BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I don't really like riding on Penn alone.

You don't have to!

Friendship (or go a block north to Coral) > Left on Negley > Right on ELB > Right on (okay, okay) Penn for a block or so > Right into the TJ's parking lot.

Oh yeah I cut over too early the other day during rush hour and it was unpleasant.

Lolly, I wanna go to Trader Joes! I will show you the way I go:

I take Ellsworth through Shadyside all the way to where it intersects with Shady/Penn. The intersection is wacky, so if it's full of traffic and seems precarious I just get off my bike and take a 2-minute walk to Trader Joe's. It's a nice way to go, and you can connect to Ellsworth by Negley if you're coming from Friendship/Bloomfield.

I'll tell you what. I don't like the last little section of Ellsworth between (I think it's Spahr St) and Shady all that much. If you really want to avoid traffic, and if you're willing to go a little out of your way, take a right turn there, then left on Alder and across over to Shady, then ride down Shady. Then, I think you can cross into the Club One parking lot (on the sidewalk for 10 yds), ride around behind the building and wind up in the parking lot of TJs. Use extra caution in the parking lot though - lots of people hunting for spaces close to the gym.

hunting for spaces close to the gym

Which is usually terribly ironic.

Lolly, I just realized this is during the game! That might prevent me from coming.

That's okay! I'm still going. Maybe next time. Have a great weekend!

I ride from Friendship to Trader Joe's often and take Alder St as Lyle suggests. I take Harriet east, turn right on Roup, straight onto Negley, left on Ellsworth, right onto Summerlea, left onto Alder Way, straight onto Alder Street, left on Shady, through the Giant Eagle parking lot, then right on Penn taking the left lane for a very short distance before turning left into the TJ parking lot.

On the return ride, I believe you could avoid a bit of Penn by biking around the back of Club One and turning right out of their driveway. I haven't tried this: just a suggestion. Not sure if you can do it on the way in due to the cement median.

I always take that back way. Just be careful of the cars in that lot; they're meant to loop around so you could find yourself going the wrong way

@pseudacris, you can't do it on the way in unless you use the sidewalk or something else dangerous. Please use extreme caution on the sidewalk regarding motorists exiting the Club One lot, as they certainly won't see you.