BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Yeah I need to get out. I have really done a number on my right hip flexors.. So much so that I may not be able to do the dirty dozen this year . So I would like to come out, but I can't hammer away. I will bring my road bike so I can keep up better.

Let's do the shorter Fox Chapel route then.

Tazza, 6:15?

dan, would that be this route?

I'm young and spry. How big are the hills we're talking about?

@chemicaldave: Nothing terribly dramatic. We'll likely head out to Freeport Rd, then up Fox Chapel Rd to Squaw Run, then Dorseyville to Harts Run to Saxonburg or Middle and back to town.

Nothing steep...a couple longish shallow climbs, but that's about it.

BTW, note that half-decent lights are required...

Ok. I will have very bright lights

I'm in for this. Did you feel that you needed arm/leg warmers and such by the end of the ride? I guess I should just pack them just in case.

I'll have to postpone any such rides due to lack of bright lights. Oh, and a road bike with more than one gear.

@ricerocket: It's likely to be in the low 50s or high 40s by the time we're done, for whatever that's worth.

@chemicaldave: multiple gears aren't necessary, but at least a good flashlight or something taped to your bars would be really, really wise. Out in Deliverance country, the streetlights are few and far between.

I may or may not be there...It'd be terrible not to take advantage of this weather.

I more or less did this route today in the sun, adding on the deserted Old Mill and the climb out of Indianola.

I would be there but I have a concert to go to and my bright light has not arrived.

That was fun. Thanks to all who came out.

Next week, if the weather continues to fail to utterly suck, we'll likely do something fun out Franklin Park way involving Roosevelt and Nicholson or something like that.

deserted Old Mill and the climb out of Indianola.

This is one of my favorite stretches north of the city. Highly recommended at night, too.

Bah, couldnt make it tonight and the weather was peerfect. Not too many days like today left in 2011 either.

Oh yeah I won't be able to make it next week cause I have that test the next morning.

@ reddan: What's the Roosevelt / Nicholson route? I live right off Roosevelt, so it would be sad if I didn't take advantage of a weather and a route that rolled that close.

@brian & brad where exactly is this indianola and old mill?

@sew: My traditional route starts in Millvale and picks up Babcock. Then, Rochester->Nicholson->Mt Nebo->Roosevelt->California (AKA Center/Church/Division/Lincoln and whatever else it's called through Emsworth/Avalon/Bellevue).

Since 40th St Bridge is closed, I might reroute up California Ave through Bellevue, then over to West View and pick up Rochester Rd off Perrysville Ave, or even do Mt Nebo Rd to McAleer Rd to Rochester Rd.

Old Mill runs between Squaw Run and Indianola Roads (it branches right off Squaw Run just before you head up toward Dorseyville). It's rolling, generally very quiet, and gravel between Fox Chapel Road and Indianola Road. That's my favorite bit, but it's a fine road for its entire length.

Edited to add: If you enjoy the gravel/dirt, you can string together a fair bit of it in that area.

Map

@Dan; It looks like you'll be passing close to both SEW and I en route - SEW first, and me as you come off of Roosevelt. Feel free to call on me if you run into mishap out that way.

Sounds like a good route, I rode similar on Sunday morning. I may have to break down and buy a light.

@Swalfoort - now that would be a great service. AAA for your bike!! Not for the run of the mill flats, just crazy stuff that you need help with (ie. I'm half way up Canton and too afraid to walk down and too tired to ride up!!

What Brian said. There are some killer dirt roads out there. Back in my younger mtb days I knew most of the roads and how to connect between them via trail (much of the mid-nineties to mid-2000's Punk Bike course was in those woods). Now I have trouble even linking the roads together cohesively, but am still familiar with enough of them. Need to study that map and go tear it up out there.

Dirt road riding is some of my favorite riding.

My favorite loop:

Get out to the base of Guys Run Road.

* LT on Campbell's Run Road. This promptly turns to a closed dirt road and climbs up to the ridge. Go through the as-of-yet-undeveloped real estate.

* RT on Fox Chapel Road.

* RT on Old Mill Road (this is a tricky hairpin that transitions to dirt). Dirt road.

* RT on Indianola.

* LT on 910, then a quick RT on McClleland.

* Follow McClelland to the left. Dirt road.

* RT on Cove Run.

* LT on Rich Hill.

* RT on Marshall Hill. Dirt. Points down. Much opportunity to crash here if you're on skinny tires.

Marshall Hill dumps you Little Deer Creek, which will take you back to Freeport Road, or, if you go left, to more adventures.

Roosevelt is one of my favorite climbs. Almost no car traffic.

Hmmm...pursuant to rice rocket's point (and a convo we had last night), it might be fun to do next week's route as California->Roosevelt->Nicholson->Rochester, then back to town via Camp Horne->loop up to California. That'd be something in the 30-35 mile range, assuming a dahntahn start.

Roosevelt to right on Crawford to cut off some distance if that is the goal. Cobblestone is open to the high school (via 100 yards of paved path) to Joseph if you want to avoid hills (fill up water bottles at my place) or you can continue down to Grand View for a short hill that tops at 18 percent for the more ambitious.

Joseph connects to Camp Horne as does Crawford.

There's also a ghost road off Camp Horne by Sunny Jim's that's a cool alternative to Roosevelt. More fun going up than down.

Harmony. I haven't been all the way up/down on it in years since it has been closed to car traffic. Is it in condition to ride it?

The last time I road Harmony it was on my scooter. It was fine. That would have been fairly recently (like maybe Summer 2010?) I think they closed it for a while, but then reopened it. I can check tonight. Beautiful road, but one I personally prefer on a scooter, not a bicycle. (I am a wimp, as anyone here will tell you.....)

Weather forecast looks good (i.e. high 40s-low 50s and dry roads), so this Tuesday is a go.

Since we're heading northwest, is anyone tied to the Tazza start? If not, I'm thinking 6:15 under the bridge at the Point would be a fine starting location, although I'm open to others.

At this point, route looks something like this. There will be opportunity for convenience store stops on-route at Mt Nebo and Nicholson, Camp Horne and 65, and various places along California. Should be a bit less than 35 miles.

Elevation profile shows that, once we get past the climb up Roosevelt, it should be all kinds of good fun. Although I've never gone down Rochester, I suspect it's going to be a lot nicer than going up it...

Just a couple of follow ups;

Harmony Road remains closed. Incidental to the proposed route, but I had mentioned that I would check.

Many convenience stores through Bellevue. There's also one in Avalon, on the big curve between MP 7 and 26 on map. After that, the next one is not until Mt. Nebo at Nicholson -- a good hill later.

theres a pizza roma at mt nebo and nicholson i only live 200 yards from there to bad ill be at work when the ride takes place

Weather looks promising. We'll likely be in the low 50s when we start, and somewhere in the mid-40s at the end, so the parkas and lobster mitts shouldn't be necessary.

That said, much of the latter half of the ride will be descending, so please be prepared with a wind jacket or whatever extra garments you prefer for such things.

Also, as mentioned last week, it will be dark out in the boonies, so please be prepared with decent headlights and tailights of some variety.

So are we meeting at the Point?

@rice rocket: yep. 6:15, lurking trollishly under the bridge.

Call or text 412 nine15six2zerosix if you're running behind.

Man, that was an adventure.

My rear tire was pretty square looking, so I put on some Continental GP4000Ss last night, and come back this afternoon to find my rear tire flat. Turns out that I pinched the tube right above the valve. No problem, text Dan, replace the tube, get down to the North Shore, and it's flat again!

These GP4000Ss are pretty damn tight. Futzed with the tire until 6:51 according to my GPS, and then had to play catch-up the rest of the ride. Every hill I crested, I was hoping to see some friendly flashing red lights until I finally caught up to you guys crossing 279 for the 2nd time.

Anyways, good ride. I'm pooped.

Yeah, 'twas fun. I really like the ridge roads (Roosevelt and Nicholson), and descending on Rochester was pretty sweet.

Glad yinz could make it...I'll try to come up with something interesting for next week.

Assuming the weather holds out, I'm thinking we'll duplicate last week's route as far as the Nicholson/Rochester intersection, then hang a left and head down Big Sewickley Creek Rd all the way to Ambridge. We'll come back via Sewickley, Coraopolis, and Neville Island. Potential stops at convenience store on Mt Nebo and at coffee shops in Sewickley, as well as a 7-11 on Neville Island. 35-40ish miles round trip, I'm guessing.

does anyone have a mapmyride or garmin route of what you've done so far? I'm really curious to see. thanks.

@dmtroyer: This week's route was this: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/799835.

Next week will be something like this: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/804964, although we might trim the Ambridge segment in exchange for passing through Sewickley Heights to Sewickley via Blackburn Rd.

ah man you will just about be going right past my house wish i wasent gonna be at work at that time

It was a lovely ride this week. I have never done that side of the river (pittsburgers don't cross rivers) but I really enjoyed the rolling nature of the route. Of course it was dark for most of the ride so I had no idea where I was - extra incentive to keep up me thinks.

@Marko: wait until next week...there's not much of anything (except trees) on the route past Nicholson until Ambridge.

Is getting honked at at least once standard fare? Because it's happened each time I came.

I suspect the drivers just dig your legs, Dave.

I should get up out of the saddle more often and show off my rear end.

thanks for the routez, dan.

So, for those interested in next Tuesday's ride, would it cause undue hardship to move the start time to 6? If so, no biggie and we can keep the 6:15 start, but an extra few minutes of daylight rarely goes amiss.

Well you should have about an extra hour of daylight next Tuesday, so that's on your side

that, except in reverse.

How about a Tuesday morning ride, then?

/me smacks forehead

Ah yes, it will get brighter earlier, not increase the length of daylight

The best smartass is the one who doesn't know what he's talking about

I, for one, welcome our temporal overlords, and their ability to add daylight by resetting the clock.

That aside, as there are no dissenting voices, let's call this week's ride start for 6 PM, under the bridge at the Point.

Forecast is looking good, we'll likely be in the high 50s when we start, although I expect it'll be somewhere in the 40s by the time we're back in town. Dress appropriately, lest there be scavenging of rubber gloves and bread bags to keep one's precious extremities from turning funny colours.

What is your intended route, captain?

@Chemicaldave: I'm thinking we'll repeat last week's route as far as Rochester, but turn left instead of right and bomb down to the Red Belt. Out to Ambridge, back to town via Sewickley/Coraopolis/Neville Island.

Route will look something like this: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/804964.

Captain? Did the Lieutenant get a promotion?

Timid Noob Question:

may I ask, what's the pace? And also, what bridge are you meeting under, Ft Pitt or Ft Duq?

argghhhh. noobs.

thank you.

Pace has averaged 13-ish mph. It may be significantly faster and woo-hoo-hoo-laden on the descents, and much slower on many of the climbs, but we regroup at turns and tops of hills, and will soft-pedal if the group gets too strung out.

Bridge of meeting is the one right by the Ft Pitt Museum.

P.S. We like noobs...they make lovely emergency rations if we get too far lost in the hinterlands.

Vote in the morning. Polls open at 7.

You should count the number of polling places you pass.....easily a dozen I would guess, but maybe many, many more.

Not that anyone asked but I rode similar yesterday so I thought I'd pass this along. If you take Mt Nebo down half mile past Nicholson and make a right on Red Mud Hollow (turns into Magee) there will be less traffic. There are two short hills but they can be nut busters (16%) but after that there is a gradual and smooth .8 mile decent - very sweet decent. At the stop (it's a "T") make a right go half a mile and meet up with Rochester.

Something like this: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/753738

This is one of my favorites especially on a cool fall day!

@sew: That looks like an excellent route overall...I'll have to give that a try. I've taken Red Mud Hollow southbound, but never the other direction...will definitely give that a go one of these days.

PAdding random hills there, Dan? If you're detouring up plummet, why turn off at Pittsburgh St? Can do more.hill up to Courtney, then return to Center at bridge. Or climb up to Meadowl/Grove for a real roller coaster...

I actually want to do this, but can't. :,(

@Sara: Wow. Thanks for pointing that out...looks like the ridewithgps autorouting algorithm decided to take every possible side street...yeesh!

Teach me to click the map once every few miles.

I'll have a proper cue sheet at ride start tomorrow...until then, just treat that route linked above as an overview, not gospel truth.

Dan, do you excel at paddelboating?

I'll have to miss this one as I'll be poll watching.

Okay, the route at http://ridewithgps.com/routes/804964 has been corrected, and is slightly less laden with back alley misadventures.

Cue sheet can be found here.

i think i will make this one today. maybe see what kind of shape i'm in.

[Huh...lost my post].

Sounds good, Dave. See you at 6.

Had to work late. Sorry

@stef: No worries, there's always next week. Marko had a good suggestion that I'll flesh out, but it can best be summarized as flat-bridge-flat-flat-flat-flat-bridge-flat-flat-OMG NOT FLAT-flat-flat-flat-flat.

Assuming we don't get serious rain, here's the plan for next Tuesday: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/814739

There's only one hill of any significance.

ooooolala....

I hate Allegheny River Blvd but maybe with more people I would feel more comfortable. I have a new bike that I want to ride!

@rsprake: It shouldn't be too bad inbound at ~ 7:30/8:00PM. Bring your new bike!

Alternatively, we could do something more interesting for the return (Hulton Rd->Frankstown->Penn or some such)...

ARB isn't too fun alone, but with 4+ of us, we can command some respect.

which new bike? vaya? bryant?

Velo Orange Rando! This isn't my commute bike so not the disc brake option.

Oooo....drool. Nice bike.

Hmmm...it's likely that I will not be free to lead the ride tomorrow evening.

If anyone wants to pick up organizing/leading duties (such as they are...show up with a vague idea of where you're going and say "follow me to certain death!"), please feel free to grab the route above. If not, we'll try to pick it up again next week.

any plans for tomorrow? i was thinking of trying for a final dd training ride, thought i suppose dd hills aren't a requirement.

Hmmm...depending on weather, I was thinking about taking my newly cobbled-together contraption (recumbent plus Xtracycle Free Radical) for a spin. A little trip up Sycamore and down the other side towards Crane and Canton might not go amiss...

That said, if it's pissing down rain (as seems likely), I'll give it a pass.

i haven't done those hills in a few years, but i thought it would be pretty foolish to head that way alone at night. definitely let me know if that's what you're in for. i plan to do something or other, be it rainy or shiny.

No extra-curricular riding for me tonight.

Something about my current combination of shoes/pedals/bike is making my knees bark, so I intend to head home slowly after work and diagnose.

(Plus that whole thunderstorms/heavy rain thing.)

Hopefully next week, we'll revive the Tuesday evening rides properly.

@HV: BTW, I'll likely head out for a Friday mid-day DD ride, if you're interested. Probably just the South Hills hills.

i likely won't be back in town until about 5 or so. i am planning on keeping my riding sort of easy and flat tomorrow, anyway. though i haven't done canton or boustead this year, so the idea is somewhat appealing.

Incredibly last minute notice, for which I apologize, but the weather appears to be significantly better than forecast for this evening.

So, if anyone wishes to ride, I'll be at the Point under the bridge at 6; route TBD, but likely fairly flat.

[ETA:] Feel free to call or text: fore one too 9 one5 sixtoo zero6.

I can't ride tonight, but maybe next week.

I, as well am unable. Bummer

add another to the list of those unable to make it tonight.

Ah a bit too late for me to make it. I have grocery shipping to do tonight anyway

sending food to starving kids? :-p

Yeah as long as you are shipping food send some my way.

I shipped food to my belly, which will be turned Into poo.

Bump. Any interest tomorrow?

I'm fighting respiratory crapola, or I'd be very interested.

If you want an easy/fun route (with only one "little" hill), I'd suggest Freeport Road to New Kensington Bridge, then follow Industrial Blvd to Logan's Ferry->Coxcomb Hill (the "little" hill...), and down into Oakmont/Verona. Return either via Allegheny River Blvd or cross the river back to Freeport.

I have been off of the bike for weeks. I would like to ride maybe tomorrow

But I can't do a ton of hills

I'm not available either. I'd love to ride since I too have not beem on a bike in two weeks due to family obligations.

I am interested in tomorrow as well. Looks to be 45-50km from Tazza.

Scratch that. I need to study.

Yeah not gonna mark it anyway

As we get deeper into the winter how long do you guys plan to keep this ride going?

@mr marv: As long as it's not terribly dangerous/unpleasant riding conditions (and I'm not sick or otherwise engaged), I'll keep putting routes together.

Of course, given my track record for the last few weeks, that probably translates to "once in a blue moon." But hey.

I think I might start joining you sometime soon...... when you all are healthy and back on your bikes.

Excellent! Depending on how the weather looks, I might try to put something together for next Monday (yes, I know it's not Tuesday, but the holiday season throws everything out of whack).

As long as it's not wet outside, I don't see why we couldn't keep this going.

Alright, the holidaze hustle-bustle has defeated me. I shan't even try to get a ride planned until the new year,as I have no chance this week or next.

Tomorrow evening looks promising...anyone in for that jaunt via Freeport to New Ken, then back via Oakmont? (Only one hill to speak of, I promise...)

If I were in town...

I'd be up for a ride, but I very much despise Freeport Rd around rush hour. The mix of bumper to bumper traffic and then wide open 4 lane sections encourages people to speed to try and make up time that they "lost" in traffic. I try to stay off of it as much as possible, or turn up into Fox Chapel.

Let's meet at the Point at 6, and we'll figure it out from there. I shan't pout if we head elsewhere.

One potential route...we could head out past Coraopolis and take 151 up the ridge to Brodhead Rd then make our way back to town via Beaver Grade and Clever Rd and suchlike.

I've not ridden all of those roads, so it could be fun to explore a bit. Probably 40-ish miles, 3 or 4 decent climbs? If we decide to cut the pain short, we could head back down to the flat bits by the river at almost any time on the return.

I might be in for this, need to plug in some lights....

I have to stick to flat routes. I have the energy but I don't want to push it. Let me know when you do plan a flat route for sure. I may be at work a bit late anyway tonight to make it for a ride

@stef: If I have time for a flat weekend ride, I'll let you know. Kinda doubtful at this point, but hope springs eternal...

I'm out, sorry for the late late notice. I couldn't resist going out earlier today, and I ate shit on my mountain bike.

It was fun all the way up to then though...

As it happens, I need to cancel anyway and run home. Bugger.

I'll hang out at the Point until six, but then I'll scamper back up the hill.

I had a nice ride by myself, didn't manage to get down there until after 6.

During the ride I was thinking (and wishing for) a windproof cod piece attachment for my vest. Fortunately my winter time hair growth kept my head warm enough, so I reappropriated my hat.

@Eric: Sorry about that...glad your ride was decent, at least. Where'd you end up?

I think a Bicycle Times/Dirt Rag-emblazoned codpiece would sell like hotcakes. Especially if it had an internal pocket for those little chemical handwarmers. And sequins (for visibility).

Another reason I hadn't thought of for not borrowing hats.

I mostly wandered around the city, rode most of the carriage path type stuff in Frick and Schenley, rode home.

I was thinking about pitching the cod peice idea to Rivendell, they seem fond of weird single purpose protective clothing items (splats, windshield, rain legs).

I was thinking about pitching the cod peice idea to Rivendell, they seem fond of weird single purpose protective clothing items (splats, windshield, rain legs).

Hmmm...the Rivendell 'Sackville-Baggins' codpiece. I think it has potential.

Lmao at the bus stop. Thanks.