (and dinner? how long can we go!) are a good idea regardless of number of days involved.


In a world full of ride leaders, perhaps the best option could be to hold one on day one in one direction with a half-way stop for lunch, and the same ride in the reverse with the same stop for lunch (or something across the street, for variety), so that people could partake in either a single full day or two half days (or two full days). In fact if the half way point is reliably planned, non-rider support could join for lunch just to be social with the nuts who are riding literally "All Over Pittsburgh"


ejwme
2012-06-20 16:08:50

Started looking at this. I'm thinking midpoint lunch break/supporty friends meet/bailout-Sunday restart for 2 day riders at the parklet at 12th & Carson, South side. About mile 44.8. Ok/Nokay?


edmonds59
2012-06-21 16:40:24

We're going back up the top of the hill right after that point. So, additional challenge? OTB. Burger and two drink minimum. Do it, you won't.


joeframbach
2012-06-21 17:01:38

Is anybody going to post this to the BikeFest ride calendar? I plan to be there, Penn & 34th, at 8 am on August 18th, but I'd rather not be the ride leader.


jonawebb
2012-07-20 12:13:32

Will no one commit to leading this ride? I'd really like to see it on the BikeFest calendar but they won't put it up there without someone signing on as ride leader.

I plan to do the ride in any case, and will be there August 18 at 8 am with my GPS loaded. I'll even print out some cue sheets for people to use.


jonawebb
2012-07-25 16:53:11

@jonawebb -- if you're showing up with cue sheets for people, it sounds to me like you've already become the de facto ride leader. If you've done all the work, you might as well get all the glory. (And I'm sure there will be a lot of it.) :)


cdavey
2012-07-25 18:40:45

FYI, there's a route in Oscar Swan's book near the back that might very well accomplish a lot of what you want to. It's labeled "The Great Ride".


mayhew
2012-07-25 19:09:04

I was excited about this but my riding since June has gone in the crapper, damn work, grr. No way I'd be able to complete it. I don't know, if there's a cue sheet I might try half then half.


edmonds59
2012-07-25 19:48:42

I would strongly consider leading this if Jon or someone else puts together a good map and cue sheet. I could even set up an aide station, complete with restroom, half way through the ride. It sounds like a cool ride.


jmccrea
2012-07-25 20:23:19

I'm in for 8/18 at 8am @ 34th and Penn.


@jonawebb -- I'll volunteer to help lead it. I've done plenty of long rides, but I've never led one so I'm not quite comfortable doing it alone. Want to volunteer?


@Jacob -- The maps are all saved in my profile on ridewithgps.com: http://ridewithgps.com/users/8020. Cue sheets can be automatically generated from them, or they can be loaded into a GPS. I'm happy to assist if you wind up leading it.


I'd recommend we use this version of the route, rather than the one posted above: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/920628. It's a hair shorter and a little easier on the hills. I need to double-check that it still hits every neighborhood, though. If anyone has any tips/changes/etc., let me know. If we going to make this official, I should probably lock it down and hide the other versions.


mattre
2012-07-25 21:12:23

I'm in. Will luckily just have returned from a little backpacking trip. Also can probably round up some family/friends to provide support if need be.


2012-07-25 22:15:36

Excellent!


Matt: The maps are great. However, I have serious reservations about riding on Route 51 for a few miles, and also the section of Route 837/East Carson between Sandcastle and the city. I will take a look at all the various iterations and see if any are better.


jmccrea
2012-07-25 22:36:30

Great news! Please contact BikeFest so it goes on the calendar.

I'll be happy to help lead. I don't want sole responsibility because I'm slow and old and might drop.

If anyone has updates to the maps let me know. I'll do the printing etc.


jonawebb
2012-07-26 12:29:24

I just submitted this ride to BikePGH to be included on the calendar. Here is the description I entered on the website:


Start: August 18, 8:00 a.m. at 34th and Penn.


This is a road bike ride of around 80 miles, the goal of which is to touch every City of Pittsburgh neighborhood. We should be able to hit the overwhelming majority of them. It is not a race, will not be ridden at an aggressive pace, and is a "no drop" ride. With that said, it should be noted that the course involves around 8,000 feet of climbing and is by no means an easy ride. We will do our best to avoid busy roads, but a few roads, out of necessity, will not be ideal for bicycles. There will be rest and food stops at stores as needed, and about half way through the ride the will be an aide station with food, drinks, a bathroom, bike repair tools, etc. for folks who stay with the ride leader(s). There should be a few good points to "bail out." If you are planning to do the whole ride, you should anticipate a long day on the bike and plan accordingly.


Helmets are required. Light or intermittent rain does NOT cancel; heavy or continuous rain cancels. Bring some money for food at stores (or the bus if you bonk!) and make sure you have enough tubes for a few flats.


jmccrea
2012-07-26 22:51:47

Excellent, thanks so much for doing this.


jonawebb
2012-07-27 12:07:57

No problem, it should be fun. Matt's map marked as "no. 202" looks like it will work the best, with a few changes to avoid major roads and to hit a few more neighborhoods. I will try to figure out how to modify the map and will drive or ride the sections of the course I don't know.


I really hate to be negative and say this but based on leading numerous rides I would respectfully ask that the following types of people NOT COME:


1. Megalomanics who want to make it into their own private road race or training ride by "pushing the pace." Just go do a race.

2. Know-it-alls who want to alter the course or because they know a better way. If anyone has input on a better course, speak up now, not on the ride.

3. Self-absorbed cyclists trying to jam a ride into a too-small time slot. The ride will go at the group's pace, not that of someone who has other obligations later than afternoon.


jmccrea
2012-07-27 14:21:07

I'm totally on board with those guidelines ;) Thanks for volunteering to lead this!


I'll have a look at .202 this afternoon...any specific tweaks you can think of? I'll hide the other versions and republish this one with any changes over the next week or so.


My wife has graciously volunteered to set up and man an aid station (she's an ultra-marathoner and experienced in such things)...any thoughts on a good place? I was looking at the mid-point, and much of it is unfortunately in fairly shady places where I'm not sure she'd be comfortable hanging out with the kids for an hour or two...though Baily & Boggs on Mt. Washington looks pretty promising.


Also, my house is two blocks off the route @ mile 17.8 (in Brighton Heights)...it's a bit early for an aid station, but we can certainly stop for water or emergency maintenance if needed.


mattre
2012-07-28 19:45:54

Wow, this is really coming together. Wonderful!

What about some place on Grandview Avenue? That is the midpoint and I know there are overlooks etc. which would work.


jonawebb
2012-07-28 20:53:06

While the ride itself is a bit out of my league, I'd offer to assist at an aid station (providing its not out in the sticks.) Not much experience at it, but i can sure wrangle the heck out of setting up cups of cold drinks & snacks. :D

A location on/near grandview ave would be good. There's a nice view to enjoy and it would be after the majority of climbing.


2012-07-28 22:08:35

^Thanks for the offer of assistance. As for the aide station, my present plan is to set it up at a commercial building I own near the Zone 3 police station, which is at about mile 40. It is not Grandview Ave., but it does have lots of space, a toilet and running water, is on the route, and can be set up the night before. Also, mechanical issues can be easily addressed there. I would have to meet someone in person before handing over the keys. If someone wants to set up another rest area as well, that would be great.


As for altering the route, where it hits Route 51 it should go up to Brownsville Road in Carrick so that we 1) don't ride on 51; 2) touch Carrick; 3) touch Bon Air; and 4) are in a better position to swing through Beltzhoover, Knoxville, Allentown, etc.


Matt, please shoot me an email at jcm250b at juno dot com for my phone number as it is too much of a hassle to alter or further discuss the route via message board.


jmccrea
2012-07-28 22:52:58

Too lazy to go back and read and don't recall if I asked this before. Are there any steep hills? Like steeper than Henderson on the north side?


stefb
2012-07-28 23:09:27

Here is the elevation profile:



So, yeah.

BTW sorry so small. Google+ sharing is down and I can't get Flickr to link to a bigger photo.


jonawebb
2012-07-28 23:28:36

what are the hills specifically? i would like to check them out to see if i need gears.


stefb
2012-07-29 00:37:49

more than likely both front & rear gears would be beneficial.


2012-07-29 01:05:58

Here is a brief update for this ride:

After Pedal Pittsburgh I drove the first half of the 80.9 mile, ".202" route (not the one posted above), which appeared to be the most faithful to the "hit all the neighborhoods" theme. For the most part everything worked out fine, but a few of the hills were pretty insane. The map posted immediately above is better in that regard and I now plan to use it, with a few changes, as the route.


I am going to take a closer look at how we can hit more of the neighborhoods with less climbing as I want to make the ride a viable choice for as many riders as possible. For example, I think we can hit the West End before heading up into the North Side, which should save us from descending into the West End 20 miles later, only to climb right back out of it on Noblestown.


Any way you slice it there is a ton of climbing. I will do my best to make it as manageable as possible, but I would ask that riders help themselves, and me to a lesser extent, by leaving behind racks, saddlebags, extra tools, etc. I will have a pump, chain breaker and multi-tool.


Here is a question on which I'd appreciate feeback: would riders prefer to deal with less-than-ideal roads in order to climb less, or would you rather climb more in exchange for lower-traffic roads?


Edit: There will be a stop at a nice coffee shop in Beechview called Brew on Broadway. The owner reached out to me and kindly invited us to stop by. We stopped yesterday while driving the route and it will be a very nice place to stop (and much needed after climbing Crane Ave).


jmccrea
2012-08-06 16:22:39

First, I really appreciate your doing this. I'm looking forward to the ride either way, but I guess I'd prefer lower-traffic roads even if they're steeper.

BTW I found a shop that sells an ideal T-shirt for this ride -- Commonwealth Press on the Southside (1931 E Carson). They don't have it on their website but it shows all the Pittsburgh neighborhoods, names bunched together, laid out like a map.

Edit: No, wait, they do. Here: original


jonawebb
2012-08-06 16:34:14

I might be in for this. Gonna try to get two bikes ready and enough supplies on hand (tubes to fit, water, food to carry). Thanks for the tip on what not to bring.


stuinmccandless
2012-08-06 17:30:05

damn, I'll be out of town for this


chemicaldave
2012-08-06 17:35:25

That's a nice shirt. I'm gettin one, ride or not.

I feel like I touched a lot of neighborhoods on Sunday. But if I did 63 m and 5,000 ft of climbing Sunday, and I felt good, I'll bet I could do this.


edmonds59
2012-08-06 17:39:38

Okay, the distance and amount of climbing initially scared me off, but now I want to do this. I'll be prepared to bail if necessary.


And I appreciate the note about leaving extra tools and stuff behind. I think I might even pull off my rear rack and any other extra stuff I can. I love my heavy steel road bike, but I was really feeling the extra weight yesterday with that plus my tendency to try to bring along an entire bike shop worth of tools just in case


2012-08-06 18:52:30

I have that shirt! I got it at wildcard on butler st.


rubberfactory
2012-08-07 01:04:25

This ride is coming together nicely.


@pearmask: Yes, you should pull the racks and fenders off of the bike, and leave the bike shop worth of tools at home. Between what I will carry and what is at the rest stop, there should be no need for tools.


@Stu: Be advised that there are some serious downhills on the course, so you will want to get the braking woes discussed on the other thread figured out.


@Edmonds: Yes, you can make it. I have been looking at ways to make the climbs more gradual, and avoiding others, and it shouldn't be that bad. I have to figure out a decent way to hit the Hill District and Polish Hill at the end without too much duress, but I think it can be done, even if it involves a few more miles.


Also, if anyone wants some special food, drinks, etc. to be at the mid-way rest stop, let me know and something can be worked out. We are planning to have plenty of food and drinks (read: don't bring a bunch of heavy food) but if someone has some special dietary needs they can be accommodated. Just shoot me an email; it should be in a preceding post.


jmccrea
2012-08-09 17:02:38

Yeah, thanks, I'll do all that if I do end up coming. I'm still not sure I'm physically up to it, and my bike still isn't very light even when stripped down, so I may end up chickening out, but we'll see.


2012-08-09 17:08:11

FYI, the 31SB is currently closed to all traffic and last I heard it will probably stay that way until late 2012.


Maybe adjust so that the first leg goes down Penn through the heart of the Strip, then connect to the North Shore trail at the 16SB?


Other option could be to start in the opposite direction towards the 40SB and connect to the trail in Millvale.


schmenjamin
2012-08-09 18:12:36

the first option is a good idea. herr's island slash washington's landing isn't technically its own neighborhood, it's part of troy hill.


hiddenvariable
2012-08-09 18:25:03

I'm likely to join this ride - sounds like masochistic fun. Do we have an estimate for the number of people yet?


I would predict: we'll have a range of speeds, and people will get flats, so we'll get spread out. But the writeup says "a no-drop ride", so should we plan on splitting into several groups, to accommodate the range of speeds, so the fast people don't get bored waiting, and the slow people don't feel too rushed?


The stretches on Greentree, Banksville, and Route 51 don't look pleasant. Riding in tight packs there would be wise, for safety.


I designed a ride that is somewhat similar in spirit that I call the Pittsburgh Hilly Loop: see http://ridewithgps.com/routes/193966 . I found it surprisingly tiring, when done on a hot day, so let's hope that Saturday is cool.


paulheckbert
2012-08-12 04:51:13

I won't be there. Sorry.


stuinmccandless
2012-08-12 09:20:43

Jake and I spent some time tweaking the route tonight. Here's the final draft:


http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1575641


It starts and ends at the Bike Pittsburgh office (though technically you've hit every neighborhood @ Roup & Penn and can call it done). We managed to trim the distance to just over 70 miles and the climbing to just under 7000 feet. We used Nate's neighborhood overlay map to make sure we hit them all (http://megliozen.com/mapping/)


I've set all of the other versions to private to eliminate any confusion. This one will stay up for 24 hours for any final suggestions, and tomorrow (Monday) at midnight I'll lock it down so that cue sheets can be printed.


mattre
2012-08-13 04:53:12

You seem to have cut several neighborhoods in the process, unfortunately: North Squirrel Hill, South Oakland, Duquesne Hts, Fineview, Spring Garden, and Troy Hill, among others...


epanastrophe
2012-08-13 15:37:17

I am not sure about North Squirrel Hill and South Oakland, but based on the neighborhood maps from which we were working, the route should just touch the borders of Duquesne Heights (in the West End), Fineview, Spring Garden and Troy Hill. We could make a route that goes through every neighborhood, rather than just straddling the borders, but to go through the centers of the above-mentioned neighborhoods you are looking at about 9,000 feet of vertical climbing and 90 odd miles, and the route would make the Dirty Dozen seem like a rail trail ride. We are trying to make this a viable ride for as many folks as possible. If we somehow miss a neighborhood, well, there is always next year.


jmccrea
2012-08-13 16:03:10

http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/snap/, which sounds like an official map, has North Squirrel Hill extending to Fifth and Neville, which the route does touch.

And it has South Oakland extending to the Birmingham Bridge, which the route crosses.

Once the map is official I will go through and make a cue sheet that notes the neighborhoods we traverse or touch.


jonawebb
2012-08-13 16:17:14

Duq. Heights is covered by the W. End circle, Fineview at the corner of Carrington & Federal, Spring Garden by the corner of Spring Garden & Concord, Troy Hill by the Northside end of the 16th St. Bridge, North Oakland is clearly crossed on Forbes, and previously touched just after leaving the Bloomfield Bridge, and South Oakland is covered by the Birmingham Bridge and the ride up the sidewalk on Fifth.


mattre
2012-08-13 16:21:51

Here's the final map: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1583234


We've got one built-in rest stop at mile 36.6, and my wife has graciously volunteered to man one or two more, with gatorade, water, and gels (sort of a gas-and-go). Any thoughts on where they ought to be?


I was thinking of putting her at Sherwood & Sheraden (mile 18.3) and again at Braddock and Forbes (mile 51.5). Thoughts?


mattre
2012-08-15 02:56:55

We live a few blocks from the intersection of Forbes & Braddock, so I can help out with the rest stop if you like. My husband Nate will be part of the ride.


Please feel free to email me .... gmail ..... marymeg ....if you'd like a hand.


mmfranzen
2012-08-15 12:55:26

I'm excited to see that the route goes down Parkwood. I just explored that a month ago. It's got a half mile of ghost road! Very rideable and nice. I actually intended to tag it in tag-o-rama (not that I can ever manage to get out to pick anything up) but now that this ride will show it off I won't need to.


Also, credit where credit is due, the source of the overlay map is Chris Briem, I just modded it a little and put it up.


nfranzen
2012-08-15 13:06:46

Yes, the ride down Parkwood should be pretty cool - that's a little slice of Pittsburgh that isn't often seen. A few more comments on the ride:

1. Other than the climbs out of Arlington Heights and Hazelwood, most of the tough hills are before the mid-point rest stop. So, if you can make it to mile 36, you should be able to do the rest. We put a lot of time and effort into figuring out how to minimize the climbs.

2. Jon is printing cue sheets, so if riders want to go ahead or fall behind, they are free to do so. However, I don't think we can promise that the rest stops will be open for those who want to go ahead or fall behind.

3. If anyone has solid plans to attend, please email me at jcm250b at juno dot com so we have at least a base line for how much food to have at the mid-way stop, as well as cue sheets. We have a decent selection of food and drinks but do not want to run out.


jmccrea
2012-08-15 13:41:45

I've made a cue sheet, marking the neighborhoods, and uploaded it here. I verified the neighborhoods following the map at http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/snap/, which seems official.

You can print it from there. I'll also bring printed copies and some maps.


jonawebb
2012-08-15 13:53:21

Did this ever get posted to the bikefest calendar? I don't see it.


(More usefully for my own cetaceans, is there a Facebook event anywhere?)


I'll try to be there, but I'm not convinced I'm up to it. (I'm not up to much at 8am Saturday, but that's a separate issue.)


epanastrophe
2012-08-15 15:48:48

It's listed as "A Ride That Touches Every Pittsburgh Neighborhood". August 18, 8 am.


jonawebb
2012-08-15 15:53:57

I wish I could do this ride but unfortunately I work 12hrs that day.


marvelousm3
2012-08-16 17:50:04

Too many things have come up, unfortunately, including a pair of apartment viewings Saturday. I plan to be at Flock & Lightup, but I'll miss this.


epanastrophe
2012-08-16 19:15:10

Oh yeah I am leading the light up ride on the evening of this ride. I am very tempted to do this one.. But I would definitely have to do it fixed.. Weather does look perfect though.


stefb
2012-08-16 19:24:56

getting psyched for this. i haven't done any kind of tough ride since the dirty dozen, so this should be a fun test.


hiddenvariable
2012-08-17 17:17:43

im not hard enough to do this ride, but good luck tomorrow. in case you dont already have a flyer, feel frfee to use this old pic:



melange396
2012-08-18 04:33:40

I kept thinking of this image yesterday and laughing. Thanks for posting it again. I have this goofy voice in my head that goes along with it.


stefb
2012-08-18 10:08:06

I think this ride just passed me and Erok's house on Hatfield St. in Lawrenceville! We had just come in from gardening and heard ding-ding-ding out front. Was that you guys???


rachel_ding
2012-08-18 18:30:39

Ride report? Man what a specfreakingtacular day.


edmonds59
2012-08-18 20:34:33

I bailed once we hit highland ave., but I belive I hit the other hoods on my commute to the ride. Few mechanical issues, one flat tire, not bad for +-20 riders. Really well organized, rest areas had water, gatorade, gu, crackers, cliff bars, and more. A+++ to the ride organizers and their families. Wanted to get in some cat 6 training, but everyone rode respectfully. Really great ride!!!!!


b-s
2012-08-18 21:15:06

awesome ride, top to bottom (and then back to the top again). jon, jake, and matt did an excellent job organizing and planning the route. the rest stops were impeccably stocked, and the support was terrific. jake did a great job going back down pretty much every hill we came up to make sure everyone made it. a hearty thanks to everyone involved!


edited to add: apparently we had sponsors, and i would also like to thank them. unfortunately i don't know the organization's name, so hopefully someone will fill that in for me. but thanks to them, as well!


hiddenvariable
2012-08-18 23:48:36

Great job to all involved in planning this ride. I know it couldn't have been easy, but you pulled it off in spectacular fashion. I think Matt's wife might have put in more miles than we did, rolling from rest stop to rest stop, with everything we needed!


I think we should reconsider the name of this ride for next year - how about "The Barking Dog Ride"? ha!


urbanrider
2012-08-19 01:36:20

It was a fantastic ride. I had a great time in spite of the mechanical issue that kept me from completing after Regent Square. Now I really can tag all the neighborhoods. Thanks to Jake, Matt, and Matt's wife and kids.


jonawebb
2012-08-19 02:24:46

I didn't do the ride, so I could be talking out of my ass, but any chance this could become sort of the "zenith" ride on Pedal Pgh, the "hors categorie"? It would give the grumblers something to chew on (personally I would go full snarky and say, you want a ride? Here's yer f'ing ride). Also I think it really has what a marketer would call "resonance".

But it would really put the Bike Pgh! stamp on Pedal Pittsburgh, pretty much fully conceived and executed by the community. Just a thought.


edmonds59
2012-08-19 12:19:49

How would that work?

I will definitely help make sure the ride happens next year in any case. May even be one of the ride leaders since thanks to Matt and Jake's skilful routing and Matt's wife's rest stops it wasn't a hard as I'd feared.

Btw thanks also to Mary and Nate for the eat stop. I didn't get to it but I'm sure it was nice.


jonawebb
2012-08-19 12:52:33

I dunno, theres a route and a map, it's been ridden and tried. Sounds like it worked quite well for 20 people, scale it up.


edmonds59
2012-08-19 12:57:38

The ride was great, I think because we had a terrific ride leader and a group of people that stuck together. When you scale it up, I think you'll run into problems. On the ride you will encounter terrible pavement, bad traffic, unfriendly roads, surprising turns, iffy neighborhoods. You'll certainly make wrong turns and get off the route, and quite possibly get actually lost.


I loved it and will do it again, but I'd be cautious about making it lots bigger where small groups & individual riders will be dropped.


nfranzen
2012-08-19 13:36:44

Do it again next year, same scale. Didn't Dirty Dozen take a couple of years to get rolling?


stuinmccandless
2012-08-19 14:55:29

The ride was awesome...I don't think it could have gone any better. We had a great crowd and the weather was perfect. Jake did an awesome job leading the ride and keeping the group together.


My favorite part remains coming out of the woods on Parkwood to see the family outside working on their car. I was the third rider to emerge, and the guy looked at me and said, "What the...?" and then 19 more riders came out. We definitely left them scratching their heads over it ;)


Thanks to Jake for doing such an awesome job leading the ride, Jon for the cue sheets and picking a date/time for it to happen (I don't think it would have, otherwise), Nate and Mary for hosting the last rest stop, and my wife for ferrying food and refreshments all over the city, and Elite Runners and Walkers (my wife's employer) for donating some gatorade and the two cases of Gu.


I think we should stick to the same scale for next year. It is not an easy ride, and it would be asking a lot of the leader to be in charge of a group any larger. There are also the two sections which require some trespassing (from Becks Run onto the trail, and again from the trail onto Baldwin at Sandcastle) which would probably prohibit any "official" endorsement by Bike Pittsburgh. My vote is to do it in the same way next year. If it grows much bigger, we're going to need multiple ride leaders and may need to change it to a “drop” ride where we leave the stragglers behind.


All in all, I had a total blast on my first group ride. Now I just need to find another regular one to keep myself busy until next year ;)


@HiddenVariable: Elite Runners and Walkers in Robinson Twp donated some of the gatorade, coolers, and the two cases of energy gels


mattre
2012-08-19 16:06:38

great ride! I will definitely do this one again! Maybe next year we can get a few more ladies to join. (just to clarify; i am female, not a creeper)


I agree that the faces of surprise at the bottom of Parkwood were great. I was at the tail end of the line after taking some photos at the top. The folks working on the car were still surprised at that point.


After struggling to figure out how to post photos I just put a few on the bikefest image dump thread.


2012-08-19 16:42:16

Here's a photo I took at our house (rest stop #3)


Oops ... not working right now. I'll have to figure out where to put the photo. I'll be back.


mmfranzen
2012-08-19 17:21:34

The whole thing reminded me of the A-Team show, where Hannibal says at the end, "I love it when a plan comes together."


All kidding aside, I appreciate the kind words above and have to commend EVERYONE for their substantial efforts at making this work. The bottom line is that this would not have worked well without everyone's efforts. I will likely overlook someone given everything involved, but here is my quick list of who did what to make this ride work as correctly described above:

1) Matt, who invested substantial time in making a viable route, including multiple revisions to make it hit every neighborhood AND be rideable (not easily done), without which the whole thing would not have happened;

2) Matt's wife Jen and two kids, who generously procured excellent rest stop food, set up and helped with the rest stops, including the second stop in an unknown location, and took the supplies from stop to stop;

3) Elite Runners and Walkers, which generously donated Gu's, Gatorade and the use of equipment for the rest stops;

4) Jon W. and Paul H., who generously made cue sheets and maps, respectively, both of which were very well done and took some time, without which we would have been riding around like the cast of Gilligan's Island for half the ride;

5) My girlfriend Kelley, who generously gathered and made a great deal of food, Gatorade, etc. for the rest stops (I told her, "mix that Gatorade strong, I don't want these people to be bonking on me.";

6) Nate and Mary, who generously hosted and stocked a much-needed rest stop in their front yard, and provided much-needed guidance in areas with which I was unfamiliar;

7) Sam R. and her coffee shop in Beechview, Brew on Broadway, who kindly invited us to stop by and made sure that she had plenty of ice water, coffee, etc. on hand (that's where the band is);

8) The various riders who, at various points, helped out with intersections, a thankless but critical task;

9) Last but most certainly not least, the entire group of riders, a highly skilled and gentlemanly group who I look forward to seeing again. I was especially appreciative of the road manners and general adherence to law which prevailed; it was far better than what I reasonably could have expected and that took a lot of stress off of my shoulders.


I am pressed for time today but will comment in a day or two on some of the issues raised above for next year's ride. However it happens, it will happen again, and it will again be good. Thanks again to every one who participated and contributed. It's always nice to go home and say, "wow, that was a really good day in my life."


jmccrea
2012-08-19 18:23:36

Rachel,

That was probably us on the Pool Ride that were *dinging* for you are Erok on Hatfield!


2012-08-20 22:09:46

Regarding doing this as a Pedal PGH route, I hate to say it but I am not sure it would be worth the effort. I see many issues, as Matt and Nate correctly mentioned. I'd add a few more to what they've said:

1. You pass through at least two other boroughs, Greentree and Baldwin, which I imagine requires some advance notice and/or politicking. You may get "cool, call if you need something," or it may be like getting an act of Congress to put up signs. I really can't say for sure.

2. You need a completely separate set of rest areas and signs along the route. I doubt the signs and food would break the budget, but placing and removing them takes a lot of time. You would be setting up a completely independent 70 mile Pedal Pittsburgh route for perhaps 100-200 participants. I can't say whether it would be worth the effort.

3. We had 3 stops: a nice public location in Brighton Heights and two other participant-owned properties. This worked for 20-25, but may be asking a little much for the organizers to handle an all-day stream of 100-200 riders.

4. I say this with great hesitation, but it's hard to publicly promote the ride AND make it clear that many riders have no business being on such a ride. Flame me if you must, but in my view the route is not for riders who are uncomfortable dealing with occasional fast traffic, steep climbs, high-speed descents and turns, choppy pavement, etc. It is also not suited for poorly conditioned riders, or riders with inappropriate equipment who blithely expect to do 70 miles of serious hills, one after the other. It took about 20 solid riders nine hours to complete the course. Granted, we stuck together, lingered at the rest stops, obeyed the laws and waited atop the hills, but casual riders would take far longer than that.


With all that said, I will do it again next year. I would only make a few changes. I would break the ride into two groups, essentially fast and slow. I'd make sure each group had a ride leader who knows the route, as well as someone riding "sweep." I would move the course a street over in two places to avoid a dangerous intersection and a hill. Other than that, plan on the event happening next year. It should be much easier next year, and it was too much fun to not revisit it.


jmccrea
2012-08-20 22:41:06

Jake, looking forward to it!


jonawebb
2012-08-20 23:04:50

@Jacob McCrea

1. I don't think so. As soon as bicyclist follow the road rules no advanced notification is needed. You can ask RedDan as one of organizers of long trips. PMTCC also does not notify boroughs its passing through.

2 and 3. We (as PMTCC) use gas stations, small plazas as a rest stops. We ask to bring a little bit of cash so everyone could buy drinks/food along route. Often we worn people at gas stations/subways/mcdonalds that at certain date a big group of bicyclists would come through and stop for the rest. E.g. small gasstation with restaurant at intersection of US-30 and 168 is one of our rest stop on long routes. As per marking I think that using paint is more advanced. :)

4. I agree completely. The only thing I can add is that if you have 100 people then you have to split them into groups and have a designated leaders per each group. Similar to what Dan and Lucia (and I helped a little bit) for 12 bridges ride. I would say two leaders per group is even better -- one in front, another one at the end sweeping.


2012-08-21 11:36:51
Submissions for Bike Fest events are now being accepted and I've submitted the following for this year's edition of the ride, which will be on August 17, starting at 8:00 a.m. at Doughboy Square: This is a road bike ride of around 75 miles which touches all 90 City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods (as well as a few suburbs). We will have two ride leaders and two groups, which will essentially be the “fast” group and the “slow” group. This is not a race and the ride leaders will make their best efforts to keep their groups together. However, given the distance and hills it is NOT a “no drop” ride. Be advised that the course involves around 8,000 feet of climbing and is by no means an easy ride. We mostly avoid busy roads, but a few roads, out of necessity, will not be ideal for bicycles. There will be rest and food stops at various points, and about half way through the ride there is an aide station with food, drinks, a bathroom, bike repair tools, etc. for folks who stay with the ride leader(s). There are many good points to “bail out” and return to the start if you only want to do part of the ride. If you plan to do the whole ride, anticipate a long day on the bike and plan accordingly. Contact: Jacob McCrea at jcm250b at juno dot com. Helmets are required. Light or intermittent rain does NOT cancel; heavy or continuous rain cancels. Riders participate at their own risk and are solely responsible for their own safety. The aide stations will be well stocked with food, but do bring some money for the bus if you bonk or have a big mechanical problem, and bring enough tubes for a few flats. Again, please note the 8,000 feet of climbing and refrain from bringing your heaviest bike or enough tools to impress a NASCAR crew chief. Hope you can join us!
jmccrea
2013-06-04 11:22:49
Yay Jake! Looking forward to it.
jonawebb
2013-06-04 11:29:32
wow, awesome.
erok
2013-06-04 13:13:49
Should I try this?
edmonds59
2013-06-04 14:15:14
Yes, I think you would have a good time. If you are concerned about the hills and the distance, rest assured there is no shame in just doing the first half of the ride, having lunch at the mid-point rest stop (my shop, which I think you'd enjoy in and of itself), and calling it a day.
jmccrea
2013-06-04 14:32:02
I definitely think anyone who's done any sort of distance should consider trying it. As Jake said, there's no shame in riding part of it and calling it a day. That said, I think EVERYONE who decides to ride needs to understand that this is NOT a "no drop" ride and needs to have a backup plan for getting home should the need arise. It is not an easy ride by any measure. I've done three centuries with minimal hills, and I'll say without question that they were all easier than this ride. I don't want to discourage anyone. We had an awesome group last year and great support, and I (and everyone I spoke to) had an amazing time. I can't wait for this year's ride and I'm hoping even more show up. Just know that it is definitely a challenge and prepare accordingly.
mattre
2013-06-04 15:34:41
I am glad this is happening again.
stefb
2013-06-04 15:41:13
Assuming my plans don't get kiboshed by something, this is going on the calendar *right now*.
stuinmccandless
2013-06-04 17:42:48
On mine as well; hopefully it doesn't conflict with the pool ride this year
sgtjonson
2013-06-04 18:10:11
This frightens me. I did a ride last weekend that was 40 miles with apparently 6,000 feet of climbing (!), at abt 10 mph avg. The last climb home was a bit of a death march, but there's 2 months to improve right? I feel like I have some kind of wall at about 40 miles that is going to be tough to break over. Plus I am rarely able or willing to devote more than 4 hrs on a weekend to riding. Plus this is in August. This still frightens me. Almost makes me want to go ride in Ohio. It's hard around here.
edmonds59
2013-06-04 19:15:11
Edmonds, I'd say that anyone who can do a 50 - 60 mile ride through the city with a little juice left over could probably tackle this ride with the slower group (though you may be totally spent by the end). Remember that it's in a group, so it's a little easier to push yourself, and there will be planned and well-spaced stops with food/water/gels/gatorade to keep you fueled. If you did 40 mi with 6000 feet of climbing, you're already most of the way there. I was not in great shape last year, and the parts I struggled with the most were the couple long climbs to the tops of the highest hills (e.g. up Observatory Hill from the East St valley) and Crane Ave just because it's so effing steep. If I wanted to train for it, I'd spend some time climbing the longest and steepest hills in my neighborhood and shoot for a 60+ ride (with or without hills) at a pace that didn't leave me totally spent by the end. If you can do 40, you can do 60. It's all about managing food/water/pace. You probably don't want to drop much below 10mph avg, so try upping your food and water first and I'll bet you find that the wall has moved.
mattre
2013-06-04 20:37:45
Why oh why are ALL the cool rides on Saturday?! Sigh.
byogman
2013-06-04 21:00:20
mattre wrote:If I wanted to train for it, I’d spend some time climbing the longest and steepest hills in my neighborhood...
I do that on my commute to work. Twice. Each way. LOL Really, my commute is 10+- mi. one way, with 2,000+- ft of climbing. Unfortunately numerous repeated 10 mile rides simply gets you in really good shape for 10 mile rides.
edmonds59
2013-06-05 05:32:32
This ride is a month from now and I expect a bigger turnout than last year. I would like to get a rough sense of how many from the board plan to attend so that we have enough food at the rest stops. To that end, please shoot me an email at jcm250b at juno dot com if you plan to ride. @Edmonds, the ride is really just a series of ten-mile rides. Think about it that way, bring a light road bike, leave the saddlebags and other superfluous b.s. at home, eat and drink enough and you'll be fine. I guarantee that notwithstanding the heat and hills, participating will be more fun than reading about it on the internet. We hope to see you there.
jmccrea
2013-07-17 09:55:07
I'm in. Same map as last year, or is there a new one?
epanastrophe
2013-07-19 13:28:12
I'm in. Aspirationally. Is there a map of the route yet? Vannevar
vannever
2013-07-20 14:37:00
The route will be essentially the same as last year. As mentioned above, we need to move the route one block over in two spots. There is a link to the old route above. Also, there will be a new mural by a noted mural artist on the route.
jmccrea
2013-07-20 14:46:14
Here is the final official route for this year's ride: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3076121. I'm really looking forward to it...I hope that anyone who's considering it comes out and makes an attempt. See you on Saturday morning!
mattre
2013-08-11 18:17:16
booo. stuck at work.
pbeaver
2013-08-11 21:58:27
I've made a near-final cue sheet at http://tinyurl.com/lkd8vhq. The cue sheet you get when you download from Ride with GPS doesn't include some of the turns, for some reason. I've also added the rest stops (except for one in Brighton Heights I want to confirm) and a couple of other notes, and listed the neighborhoods as we reach them. I'll print the final cue sheets and have them ready at the ride. See you Saturday!
jonawebb
2013-08-13 13:57:07
I just talked with Marc Reisman -- I'm going to go ahead with the appeal. It will cost $99 to file for the appeal and his fee will be $500. Honestly, I can afford it, but if you feel motivated to support the effort, you could send me money at PayPal, username same as this account. Thanks.
jonawebb
2013-08-13 15:59:02
jonawebb wrote:The cue sheet you get when you download from Ride with GPS doesn’t include some of the turns, for some reason.
I've had issues with this a couple times creating my own maps. Usually grabbing a control point immediately before the missing turn, then dropping it back where it was, is enough to make it reappear.
epanastrophe
2013-08-13 16:15:46
Is there a final gpx file?
stefb
2013-08-16 10:16:29
There's no change to the gpx, the route is the same as before. I just fixed the cue sheet. The only thing to watch for that's not on the gpx is the rest stop on Celeron Street, which should be easy to catch since it's right near Forbes & Braddock.
jonawebb
2013-08-16 10:36:26
Nice work on the cue sheet, Jon. By my count we have about 20 confirmed riders. If anyone else from the board plans to attend, kindly send me an email (jcm250b at juno dot com) to confirm so that we have enough food. There are no entry fees, sign in sheets, recondite liability waivers, requests for donations to save an endangered snail in Malaysia, etc., so an email is not too much to ask. It will be a good time.
jmccrea
2013-08-16 11:46:51
Jeepers, I did the carry wrong. And I already sent it to the printer. Well, people will have to understand...
jonawebb
2013-08-16 13:43:03
Well, now you are bound to September 16th, 2013 too. :)
mikhail
2013-08-16 14:02:20
It comes from going back and forth between European and American dates in my head, and then translating into words.
jonawebb
2013-08-16 14:10:05
I woke up with food poisoning so I couldn't make it :( Maybe if others had to miss this today we could do a self supported ride sometime in the future? Hope you all have a good time.
stefb
2013-08-17 06:57:41
I woke up with food poisoning so I couldn’t make it :( Maybe if others had to miss this today we could do a self supported ride sometime in the future? Hope you all have a good time.
I'm near the end of a release, so going to the office today instead of riding. :-( A make-up ride for us lamers sounds like a good idea.
reddan
2013-08-17 08:52:46
I'd be up for that, I'm supposed to be working on something else today as well :/
sgtjonson
2013-08-17 13:03:07
You guys should do it on sept 16
cburch
2013-08-17 14:18:42
The ride yesterday was a lot of fun! I enjoyed it more than last year. Splitting into two groups, fast and slow, was smart, because that way the fast people didn't resent waiting for the slow ones and the slows didn't resent being rushed by the fast. 42 people were at the start, total. Of the 18 in the slow group at the start, I think 14 of us reached the fourth rest stop at mile 51 in Regent Square, and about 10 of us finished all 71 miles. As sweep for the slow group, I got to help some of those who were struggling a little to keep up. It was a lot more fun than I expected. Going a little slower gave us time to wave to people along the way, chat a bit, take a few pictures... I think that even those that left the group and those that took shortcuts enjoyed themselves. Thanks, everybody, for coming!
paulheckbert
2013-08-18 08:01:32
As one of the "slow" group members who completed the entire route I will say the following: (1) The ride leaders (Jon Webb was the official leader and Buffalo helped out) and sweeper (Paul Heckbert) did a tremendous job guiding the group making everyone feel comfortable all along the way; (2) There were enough rest stops, 5 in all, counting the impromptu stop created by a cyclist and his wife coming out to meet us near the Bloomfield Bridge. You need calories to complete this ride; (3) The ride was so challenging that you developed a high level of respect for and became friends with everybody in the group by the time it was over; (4) even as a native Pittsburgher, I saw places I've never seen before; (5) The ride ranks near the top as perhaps the toughest ride I've ever done. There was over 7100' of climbing and I burned over 4000 calories; (6) Highlight of the trip for me was the lady on the street corner in Mount Oliver who told off a careless driver on our behalf. Thumbs up for MO Mojo !! See you down the road.
fultonco
2013-08-18 08:57:07
I had a great time and really appreciated buffalo's help, especially at the beginning. The group had lots of good energy and positive attitude, right through to the end. We ranged from people who definitely were going to finish to those who were testing themselves. I loved it, and love the experience of getting to see the variety of Pittsburgh neighborhoods each year. It is great checking in. Every city official should do this ride (I'm willing to let Peduto ride his street sweeper) just to see what the place is really like.
jonawebb
2013-08-18 19:14:11
Upset/jealous that I had to bail out of this at the last minute due to my employer mandating some Saturday OT. I would definitely be willing to give this a go some other Saturday with some of the others that weren't able to make it yesterday (assuming the slow group pace, based on the assessment that Jacob gave me when I emailed him). If not, I will anxiously await next year's ride (and hopefully be better physically prepared for it)
smarchit
2013-08-18 20:21:04
Thanks to everyone who selflessly contributed to making this ride another big success: Matt, Jen and the kids, Jon and Paul, Nate and Mary, Kelley and the rest of my crew, and everyone who came along to spend a beautiful summer day with us. It's always nice to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year already. For next year we'll try to get a restroom at the first rest stop and work on the logistics between the fast and the slow groups. We can probably move the first stop a few miles down the road to a ball field in Chartiers, assuming we can get the keys to the bathrooms. "(5) The ride ranks near the top as perhaps the toughest ride I’ve ever done. There was over 7100' of climbing and I burned over 4000 calories." Yes, it is a tough ride indeed. To put that in perspective, if you started at sea level and climbed Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina, or Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, you would not have climbed as much as you do on this ride. Also, for what it's worth the numbers I've seen for the Dirty Dozen range from 5,000' to 6,000,' although I believe that route is harder because the climbs are uniformly steep. Finally, if anyone plans to ride the route soon, please comment here. I wouldn't mind riding it again.
jmccrea
2013-08-19 08:33:47
Thanks guys, this was wonderful (even I had to walk some hills -- need more training or better gears)! I piled off at Rupp Friendship (one block away from official route) and made to my car and to Costco just with 20 minutes to spare. :)
Jacob McCrea wrote:We can probably move the first stop a few miles down the road to a ball field in Chartiers, assuming we can get the keys to the bathrooms.
I think it makes sense.
mikhail
2013-08-19 09:01:12
another wonderful ride! i, sadly, had to bail out at the last rest stop because i had somewhere to be, and i ran out of time. i still had a ton of energy, though, thanks to the impeccably stocked and (wo?)manned rest stops. thanks to everyone who helped with that, and to elite runners for donating some of the supplies! if this ride grows again next year, i think we could break into three groups. i was hesitant join the fast group, as i've never considered myself to be terribly fast, but i did do a lot of waiting in the slow group (though i was always impressed as everyone made it to the top eventually, especially at the top of overbrook and hazelwood). also: if anyone does the makeup ride, please do post here. i wouldn't mind doing it again, and this time in its entirety.
hiddenvariable
2013-08-19 10:16:06
^I also like the idea of an intermediate-paced group. A few riders were outside their comfort zone riding with the fast group and likely would have enjoyed an intermediate group. I'd be interested in hearing about what my fellow ride leaders, and those who attended the event, think about this. Two or more people would have to step up and lead it. Also, HV, sorry I wasn't able to do more than exchange pleasantries with you Saturday morning.
jmccrea
2013-08-19 16:43:54
Two years running, I have yet to make this ride. This time it ran up against the Three Rivers Storytelling Festival, which I was very involved with. That said, I too would be interested in a Take Two ride, preferably a crisp, early autumn day.
stuinmccandless
2013-08-20 15:21:03
Doing it again - I still have the cue sheet. I would recommend starting early and identifying some food/hydration and restroom stops because they were the keys to successfully completing the ride.
fultonco
2013-08-20 15:26:06
If you're doing it again from the cue sheet, note these errors: 1) I left out the right turn on Fifth after crossing the Birmingham Bridge. 2) The turn onto Penn from Roup to get back to 34th is left, of course, not right. Maybe there are other cue errors that folks can point out. If you send them to me (on gmail) I'll update the shared document so people can print and use it.
jonawebb
2013-08-20 15:57:01
- Coming back off the West End Bridge, turn _left_ onto Fulton, not right. Not sure why the map goes nearly a block backwards up a one-way street, but in this case with up to three lanes of high-speed cars coming around a major curve, it's dangerous as well as illegal. - The directions in Hays left out a step or two: Haysglen > Baldwin > Glass Run or Ramp St > Mifflin > Lebanon; u-turn > Mifflin > Glenwood Br, or something like that
fultonco wrote:I would recommend starting early and identifying some food/hydration and restroom stops because they were the keys to successfully completing the ride.
A few suggested stops (check for hours): - Cafe N Creamery, Woodland at Shadeland, Marshall-Shadeland - i believe there's once again a coffee shop on California Ave, a block south of Termon/Brighton Heights Blvd. If not, there's definitely Tom Friday's Market. - Cannon Coffee, Brookline Boulevard opposite Flatbush Ave, Brookline - Not sure if it's still there, but there used to be a church-run coffee shop on Brownsville Rd in Carrick: http://zioncc.org/the-oasis-coffee-center/ - Paige Dairy Mart, Becks Run at East Carson - and, of course, there are a multitude of gas stations and corner stores along the route for water, gatorade, and other assorted comestibles.
epanastrophe
2013-08-20 16:36:32
Regarding the whole Fulton Street situation, it is a problem. For some unknown reason, when coming off the West End Bridge and bearing right, one cannot turn onto Fulton Street in either direction because both are marked as one way streets. As Buffalo describes, turning right is suicide and turning left will pit you against one way traffic. Instead, one must go to the next left, which is Fontella Street. On the actual ride, after trying both Fulton Street options, we went to Manhattan Street, where we took a right turn. I am not certain if that was the correct route to follow but it was safer. To do that after turning left on Fontella, then turn left on Page, cross Fulton, then turn right on Manhattan.
fultonco
2013-08-24 18:30:26
Both times I led the ride we came back across the West End Bridge, made the immediate 180 degree left turn onto Western Avenue, and then made an immediate right onto Manhattan. This was perfectly safe. I don't know if the written cue sheet is wrong, the map linked above is wrong, or the group went the wrong way. Regardless, it is an easy enough problem to fix for next year.
jmccrea
2013-08-24 18:45:12
fultonco wrote:when coming off the West End Bridge and bearing right, one cannot turn onto Fulton Street in either direction because both are marked as one way streets.
There's a left turn lane on Western at Fulton. Fulton is one-way northbound from Ridge to Western, two-way for two blocks between Western and Page, and one-way southbound north of Page.
Jacob McCrea wrote:we came back across the West End Bridge, made the immediate 180 degree left turn onto Western Avenue, and then made an immediate right onto Manhattan
Have to admit, in four years living on the North Side it never even occurred to me to try that. It's true Google streetview doesn't show a no-left-turn sign there, though there is a solid double yellow from the Chateau St ramp to Fulton. -- If I ask Google Maps for directions starting on the West End Bridge and going to Manhattan St above North, it suggests turning left on Fulton, left on Page, and right on Manhattan. If you try to force it to use Western west of the bridge, then you get the right on Fulton, u-turn, left on Western sequence seen in the cue sheet.
epanastrophe
2013-08-24 19:12:46
I might try this as a two day ride sometime. Either Saturday and Sunday or two consecutive Sundays.
mick
2013-08-27 11:01:21
Regarding Fulton Street, Buffalo is correct. I went by there yesterday and took another look. My bad. Regarding the 180 to get to Manhattan, that might work on a weekend morning but definitely would be a problem later on most days. Left on Fulton, right on Page, right on Manhattan should get you there safely. Doing it on your own as a two day ride is a really good idea!
fultonco
2013-08-28 19:26:52
I’ve submitted the following for this year’s edition of the ride, which will be on Saturday, August 16, starting at 8:00 a.m. at Doughboy Square in Lawrenceville: This is a road bike ride of around 72 miles which touches all 90 City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods (as well as a few suburbs). It's not "every neighborhood that can be reached without too much climbing" or "every neighborhood where there are yuppies, coffee shops and yoga studios," rather it is EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD. Be advised that the course involves between 5,500 and 7,000 feet of climbing, depending on whose GPS you believe, and is by no means an easy ride. We will have three (3) ride leaders and three (3) groups, which will essentially be the “fast” group, the "intermediate" group and the “slow” group. This is not a race and the ride leaders will make reasonable efforts to keep their respective groups together. However, given the distance and considerable hills it is NOT a “no drop” ride. In other words, we cannot and will not babysit riders who are out of their league and get dropped repeatedly. For riders who wish to cruise along at their own pace, without the stresses of staying with a group, I would commend an MS150 or rail trail ride. We mostly avoid busy roads, but a few roads, out of necessity, will not be ideal for bicycles. There will be rest and food stops at various points, and about half way through the ride there is an aide station with food, drinks, a bathroom, bike repair tools, etc. for folks who stay with the ride leader(s). There are some serious descents so a properly functioning bike with good brakes is needed. There are many good points to “bail out” and return to the start if you only want to do part of the ride, which riders are welcome to do. If you plan to do the whole ride, anticipate a long day on the bike and plan accordingly; complaints such as "Can we hurry up, I have to get home to feed my ferret" will not be well taken. If you plan to attend, please send an email to Jacob McCrea at jcm250b at juno dot com. There is no entry fee, but if you would like to contribute food or drinks that would be appreciated. Send me an email to discuss food or drinks, if inclined. The ride will obey all laws and traffic devices; running stop signs and the like will not be condoned. Helmets are required. Other than, say, an all-day downpour, rain does NOT cancel the ride. Riders participate at their own risk and are solely responsible for their own safety, and acknowledge as much through their participation. The aide stations will be well stocked with food, but do bring some money for the bus if you bonk or have a big mechanical problem, and bring enough tubes for a few flats. Again, please note the considerable climbing and pack light! Hope you can join us!
jmccrea
2014-07-12 13:48:33
this year’s edition of the ride Will you post a route? Is it the one as the previously posted last year's cue sheet? Is there a map version? It might help folks who haven't done it before figure out just where along the PaPen--Boston / Dirty-Dozen continuum we're talking about. (Curiosity, prompted by your dire warnings.) And just to be annoying: Which authority are you using for the definition of 'neighborhood'? [Sorry, I lack the patience to read the entire thread. It's part of being annoying.]
ahlir
2014-07-12 16:19:32
I used the city site PghSnap to verify that we actually touched all neighborhoods, and to annotate the map so you'd know when we were near each one (sometimes I couldn't put the annotation at the exact point because it happened when there was no corresponding cue). And I added a few neighborhoods not on the map but on the Wikipedia page, like Chinatown.
jonawebb
2014-07-12 16:29:16
Here is the map for this year's ride: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5010998 There is one change from last year: the ride will officially end at Arsenal Park to give us a little more space to stretch out and enjoy whatever refreshments are left. We're working on finalizing the locations of the first and third rest areas. I'll update the thread once they're set in stone.
mattre
2014-07-12 19:23:17
The cuelist still contains the same error from last year at mile 5.4, where riders are directed coming off the West End Bridge to bear right on Western, then turn right on Fulton, and make a U-turn at Ridge. This is, as I noted before, not only dangerous but illegal. Fulton is one-way northbound from Ridge to Western. As I said last year, there's a left turn lane on Western at Fulton; I don't see any reason not to go north the block on Fulton to Page, then left to Manhattan, especially when the alternative is apparently to go a block against three lanes of high speed traffic. [I certainly haven't gone through it line by line, but the cue sheet is also still missing directions between Becks Run and Glenwood Bridge, which in my group at least was a source of confusion last year, and between Birmingham Bridge and Craig Street.]
epanastrophe
2014-07-17 12:36:08
The route has us coming up Ridge and Fulton (in the correct directions), then turning left onto the West End Bridge. The return trip from the West End Circle has us making a left onto Western followed by an immediate right onto Manhattan. The cue sheet is auto-generated, so I'm not sure what's up with it. I suspect the issues are either artifacts from previous versions of the map, or bugs in Ride With GPS's software. I'll play around with it tonight to see if I can get it to generate a new cue sheet.
mattre
2014-07-19 15:32:19
BTW I was searching for something else and found the route on ridewithgps.com at http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5010998. That appears to be the final route. I'll generate and print a cue sheet, making corrections to the auto-generated sheet, and noting the neighborhoods we touch or pass through. I'll print some out for the ride and also post a link here when it's available. 8 am, August 16, Doughboy statue in Lawrenceville.
jonawebb
2014-08-06 12:14:56
Bummed I can't make it this year. Thanks for organizing such a good ride last year.
ted
2014-08-06 15:35:10
This is on the docket for next Saturday morning and we are looking forward to another good time - this time with three groups. If you plan to attend, please send an email to Jacob McCrea at jcm250b at juno dot com. There is no entry fee, but if you would like to contribute food or drinks that would be appreciated. Send me an email for a list of what we could use, if you are inclined.
jmccrea
2014-08-10 11:39:34
I'm bummed...was really looking forward to this, but will be on the wrong side of the state that morning.
reddan
2014-08-12 09:46:35
I am in different state on this morning.
mikhail
2014-08-12 11:06:57
I am planning on attending. I am a lone rider and would like to start doing group rides. How do I know if I am fast, intermediate, or slow? Will that be figured out that morning? I cycle daily and every weekend do long rides such as Greenfield>Glassport>Montour to Corrapolis>back to Greenfield, or do centuries down the GAP or Panhandle. But I do get burned often by cyclist coming home down the Jail trail sometimes and I bet I wouldn't stack up well with our more experienced riders on this board. I guess I would be conservative and go with the intermediate group.
shooflypie
2014-08-13 10:43:19
Well, given that I'm leading the group, it's not going to be terribly fast. And you can always drop back to the slow group if it's too much for you.
jonawebb
2014-08-13 11:15:03
Jon or somebody: can you summarize the changes relative to last years' route? For those wondering how long this ride will take, we start at 8:00am and in 2012 when we did it as one stretched-out group, I finished at 5:15pm (I was not the slowest, but close), and in 2013 when we did it as two groups, and I served as sweep for the slower group, and the weather was in the 80s, I finished last at 7:30pm. I’m leading the slow group this year. I hope to finish no later than 7:30 this year. So yes, if you do the whole thing, it’s a long day. Bring your persistence. Note that the route never gets very far from downtown Pittsburgh, so even if you’re not sure you can do the whole thing, I suggest you come out, give it a try, and if you choose to drop out partway, it won’t be a very long ride back to the starting point. I'm pretty sure that the people in the slow group have the most fun.
paulheckbert
2014-08-14 18:26:08
The only real changes are near Ridgemont (mile 26) and at the end. We run up to the Parkway Center Mall to reach Ridgemont. It was left out of the neighborhood last year. And the end is at Arsenal Park, so we can hang out, instead of just riding back to the beginning. There are other corrections to the cue sheet compared to last year, basically places where I've manually corrected errors in the autogenerated sheet, that don't correspond to real changes in the route.
jonawebb
2014-08-14 18:44:15
tomorrow! 8am! see you all at Penn & Butler in Lawrenceville!
paulheckbert
2014-08-15 14:19:30
So this thread has a lot of words. Where can I find a gpx? I will be there.
stefb
2014-08-15 19:24:49
This was so well organized. Thanks to everyone who organized it, volunteered, rode.. Everyone involved. That was not an easy ride, but I rode on so many roads I have never ridden before. Thanks!
stefb
2014-08-16 19:00:04
A thousand thank you’s to the organizers & support team for the cookies and all your hard work. Definitely a fun and extremely well organized ride around the city. I think I’ll go take a nap now….
marko82
2014-08-16 19:09:56
In the beginning. Yes, a very well organized ride! And I got to see parts of the city I had known nothing about.
ahlir
2014-08-16 19:34:55
Ended up getting a flat literally the block after we rolled out. 2.5" screw in one side of the tire and out the other. Eventually got it fixed up. We skipped going over the West End bridge, got a bit lost on the north side (well, we knew where we were just not where we were supposed to be on the cue sheet). Ended up connecting with another couple who had a flat in McKees Rocks. Ended up losing them on Noblestown and caught up with the rest of the "slow" group at Brews on Broadway. Emma and I cut out early after climbing Main St to Bloomfield. We were so beat and our home was so close. Wanted to leave something in the tank for tomorrow's pinball ride. Thanks to everyone involved with this. Great day. Here should be a link to a pic of the screw in my tire. http://flic.kr/p/otP2PC
hardtravelin
2014-08-16 20:29:44
Things I like about this ride: - It's OCD nature. Not just in planning the ride, making sure it touches every one of the 80+ neighborhoods, but also the large number of rest stops, the large array of snacks there, free. - Seeing old friends that I only get to see about once a year, that I know almost exclusively through this ride. - Jake McCrea's kindness and encouragement. I was planning to abandon at the beginning, because my rear derailleur cable broke just as I was arriving at the doughboy statue. But Jake helped me diagnose the problem & arranged for a derailleur cable to be waiting at his garage. So I did the first half of the ride with 3 gears. It felt so good to be able to shift the rear cluster again. - Seeing Matt and Jenny's kids grow up year after year. - The surprising difficulty of the ride. It's a lot of climbing, very hard, and deceptive because you get sort of close to the end but then veer off again. Jake's garage seems like a very long ways, but you're still only halfway through. - Getting to know parts of Pittsburgh I'd never seen before and seeing the change year after year. There's a lot of development happening in parts of the city. I love seeing the entire city, as a whole, in one day. - Seeing the potential in Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington, and Larimer -- lots of empty lots, abandoned or mostly unused houses and businesses -- in an area of Pittsburgh that is, rarely, flat. That is where the next big development will happen. But it's been a long time coming.
jonawebb
2014-08-17 08:07:00
That was a very good ride, and Jake did a good job leading the group. I was a bit intimidated at first showing up on my urban commuter bike falling behind going up East Street. But the rest was fun and it showed me parts of the city I never ventured in before. I never knew there was more than the East End, South Side, and North Shore. Just joking. Thanks to everybody who put that together. I always ride the city solo and tried my first group ride. I should join again next year. "- Seeing the potential in Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington, and Larimer — lots of empty lots, abandoned or mostly unused houses and businesses — in an area of Pittsburgh that is, rarely, flat. That is where the next big development will happen. But it’s been a long time coming." Jon, lets hope that the 30 million grant Larimer landed for development early this summer helps this along and spurs the development.
shooflypie
2014-08-17 08:42:51
@ShooFlyPie - For another crack at riding up East Street, join me on F8/29 for a law-abiding Critical Mass ride. In recent months, we've gotten six to eight riders, tackling a somewhat more difficult part of the city. No corking, stopping at lights and signs, moderate pace, just aiming to go the length of East and back down on Perrysville. I will have a separate thread about it here shortly, if I didn't post it already. OK, I'm done threadjacking. But for those who did the neighborhoods ride, suggestions on where to take CM on future rides would be much appreciated.
stuinmccandless
2014-08-17 11:29:14
Thanks to everyone who came out to spend a summer day with us. This is something we look forward to every year and a highlight of our summer. Among other things I could say, it's always great to see old friends and make some new ones. A hearty thanks goes out to my fellow organizers and contributors (too many to list!), who made or bought a staggering amount of cookies, brownies, pepperoni rolls, energy gels, soda, bananas, Gatorade, pastries, candies, trail mix and more. The rest stops were a smorgasbord of everything a hungry cyclist could want. Also, the mapping and other logistical work is significant, and should not go without recognition. It was especially nice to have a bathroom and yard at the first rest stop, thanks to Jen's efforts and the Sheraden United Methodist Church, which opened up its doors for us without hesitation. As in years past Elite Runners and Walkers contributed cases of expensive energy gels for the good of the cause, which should be recognized when considering which local businesses to support. Let it also be known that Pro Bikes, LLC took the unprecedented step of sending a fully stocked box truck, mechanic, tent and a ton of food and drinks to the first rest stop. We asked for some energy gels and without hesitation got a rest stop commensurate with what shops send to high profile charity events with 500 to 5,000 participants. That level of generosity and support for our region's cycling scene should long be remembered when the time comes to purchase equipment and supplies. As mentioned at the beginning of the ride, if anyone has feelings of guilt about the lack of entry fee, please make a contribution to Bike Pittsburgh in the name of the Webb, Heckbert, Reitzell, Franzen and/or McCrea families. The patronage of Pro Bikes, LLC and Elite Runners and Walkers is also highly encouraged for the reasons stated above. We hope to see everyone again next year!
jmccrea
2014-08-17 14:59:32
Yup. Slow group had fun. We were 7 people at one point, but 3 people did all 72 miles, finishing at 7:10pm. Thanks for the food and help at the rest stops! Some pictures: What a crazy, twisty route! big box of poppyseed hamantashen & apricot rugelach (from Allegro Hearth Bakery) at ride start, for later enjoyment Tiffany and Braden got a flat on Perrysville Ave. Sorry we never saw the two of them again! Note: they borrowed Yale's pump and he would like it back. 1st rest stop: Sheraden Methodist-Episcopal Church (somebody please send this photo to Karen at the church) in Beechview: Q, Emma, Robin Through the fence on the Baldwin Boro trail, near Becks Run Rd
paulheckbert
2014-08-17 20:52:58
This was so awesome, and I'm really glad we gave it a shot. I am so not a group rider, even though I do sometimes enjoy it. It takes me a long time to warm up to people, and I mostly ride alone or with Q, so I'm not great at riding in a group. Once I got over the sort of stressy feeling of trying to "catch up" to a group after Q's epic flat and just started riding, it was really fun. Jake, your shop is IMMACULATE and beautiful. I love a neatly organized toolset so much! Highlights: a) sneaking through the hole in the fence, documented by Paul above. b) penis pump box on the side of a road in Windgap ("advanced penis enhancement system") c) block party somewhere..... past Brookline? I forget where. But a couple kids had foam swords and shouted "people! there are people! our lives have meaning!" d) Regent Square rest stop, featuring eight year old neighbor Teddy, who showed us lots of bike tricks and told us that if we wanted to see some REALLY cool tricks, we should google Danny MacAskill. Thanks so much to the folks who organized this, led the groups, arranged and volunteered at the stops, and came up with the idea. I'm totally in for next year, and gonna crank out the whole thing.
emma
2014-08-18 07:47:06
It certainly does look like the slow group had a lot of fun, or at least had time to take a lot of pictures. Where did you have to go through a hole in a fence? We didn't.
jonawebb
2014-08-18 07:58:26
We could have gone about 20 feet down the tracks to go through the gate, but there was a hole in the fence right where we crossed the tracks, so hey!
emma
2014-08-18 07:59:27
This ride was incredible. Thanks to Jacob, John, Paul for leading and especially Jacob & crew for really bringing this event together. Poppyseed hamantashen & apricot rugelach take the cake for the most surprising (and very appreciated) rest stop snacks I'd ever seen. The ride beat me up good. but well worth it. I've lived here forever and I am still surprised to see how much there is to discover and new views to enjoy.
lou-f
2014-08-18 09:55:26
This ride will be Saturday, August 29 starting from Doughboy Square in Lawrenceville at 8:00 a.m. It will be about the same as last year, although the last rest stop will be in Squirrel Hill (Nate and Mary moved to Seattle and can't host the stop, unfortunately), and we will avoid the abandoned section of Parkwood St. due to its poor condition. I will post a full ride description here later.
jmccrea
2015-07-06 11:34:53
Yes!!!
emma
2015-07-07 18:41:50
Yes indeed; glad you can make it. Here is what I just submitted to the Bike Fest calendar: This is a road bike ride of around 72 miles which touches all 90 City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods (as well as a few suburbs). It’s not “every neighborhood that can be reached without too much climbing” or “every neighborhood where there are yuppies, coffee shops and yoga studios,” rather it is EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD. Be advised that the course involves between 5,500 and 7,000 feet of climbing, depending on whose GPS you believe, and is by no means an easy ride. We will have three (3) ride leaders and three (3) groups, which will essentially be the “fast” group, the “intermediate” group and the “slow” group. This is not a race and the ride leaders will make reasonable efforts to keep their groups together. However, given the distance and hills it is NOT a “no drop” ride. In other words, we cannot and will not babysit riders who are out of their league and get dropped repeatedly. For riders who wish to cruise along at their own pace, that is all well and good. Cue sheets will be distributed at the start, but you are otherwise on your own, and don’t expect anyone to be waiting for you at the rest stops. We mostly avoid busy roads, but a few roads will not be ideal for bicycles. There will be rest and food stops at various points, and about half way through the ride there is an aide station with food, drinks, a bathroom, bike repair tools, etc. for folks who stay with the ride leader(s). There are some serious descents; a properly functioning bike with good brakes is needed. There are many good points to “bail out” and return to the start if you want to do part of the ride. If you plan to do the whole ride, anticipate a long day on the bike and plan accordingly; complaints such as “Can we hurry up, I have to get home to feed my ferret” will not be well taken. To attend, please send an email to Jacob McCrea at jcm250b at juno dot com. There is no entry fee and we are not asking for a donation, but if you would like to contribute food or drinks, or give something to BikePGH in our names, that would be appreciated. Email me to discuss contributing food or drinks, if inclined. The ride will obey all laws and traffic devices; running stop signs and the like will be condemned. Helmets are required. Other than an all-day storm, rain does NOT cancel the ride. Riders participate at their own risk and are solely responsible for their own safety, and acknowledge as much through their participation. The aide stations will be stocked with food, but bring money for the bus if you bonk or have a mechanical problem, and bring enough tubes for a few flats. Again, please note the considerable climbing and pack light! Hope you can join us!
jmccrea
2015-07-08 11:40:10
Awww parkwood street was fun!
stefb
2015-07-09 21:13:27
Parkwood was fun (hey, I caught some air!) but I can see why maybe there should be an alternate route...
ahlir
2015-07-10 08:31:11
+1 on Parkwood fun And is the Bloomfield bridge/Bigelow Blvd reconstruction project going to impact the route?
marko82
2015-07-10 09:28:44
We're still working on sorting out the rest stops. Once that's done, I'll update the route for 2015 and post it here. Everything should be set in stone within the next two weeks or so. My wife created a Facebook event for it: https://www.facebook.com/events/403103906546457/403411666515681/. Please share it with anyone who might be interested!
mattre
2015-07-16 15:24:13
@Mattre, check that that facebook event's not posted to a group, restricted or non-public--i'm getting a 'you can't see that' message.
epanastrophe
2015-07-16 15:26:41
Still getting this: Sorry, this content isn't available right now The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in.
stuinmccandless
2015-07-16 19:58:07
If anyone plans to attend this but has not emailed me (jcm250b at juno dot com) or confirmed on Facebook, please do so ASAP so we can determine how much food to have on hand. Also, if anyone wants to bring a case or two of Coke (not diet), Gatorade, other drinks, bananas, cookies, energy bars/gels, etc., that would be greatly appreciated.
jmccrea
2015-08-19 11:52:10
I invited some folks from Ft Lauderdale FL. I'd be really surprised if any make the trip, but maybe not that surprised. If I hear from any of them that they're seriously into it, I'll let you know. I can see this being a real draw for people, now and into the future.
stuinmccandless
2015-08-19 13:10:51
It was mentioned on the WESA report this morning about BikeFest events.
jonawebb
2015-08-24 06:27:45
Here is the 2015 route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10018448 There are two changes from previous years: Parkwood has been scrubbed due to its conditions, and there is an out-and-back along Forbes to make the third rest stop. For anyone printing cue sheets: Beware of the stretch up Mifflin Road. The mapping software still thinks it is closed, so I needed to manually draw those lines which is likely to give funky cues in that section.
mattre
2015-08-25 21:03:11
Sad to miss this ride (will be out of town gettin radical elsewhere) but so happy that it's happening and that y'all are maintaining this great tradition. Post photos!!!!
emma
2015-08-26 08:06:02
I am not planning on printing cue sheets for everybody this year. I plan to print one for myself, but will mainly rely on GPS. I notice that the ride takes us up the Bloomfield Bridge, which is under construction, though the announcement is that the southbound direction is closed, so we should be fine. May encounter some issues there. Really looking forward to it! See you Saturday at 8!
jonawebb
2015-08-26 08:33:23
On the Bloomfield southbound _is_ up, i.e. from Liberty towards Bigelow.
epanastrophe
2015-08-26 08:35:58
Hmm, really? In that case some rerouting will be necessary, I think.
jonawebb
2015-08-26 08:49:35
I drove across the Bloomfield Bridge in the direction we'll be traveling on Monday. Unless something changed between now and then, we're in good shape. Can someone who went through Bloomfield this morning comment on this?
jmccrea
2015-08-26 09:30:50
You're right, the story from the PG was old. Glad to hear we'll be OK Saturday.
jonawebb
2015-08-26 12:12:58
I'll be there
fultonco
2015-08-26 17:28:32
Somebody should bike this on a HealthyRide bike.
paulheckbert
2015-08-27 22:59:05
Great ride today, guys! Thank you to the organizers (Jacob, @mattre, et. al.) for putting this together. You guys rock!
chrishent
2015-08-29 17:26:41
++++ had a great (if not hot) time. Many thanks to all for planning & for the awesome snacks.
marko82
2015-08-29 21:04:48
Four of us from the slow group finished (finally) at 8:45pm: Robert, Nick, Mikhail, and me. It was a long day - 12.5 hours. Thanks to Jake & wife for stopping and offering us drinks as they drove home - they found us on Carson St in the southside, 7:30ish. Getting some gatorade at that point helped me a lot. But would you believe that we got two flats after that stop? More stories & pictures later.
paulheckbert
2015-08-30 06:09:23
We had only 3 finishers in the middle group (6:10) , and I heard there were only 10 finishers in the first group (~15 min earlier). It was definitely hot out there with little shade making for a tough day. Interesting fact: I believe most of the finishers were of the 40+ age category.
marko82
2015-08-30 07:28:25
People don't expect the ride to take as long as it does, and there are lots of opportunities to bail towards the end if you live in the east. Thanks to Jake, Kelley, Matt, Jenny, and those twins who I like to watch grow up year by year. I had a great time. Also, those Maggie's bars were awesome.
jonawebb
2015-08-30 07:35:09
I will admit to getting caught off guard to how long the ride would take. This is, of course, my fault as I believe the organizers mention this several times. As Jon said, there are a lot of opportunities to bail towards the end, and I saw daylight at the Squirrel Hill rest stop (which was awesome, btw. Pepperoni rolls!) and went home, tagging a few more neighborhoods along the way - including three of the ones in the Hill District. As I waited for the light at Fifth and Kirkpatrick (Bluff - check!), a sense of guilt took over me and I went up Kirkpatrick instead of continuing on Fifth (Terrace Village, Middle Hill and Crawford-Roberts - check!) This ride brought my personal "Neighborhoods I've biked on" count to 89. Except for one, all the ones I was missing prior to yesterday were on the south hills. East Hills, I'm coming for ya.
chrishent
2015-08-30 08:54:58
Thanx everyone! It's a great ride organized by an excellent crew!
mikhail
2015-08-30 17:56:39
Marko82 said that most of those who finished were 40+. But one of the riders who finished in our group was a 16-year-old, Nick, and he didn't appear wiped out, like the rest of us.
paulheckbert
2015-08-31 10:11:39
That video quality is pretty excellent. What was that taken with?
edmonds59
2015-08-31 19:06:19
@edmonds59 Thanks. The camera is a GoPro Hero4 Silver.
fultonco
2015-08-31 19:46:09
We're glad everyone had a good time; this is always a fun (albeit really difficult) bike ride. Pro Bikes once again supported this event by putting on a great first rest stop, free of charge; let that be remembered when in need of bikes and gear. NovaCare also sponsored the event by letting us use its Squirrel Hill office as the third rest stop; an air conditioned rest stop on a hot day was really nice. We also had a smorgasborg of food - everything a cyclist could want other than EPO, HGH and the like - thanks to Kelley, Jenny, Margie M. and many others who brought food and drinks. If anyone has any photos of the ride, please post them here and send a few to Mike at BikePGH.
jmccrea
2015-09-01 15:27:24
Has a date been decided upon for 2016?
fultonco
2016-06-23 08:36:37
Somebody told me 8/20, but that was a while ago and unofficial. You're right, it'd be good to hear some deets.
ornoth
2016-06-23 09:34:43
August 20 at 8:00 a.m., at Doughboy Square in Lawrenceville, is correct. Please read the full description: This is a road ride of around 72 miles which touches all 90 City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods (as well as a few suburbs). It’s not “every neighborhood that can be reached without too much climbing” or “every neighborhood where there are yuppies, coffee shops and yoga studios,” rather it is EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD. Be advised that the course involves between 5,500 and 7,000 feet of climbing, depending on whose GPS you believe, and is not an easy ride. We will probably have three (3) ride leaders and three (3) groups, which will essentially be the “fast” group, the “intermediate” group and the “slow” group. "Fast" does not mean "your private race" or "your private training ride," so if you are the kind of person who tries to turn someone else's group ride into a race or training ride, please do that on some other ride, or better yet, just enter a race. The ride leaders will make reasonable efforts to keep their groups together. However, given the distance and hills it is NOT a “no drop” ride. In other words, we won't be jerks about it, but we cannot and will not babysit riders who are out of their league and get dropped repeatedly. For riders who wish to cruise along at their own pace, that is all well and good. Cue sheets will be distributed at the start, but you are otherwise on your own, and don’t expect anyone to be waiting for you at the rest stops. We mostly avoid busy roads, but a few roads will not be ideal for bicycles. There will be rest and food stops at various points, replete with a bathroom, bike repair tools, etc. for folks who stay with the ride leader(s). There are some serious descents; a properly functioning bike with good brakes is needed. There are many good points to “bail out” and return to the start if you want to do part of the ride. If you plan to do the whole ride, anticipate a long day on the bike and plan accordingly; complaints such as “Can we hurry up, I have to get home to feed my ferret” will not be entertained or well taken. The ride will obey all laws and traffic devices; running stop signs and the like will be condemned. Helmets are required. Other than a serious all-day storm, rain does NOT cancel the ride. Riders participate AT THEIR OWN RISK and are solely responsible for their own safety, and acknowledge as much through their participation. The aide stations will be stocked with food, but bring money for the bus if you bonk or have a mechanical problem, and bring enough tubes for a few flats. Again, please note the considerable climbing and pack light! To attend, please send an email to Jacob McCrea at jcm250b at juno dot com. There is no entry fee, no social or political causes, and we are not asking for a donation, but if you would like to contribute food or drinks, or give something to BikePGH in our names, that would be appreciated. Email me to discuss contributing food or drinks, if inclined.
jmccrea
2016-06-23 14:41:54
It's a great, well-planned ride. Hopefully I'll get to do it this year again I will reiterate Jacob's point about the duration of the ride. Even for the fast group, expect the ride to take all day. I did not expect this when I did it last year (despite Jacob's written warning prior to the ride) and ended up having to bail after the third rest stop due to time constraints. I don't mean to discourage you from doing the ride. Do it. You won't regret it.
chrishent
2016-06-27 11:02:36
I hope to do the whole thing this year. Last year, I only managed to ride along for a few miles on the South Side.
reddan
2016-06-27 11:29:12
They had better food and adequate food for riders (compared to pedal pgh). It really does take all day. We hang out and chat at the rest stops for an hour sometimes. Everything Jake said is completely accurate about this ride. I appreciate the work of those who make this run well.
stefb
2016-06-29 05:30:48
This is now officially on the Bike Fest calendar for a remarkable fifth year in a row. If anyone would like to help with the ride by "sweeping" the groups, i.e., riding at the back of the pack and making sure riders don't miss turns, please send me an email at the address in my last comment. Also, for planning purposes, please email me if you plan to contribute food and/or ride.
jmccrea
2016-07-12 17:01:53
Saddest face! i'll be out of town for it this year. I love that this ride exists.
emma
2016-07-18 08:04:59
I won't be at the ride this year because I'll be away on vacation. But I made a guide to the neighborhoods so you know what neighborhood you're in. It is organized by mileage and also has cues. I also put in some notes on how the neighborhoods got their names. It's at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0SsCVLENRv4cUpRYzRTU3hPaXc
jonawebb
2016-07-28 21:11:31
Jacob, I'll help if my bike is back from a west coast trip. Riding Vancouver to Portland starting next weekend. ~ Gerry
durishange
2016-08-01 09:40:38
Vancouver WA or Vancouver BC? ;-)
ahlir
2016-08-01 12:21:21
Portland OR or Portland ME?
jonawebb
2016-08-01 12:37:42
A ride that touches every single Portland?
steven
2016-08-01 15:49:03
Ha! BC TO OR. We hope to ride through Pittsburg, OR to ask them "What the H?"
durishange
2016-08-02 07:05:24
Cookie-baking for the ride has started, with pepperoni rolls to follow. We would appreciate an accurate idea of how many will actually attend, so that we don't waste our time and money preparing too much food, or worse, have too little on hand. Please send me an email to register, as requested above, and ASAP, if you plan to be there. Also, I am happy to say that Pro Bikes + Run, as well as NovaCare Rehabilitation, have again sponsored the ride by providing excellent rest stop support and facilities. Please consider supporting these businesses as they "put their money where their mouth is" in support of our local cycling scene.
jmccrea
2016-08-10 08:10:29
Does the following news affect the All-Neighborhoods Ride? http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/morning-edition/2016/08/five-things-to-know-today-and-the-parkway-center.html Parkway Center Mall is coming down The Kossman Development Co. has begun demolition of the Parkway Center Mall located on the western edge of the city near the Parkway West,the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The mall is now completely vacant except for a Giant Eagle store adjacent to it. The mall is expected to be completed demolished by November. The developer is pursuing a major mixed-use project on the site expected to include retail, offices, housing and entertainment, according to the report. An official for Kossman told the PG "it could be a couple of years" before the company is "able to move forward with anything significant.
paulheckbert
2016-08-13 22:07:58
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Do as you see fit, bit I will likely skip that little loop through the mall parking lot, which is to hit whatever neighborhood is on the other side of it.
jmccrea
2016-08-15 22:04:31
A couple of questions:
  1. Will the route for this year be the route used in 2015 (as posted by mattre)?
  2. Is 8am the "meet" time or the "ride" time?
  3. Rain or Shine. Right?
 
ahlir
2016-08-16 12:43:04
There is also some road construction on brownsville road in Knoxville and Mt Oliver, but it should be passible. Just a heads up.
marko82
2016-08-16 18:58:48
"A couple of questions:" A couple of answers: 1. Yes. 2. The latter, although as a practical matter we will probably roll out at ten after eight. 3. Yes, basically. See the ride description.
jmccrea
2016-08-16 20:38:25
I can't make it this year. I will be in VT. Have fun everyone. I may try to this on my own at another date
stefb
2016-08-16 22:27:06
@Marko82  -  I was riding through there today and thinking that rather than stay on busy and dangerous Brownsville, why not take Calhoun to Louisa Way to Ormsby and then re-join Brownsville after the construction?  Maybe in future years.  It's hilly back in there and would add to the challenge while removing some traffic dangers.
fultonco
2016-08-17 19:34:17
I'm excited to try this ride for the first time this year.
ka_jun
2016-08-18 10:52:23
Saturday's All-Neighborhoods Ride was another fun one for me. I was slated to be leader of the Slow group, but as it turned out there were so few people that wanted to bike slowly that we merged groups and I became sweep for the Intermediate group. By my count we started with 17 in that group and finished with 7. Stats: 74 miles, 6400 feet of climbing, 10 hours, high 86F, 90 neighborhoods visited. Thanks for the food, drinks, and mechanical help at the rest stops. Rest stop at Jake's shop in Allentown. Climbing Main St out of Lawrenceville - penultimate big hill at mile 62!
paulheckbert
2016-08-23 21:24:38
+1 Thanks for the food, drinks, and mechanical help at the rest stops. and to Jake, Kelley, Matt, Jenny and everyone who helped to make this event happen.  It's appreciated.
ka_jun
2016-08-24 15:29:50
Yes, many thanks to all that made this ride happen and supported the riders along the way.  John and I had our own group of 2 cantankerous older fellows.  We started a little earlier that everyone else and finished last.  But we got to see all of the other groups, at various points in the ride, went at our own pace, broke when we wanted or needed to, and finished feeling pretty good.  I worked all day, the next day, with a Mattock and shovel, on my patio that I'm re-building!  That is something I couldn't have imagined doing last year, when I had to drop out of the ride in Squirrel Hill.  John had the 2014 route in his Garmin and I had the cue sheet from 2015.  We made a few wrong turns, overshot a few and had to double back.  We ended up with 76.6 miles.  John's Garmin had just shy of 6500 feet of climbing.  I would agree with Paul Heckbert, the toughest hill was the combination that is one big climb, beginning with Main Street out of Lawrenceville, crossing the Bloomfield Bridge, and then the hill that is a combination of Blessing and Webster Streets.  My calf muscle on the left side started to cramp on Centre Avenue, so we stopped in the shade, ate a little, drank some, stretched, and continued on to the finish without further difficulty.  Everyone was very nice and pleasant.  I'm already looking forward to next year!
fultonco
2016-08-24 17:24:16
This ride (the sixth year if I recall correctly) is Saturday, August 12 at 8:00 a.m., at Doughboy Square in Lawrenceville. Please read the full description: This is a road ride of around 72 miles which touches all 90 City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods (as well as a few suburbs). It’s not “every neighborhood that can be reached without too much climbing” or “every neighborhood where there are yuppies, coffee shops and yoga studios,” rather it is EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD. Be advised that the course involves between 5,500 and 7,000 feet of climbing, depending on whose GPS you believe, and is not an easy ride. We will probably have three (3) ride leaders and three (3) groups, which will essentially be the “fast” group, the “intermediate” group and the “slow” group. “Fast” does not mean “your private training ride,” so if you are the kind of person who tries to turn someone else’s group ride into a training ride, please do that on some other ride, or better yet, just enter a race. The ride leaders will make reasonable efforts to keep their groups together. However, given the distance and hills it is NOT a “no drop” ride. In other words, we won’t be jerks about it, but we cannot and will not babysit riders who are out of their league and get dropped repeatedly. For riders who wish to cruise along at their own pace, that is all well and good. Cue sheets will be distributed at the start, but you are otherwise on your own, and don’t expect anyone to be waiting for you at the rest stops. We mostly avoid busy roads, but a few roads will not be ideal for bicycles. There will be rest and food stops at various points, replete with a bathroom, bike repair tools, etc. for folks who stay with the ride leader(s). There are some serious descents; a properly functioning bike with good brakes is needed. There are many good points to “bail out” and return to the start if you want to do part of the ride. If you plan to do the whole ride, anticipate a long day on the bike and plan accordingly; complaints such as “Can we hurry up, I have to get home to feed my ferret” will not be entertained or well taken. The ride will obey all laws and traffic devices; running stop signs and the like will be condemned. Helmets are required. Other than a serious all-day storm, rain does NOT cancel the ride. Riders participate AT THEIR OWN RISK and are solely responsible for their own safety, and acknowledge as much through their participation. The aide stations will be stocked with food, but bring money for the bus if you bonk or have a mechanical problem, and bring enough tubes for a few flats. Again, please note the considerable climbing and pack light! To attend, please send an email to Jacob McCrea at jacobmccrealaw at gmail dot com. There is no entry fee, no social or political causes, and we are not asking for a donation, but if you would like to bring food or drinks, or give something to BikePGH in our names, that would be appreciated. Email me to discuss bringing food or drinks, if inclined.
jmccrea
2017-07-07 10:02:59
This is twelve days away and the cookie-baking has begun in earnest. To make sure we don't bake too much, or to little, kindly email me if you plan to attend. We are hoping for a sixth year of good weather and good times, and hope to see a nice turnout.
jmccrea
2017-07-31 11:54:04
Bump; this is tomorrow! I made up a sheet listing the neighborhoods and when we touch them. Also some info on how the neighborhoods got their names. I'll bring some copies to the ride tomorrow. You can print your own copy if you like: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0SsCVLENRv4VTJjSkM1UUt3RWM
jonawebb
2017-08-11 17:42:20
8:04am A big Thank You to all who worked on making this ride happen.
ahlir
2017-08-13 10:55:58
Another good edition of this ride. The fast group was a nice group of people with strong legs and strong social skills, and we cruised through the course in what I think was the fastest time ever. I heard that the intermediate and slow groups had some troubles as a few limped into the Squirrel Hill rest stop bloodied, bruised and haggard. Once again the ProBikes+Run company sent a box truck, food, drinks and a mechanic to the first rest stop, while NovaCare Rehabilitation let us use their Squirrel Hill clinic as the third rest stop. Should you need their products or services, please consider their long-running support of our region's cycling scene in deciding which local businesses to support. Did anyone else come out for this, and if so, what did you think?
jmccrea
2017-08-14 12:13:27
Just posted my blogpost about it here. The TLDR is:
  1. it's a challenging ride,
  2. the organizers do an awesome job,
  3. trying to overcome this ridiculous landscape fosters a sense of camaraderie.
ornoth
2017-08-14 15:59:11
Hey, we may have been bloodied, bruised, and haggard, but we still completed the ride. Jen said we had the highest percentage of finishers ever.
jonawebb
2017-08-14 17:05:25
The seventh edition of this ride will be Saturday, August 4 at 8:00 a.m. The same ride description, words of caution, etc. as in past years apply. We hope to see you there; please email me at the address in my post of 7-7-17 to confirm your attendance in advance.
jmccrea
2018-05-31 11:01:21
Yaaaaaay!
ornoth
2018-05-31 11:43:06
The eighth edition of this ride will be Saturday, September 14 at 8:00 a.m. Hopefully the September date will coincide with some cooler temperatures. The same ride description, words of caution, etc. as in past years apply (see above). Please read my ride description and a little bit of this thread to make sure this is something you should be doing, and email me at jacob at jacobmccrealaw.com in advance to confirm your attendance. As always there is no entry fee, no social or political causes we are supporting - nothing but a long, fun group ride. If anyone would care to volunteer at the rest stops, so that all of the organizers can also ride, that would be appreciated. And we're always happy to receive donations of athletic food, Gatorade, etc. for the event.
jmccrea
2019-07-10 13:42:54
Just a bump for this since it is Saturday.  I am hoping to make the ride and then hoping to complete the ride.
jstalnaker2112
2019-09-11 15:37:21
looks like beautiful weather for saturday. high of 79. may be a bit wet in the morning but showers are scattered.
edronline
2019-09-11 16:08:37
If you want to practice your knowledge of Pittsburgh neighborhoods, try this game (probably better on a big display than on a phone). Point to neighborhoods on a map: http://click-that-hood.com/pittsburgh
paulheckbert
2021-02-07 22:25:49
Got the first 20 in 1:32. Maybe I could do better with some practice, now that I know how the game works.
stuinmccandless
2021-02-09 16:56:09
Will the ride be happening this year (2021)?
fultonco
2021-08-10 08:39:43
By happenstance I looked at the board yesterday for the first time in months. There was talk earlier this year about holding the ride, but we never set a date. Based on my schedule, I think it would have to be in September, and have to fit in with some other trips. But I will try to figure this out and hopefully set a date shortly.
jmccrea
2021-08-11 17:25:34