BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

the road markers usually take a couple months to fade, so if day of is out, could always do something the following weekend.

hmm... I might be up for that, I'm not sure how this race will go yet. I'd be more proactive and organize something unofficial if I could be confident in my ability to function the next weekend. I've not yet gotten a good handle on my recovery plan, yet, either... The course involves the West End Bridge, and Birmingham Bridge, an appreciable amount of Forbes, Penn Ave, and Libery - typically roads I circumvent - are they not as bad in those locations as I think they are? (linky: http://pittsburghmarathon.com/Files/Admin/Documents/DSGPM-Combined-Map-1.pdf ) Looks like Race for the Cure is happening May 12, that might be The Big Thing in town that weekend, I don't know if there's more, it certainly won't overlap if it's still through Squ'ill. I know the spring starts to pick up outdoor events, but don't remember the order of the different rides/races/"fests". Is anybody interested in this?

pbeaves: The point is to crash it between the time they close all the roads and when they start the marathon...so you get 26.2 miles of car free riding.

@rice rocket - you do need to worry about police interaction, while most of the course is closed by volunteers, several intersections are closed by the authorities. Also the wheelchair racers go out early on the course before the runners, so anyone riding the route would need to ensure they aren't interfering with those competitors as well.

Hence the reason its called a "crash" ride... :) I'm sure the organizers would want you to fork over a significant sum of money to use their course. They did pay for it after all, why would they let any schmuck use it?

i know some of the event organizers use bikers to sort of marshal thier runs. easier to be amongst the runners than cars, and quick enough to notify event staff of trouble. a couple years ago, i helped run checkpoint clocks for someone on a steelers fun-run on the northside. was kind of neat, i basically sprinted a 5k.

Well, I volunteered for 2011 and 2012 Pgh marathon (going to do the same for 2013) at hydration station. We start at 5:00 am and about 5:30am-6:00am course is closing. But be very careful if you decide to ride (I saw riders and runners). Volunteers are setting water stations and walking across streets with water bottles (in boxes), Gatorade, tables, paper cups, signs, etc. Nobody expects to see racers. http://www.gopolar.com/teamfu/ -- is the club that officially marshal wheelchair racers. As per per Steelers 5K PMTCC is now doing check points and marshaling. :)