BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Streets run is fine if you are comfortable riding in traffic. There is a brief spot where the 885 ramp narrows the lane and you need to control-the-lane for a hundred yards or so, but then the road has at least a narrow shoulder most of the way. Be mindful that traffic moves faster than the posted limit, and some sight lines are less than optimal, and there are a few RR crossings. But overall it's not too bad. I usually take a detour toward the top to eliminate a nasty intersection at route 51. Take a left (which is really straight) at Springdale to Irwin to the light at rt 51, but go through the parking lot to the next traffic light to cross over to Grace street. Then you wiggle over to Curry rd. and into the park. Here's a link of how I'd do it. https://goo.gl/maps/gtXTH The other option is to go up 18th street and out Brownsville road. This has the benefit of not having too many directions to remember, and it's more like riding on city streets, but I think it might be more climbing. https://goo.gl/maps/NYqBi And the "T" gets you rather close to South Park too if you want the easiest way. Either way you should be ok.

Thanks a lot, Marko! I think I will try option #1 on the way out, maybe option #2 on the way home.

So this went well, in case anyone is thinking about riding out to South Park to check out racing action tomorrow. Baldwin/Streets Run were fine. Some typical suburban close passes, but nobody was going all that fast, and there was a decent shoulder most of the way. I happened to meet a South Hills resident as we both turned onto Baldwin from the trail. Pleasant company! We went straight through the intersection with 51 and it wasn't bad, except that the southbound approach is very steep. There were two cars turning left so we were able to go around them and thus start on the flatter portion just before the light.

A little bit late but... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5990461 -- I've lead this ride for PMTCC. It's OK for weekends. Not a lot of traffic. Look at sharp right at 14.5 mile mark. Just after it we passed South Park BMX track. You can make a right turn to Curry Rd (quet residential street I use always if I am going oposite direction) at mile 10.5.

Glad to hear you had a good ride.

Oh actually, we did take Curry Rd. Seemed much less crowded than Brownsville. Was especially nice to leave that way, as there was a big scrum of cars once the racing was done.