BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I've been wondering how to do this. One of these days I need to follow someone through there; I've been too nervous to try to figure it out alone for reasons including those you mentioned

If the gate is locked go about another 300 yards the the old bridge pier. The fence ends there and you can just walk around the guard rail and onto the sandcastle access road. I've hopped that for years and never gotten so much as a sideways look.

I have never had a problem there. I moved out of the way of a truck that was using the path beside the rail road tracks. I think the truck was a rail road truck. They said nothing to me.

When you go toward the waterfront, you want to take the first paved road to the left and in through sandcastle's gates. If I remember correctly, you make a right at the first stop sign and then you will have to make a left to take the road out of the parking lot. You are going the right way when you get to the speed bumps. That will take you to Costco.

If that gate is closed, just continue along the rail road. There is a low guard rail that you can hop over and continue onto the road with the speed bumps.

@ cburch & stefb thanks.

If the park is closed coming back from the Waterfront can I use the same route?

Yup just backtrack to the rail if the gate is shut

I had no idea cburch was posting a response at the same time. Sorry for the redundancy.

I enjoy how you two work in tandem

This link is a GPS track that shows the transition: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/40633038/

and this is a marked-up screen shot

Going from SouthSide toward Kennywood, you pass along the railroad tracks and Keystone Metals. Most people walk their bikes through there.

Pass under the bridge, turn left on a paved street, turn right into the Sandcastle parking lot.

To me, the SC/bicyclist relationship seems like a wink-and-nod. SC knows we want to go through there, but doesn't want to give blanket permission officially due to insurance and liability (my guess/rationalization). Generally I don't say hello to the gate staff, I might wave, I don't want to ask any questions because then they'd have to answer.

Inside the SC parking lot, there's a fenced-in, giant sinkhole shown on the graphic. Usually riders follow the route shown on the map, riding toward the SC main attractions until they're past the fenced-off sinkhole and then moving to the outside of the parking lot.

(The sinkhole, btw, has been an issue in the negotiations. While the local government has been saying hey SC open up for the trail, SC has been saying hey local gov't, how about fixing this sinkhole your broken pipes made in our lot?)

Continue around the outside perimeter road. Watch for the speedbumps.

A new issue is that with the 4' passing rule, with two-way traffic you can generate a line of cars behind you becasue they can't pass. If that happens I pull over and let them pass. I want to be a good interloper and cause no negative waves.

I'm in there a couple of times a week; others are in there much more, and I'm open to correction. But if anybody wants company on a ride through there, send me a PM.

cheers V.

I successfully hopped the gap again today. There was probably 6 other people hopping it also.

@ Vannevar the map really helps.

@Vannevar "A new issue is that with the 4' passing rule, with two-way traffic you can generate a line of cars behind you becasue they can't pass."

The posted speed limit is 15 mph. So it should not be a problem fr most bicyclist to maintain this speed.

Marv, I was slightly dazed and had a full bladder when I passed you on the south side trail. Hi.

@ stefb you were riding so fast I couldn't tell. After I passed you I ran into the Major Taylor group in the Sandcastle lot. It was nice to see all of you guys out riding.

Matt should have a couple nice pictures of a whole group.

Yeah I took a longer way to get to the finish. Oh well. You can never get too much practice riding on ballast.

@mikhail - where would the photos be posted. Also, I hope your bike is ok.

Bruce just redirected e-mail from Matt. I'll post it here via imgur.

Bike should be OK, the tech promised to call me some when late Monday. Thanks.

This is a registered workout.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/69876570

To stay on topic...

mr marvelous you should be able to see our path through SC.

That was a nice ride yesterday. I wish I would've been feeling better. Next time!