BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I lived in what is becoming the environmental charter school for a few years, and my wife and I both did the following:

Cut through Frick Park to get to Reynolds Street in Point Breeze (there are several options, depending on where you live--through Shadyside Academy, one of the side streets close to Braddock, or Tuscarora).

Follow Reynolds to its end at Beechwood.

Take Fifth Avenue for one block (you can also cut over Mellow Park and take the sidewalk a few hundred feet).

Take Shady to Kentucky. Follow Kentucky to Aiken, then do a little jog along Aiken to Westminster. Follow that to Amberson, then take a right, then a left on Ellsworth. Follow Ellsworth to Neville, then take Neville to Fifth.

Not the most direct route, for sure, but generally very quiet.

Hi, fellow Park Place-to-Oakland rider.

Brian's route is a good one. I usually take that one when I'm headed home. I didn't know about that little tricky part on Westminster and Amberson.

I often take a different route to Oakland. I offer no good reason for this, other than habit. Head out on Forbes, right on Dallas, left on Aylesboro, right on Shady, left on Northumberland, right on Forbes, zoom down the hill into Oakland.

I've been a total bum about riding in the cold and could use a little inspiration. If you would like a ride buddy, please email me. marymeg .... gmail ...

Westminster might be one way headed toward Aiken for about a block or so. Technically, you could ride the sidewalk for that block if that's the case.

On the return ride, you can take Pembroke, jog down to Elmer, and take that as far east as you please.

I always take the lane on Forbes outbound, the bike lane is bs. I take a similar route from Edgewood to the strip that Brian recommends. It's a nice route.

I also live in Park Place. If you are coming home during the peak of rush hour, sometimes the traffic on Forbes between Sq Hill and S Braddock is so backed up, you pass a lot of cars in the bike lane, so speed is not so much of a problem. Make sure your visibility is good from all sides (reflectors, lights).

I cut through the Frick Park shortcuts a lot, but you definitely need a good light at night if you use Hawthorne trail. Here's a map I made a little while ago of the 2 shortcuts I use from Park Place to Reynolds Ave.

Thanks everyone! I'm moving to Tuscarora Street so I think I'll just head north on it to the end, take a left then a right onto Ben Hur and skirt the edge of the park to REynolds. Follow that to Dallas, then Wilkins and then take a left onto Wightman and follow that till Forbes. I'd like to avoid most of Forbes in Squirrel Hill because there are a lot of car doors opening around there. I like catching Schenley by the golf course and then following that down to Schenley plaza and over to my office across from Heinz Chapel.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Note that the last little bit of S. Richland Lane before Ben Hur is actually a dirt path along a chain link fence behind the school. It's hard to miss, but it will feel a little bit like trespassing the first time you go through there. It is a well-traveled footpath with a tree root to navigate, but a great shortcut otherwise.

There are a lot of ways to other parts of town, so it's nice to break up your routine from time to time. If you don;t have a Bike Pittsburgh Map, definitely get one. Sometimes the co-op has them. There are some nice routes to East Liberty, Bloomfield & Downtown that avoid Penn Ave.

A small tweak may be to skip Wilkins to Wightman in favor of Beechwood to Northumberland or Aylesboro. That skips that Murray/Wilkins intersection that left-turning cars keep reminding me I shouldn't be traversing twice daily. I guess you could catch either of those right off Dallas too.

I commute from near Regent Square to the Cathedral every day now. I second the notes about taking the Frick Park shortcuts from Tuscarora, taking Ben Hur to Reynolds, somehow getting to Ellsworth, etc. If someone hadn't explained that route to me when I moved here, I never would have been brave enough to do this whole bike commuting thing. Even when I was much less graceful on my bike than I am now (which is still not that graceful), I really didn't have many bad interactions with cars on that route at all.

And that area of Forbes through Squirrel Hill used to terrify me too (this was only a few months ago, actually).

However, if you like the Schenley Drive ending to that commute, you might try taking Forbes all the way to Schenley sometime. I first did it one morning when I was desperately late, which forced me to finally conquer my fear of taking the lane and dealing with the traffic and the hill and the door zone and all that, and since then I have grown to love that route. I take it every day now because it's SO much faster, at least from where I live. Taking Forbes + Schenley Drive the whole way actually scares me less at night, too (with 294391 lights on my bike, mind you), although I'm guessing some people feel the exact opposite way. Either way, that route is not that bad once you get used to it. If I can do it, anyone can.

(I still avoid Forbes through the CMU area at all costs, though. We all have our limits.)

I've ridden the Regent Square Forbes route on the weekends a bunch and it's only coming into Regent on Forbes that scares me because of the bend in the road, the narrow bike lane there, and the debris on the side of the road from the trees. I just imagine all the distracted drivers who are looking down to deal w/ their ipods, cellphone etcs and have veered to the right a little too far on that curve. Other than that, the straight shot of it all is nice.

Fun fact about how I learned that route. Using the Bike Pittsburgh map at the time I made my way to Thomas Blvd (there was no Forbes bike lane at the time.) On my way home after using that route a few weeks I saw a Frick Park way finding sign that pointed me in the direction of Reynolds. I figured if I could find Frick Park I could find my way home.

Oh, yeah, that curve is scary. The bike lane gets way too narrow there, and cars coming around the curve aren't paying attention, you're right. The first time I rode down that hill without realizing how much the lane narrowed there, it was pretty terrifying. I just merge left and take the lane wayyyy before that, whenever I see a nice gap in traffic. I haven't had issues that way, but it does require a little assertiveness. I think it's also easier to do with a mirror since I can keep a close eye on traffic behind me; it would be harder to opportunistically grab a spot in traffic without that. That part isn't exactly what I would call "fun," though (although going down that hill fast is fun), so the Reynolds/etc. route definitely has its advantages.

One more question: for those of you commuting to work every day, do you ride in your work clothes? I'll probably do the Mr Rogers thing and keep a bunch of shoes in my cube at work and will use rain gear as coveralls to keep the road spray off of my work clothes.

Fenders and full mudflaps are a must. Yes, dress shoes are a given at work, too, also a spare pair of pants and socks.

I never wear work clothes for my commute, but I work in shorts and a t-shirt.

I do keep dry shoes and socks in my office for really wet days.

@erbfarm, at certain times of the year I have a longer, sweatier ride to work, so I usually bring a change of clothes and "freshen up" as best I can without a shower at work (some of us use unscented baby wipes or a washcloth from home stashed in a ziploc bag). It kind of depends on your line of work. Bike Pittsburgh has some really great resources for beginning bike commuters. In addition to this mesage board, check out the bike route map and the commuting 1-0-1 guide: http://bike-pgh.org/resources/gettingaround/

I live in Park Place as well and usually just take Forbes to the golf course both ways. I am usually traveling at off-peak hours though. I agree that it is a pain in the butt to take Forbes into the square during rush hour. I do cut through the park somtimes too. When I do I usually just take Reynolds to Dallas to Wilkins and either take Wilkins to Fifth and then Aiken to Ellsworth into Oakland or I take Wilkins to Beeler, then left on Beeler down to Forbes. Forbes usually isn't too bad at that point since there are two lanes and lots of lights and students to slow drivers down. Alternatively, if you want to skip Forbes you could turn left onto Forbes from Beeler and then go right on Margaret Morrison and cut around the backside of Flagstaff Hill through the little parking lot there. Anyway, have fun! Also, Mary, what days are you on campus? I ride in on Tuesdays around 11am and back home at 6:30. Email me