BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

When I cross that bridge, regardless of my direction of travel, I use the roadway. If you're traveling from the high side to the lower side, watch out for expansion grates, since it's easy to build a lot of speed. Otherwise, it's pretty much smooth sailin'.

How's the bridge from Clairton to Glassport? It seems like you could do a long mostly trails route around a huge loop starting on jail trail, continuing on Montour trail and then steel Valley Trail coming back?

+1, use the road either direction. I tend to take the full lane since the shoulder is always full of glass/gravel/gunk, and I think it is way safer than W. Carson in my experience. Of course YMMV. edit: @byogman, I've crossed that bridge many times without any issues. I plan on doing that loop at some point this summer when there is more light, we should plan to do it some sunday .

Benzo; The McKees Rocks Bridge is OK, especially during a non peak time. The trip from the end of the trail can be interesting, but I assume you know that routing. If you want to try something different, from California Avenue (NB) you can take a left on Davis, and at the end of Davis there is a short flight of 20 or so steps that will take you right to the north end of the McKees Rocks Bridge. Saves .75 miles or so of riding, including the downhill off Termon on bricks.

And, if you get tired of THAT routing, this is fun on a Sunday morning: from the trail at Alcosan, climb out of the valley onto California, then catch Lincoln into Bellevue. Follow this until it Ts in Emsworth. A quick left and then a quick right will put you on a wide shoulder on a downhill section of Ohio River Boulevard. I almost never recommend this section of ORB, but Benzo can handle it. After a mile and a half, take the only bike permissable part of the interstate here in PA to take the I-79 shoulder to Neville Island. Head to the north end of the Island, then take the Corapolis Bridge to Route 51. Montour Trail at Groveton is about a mile back towards Pittsburgh from there. I DO NOT recommend doing this route in reverse. The SB section of ORB here is uphill, cars are picking up speed after a long open stretch and there is literally no shoulder to speak of. This is a routing in the OUTBOUND direction only.

Road. @byogman Mountour Trail has a couple of gaps around miles 21.5 (real small one), 30 (also small), 35.5 (Library and Brownsville are pretty busy roads), 39 (Peters Creek Rd is ok to ride, just one not very pleasant palce to cross 51), and gotta be careful on Monongahela Ave. Otherwise it's all good.

For those of us who do not know the routing from the end of the North Shore Trail, how would we get to the bridge?

Marko82 "I plan on doing that loop at some point this summer when there is more light, we should plan to do it some sunday ." I'd love to. Definitely need to condition my behind with some shorter (but still longer than my current max length) rides first. Also, just for my info, how are the segments in terms of surface? I'm assuming mostly wide-ish dirt/gravel trail?

Yeah, the Montour is mostly crushed limestone. It's your typical rail to trail for most of its length with a few short street sections. As for the posterior, just ride, it will toughen up eventually.

@frisbee: Take the Chateau Trail to the end. Take a right on Westhall Street. Go one long block and take a right onto New Beaver (or just Beaver) Street. After a short block on Beaver, take a left onto Eckert. This the key connection from the trail to almost any community north, east or west. Eckert will take you UNDER Route 65. Just on the other side of Route 65, take a left onto McClure. x Stay on McClure when Woods Run Road veers off to the right. This is where McClure will rise for 3 or 4 blocks, but it is totally rideable, even for me! McClure will have levelled off by the time you get to Davis Avenue. For most purposes, I would continue on McClure another 2 blocks to Termon. A left on Termon will take you to a wonky intersection with California and several other streets. The "straight ahead, heading downhill fastest" road used to be called Termon Road Extension, but I see it now signed as Brighton Heights Road. This will take you the last 2-3 blocks to the McKees Rocks Bridge. Total distance from the end of the trail to the end of the McKees Rocks Bridge is probably a little more than a mile? Maybe up to a mile and a half? If you see my note above, you could take McClure to a left on Davis, cross California on Davis, and ride to the end of Davis, then carry your bike down about 20 steps. That them puts you at the end of the McKees Rocks Bridge as well.

45 mph, Motorhead blasting out the ipod cranked to 11.

Awesome, thanks for all the suggestions, I got this now. I'm kind of curious to try the routing up and over to neville island too.

For those who are interested in riding more once you get to the northern end of the Chateau Trail, here's an idea - do a loop through Riverview Park! Take the Chateau Trail to the end. Take a right on Westhall Street. Go one long block and take a right onto New Beaver (or just Beaver) Street. After a short block on Beaver, take a left onto Eckert. This the key connection from the trail to almost any community north, east or west. Eckert will take you UNDER Route 65. Just on the other side of Route 65, take a left onto McClure. Stay on Woods Run (stay low and flat) Woods Run Road veers off to the right. A few blocks on the far side of Brighton Road it will take a hard left. A couple blocks later it will V. At the V, stay right on Mairdale. At the first turn, turn right onto Woods Run. This will take you into the Park. The park has a nice 2 mile of so looped bike lane. It is very pretty. You can retrace your route back to the trail, or follow Perrysville (at the front of the Park) to the right, back into town via City Streets. That will drop you at Federal and North, across from Allegheny Commons, and near Allegheny General Hospital.

Swalfoort wrote:here’s an idea – do a loop through Riverview Park!

When my coworkers are brave enough we go the following route during lunch -- http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2210673

Let me know some time when you go. I've gone solo couple times but company is nice. Or maybe I'll catch you going the opposite direction some day (I kind of enjoyed the Federal Street Extension going up). Wonder if that descent is fast enough to get a good Doppler effect :)

@Mikhail and @byogman: that's pretty much the exact route my coworkers are planning to do on Sunday morning, except they will start from the park under the Birmingham Bridge in the South Side and end at OTB. Ride leaves at 10am sharp. http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2293764

Minor variation on swalfoort's route to the MRB: * After peeling left onto McClure, turn left onto Antrim. This has a brief (~ 100 yards) but significant grade. * Turn right onto Fleming Ave. Still going uphill, but much easier than Antrim; about the same as McClure. * At Davis, turn left and continue across Calif to the steps. This cuts off a small amount of traveling, at the cost of a hill you'll have to stand up in the pedals for a little bit.

JaySherman5000 wrote:Ride leaves at 10am sharp.

Sorry, I am going wiht PMTCC on Sunday (if going at all) for either 40 or 62 milers. 40 is hilly, 62 is more hills.