Darn. I though this thread was going to be about getting rid of the colored belts.
2011-07-20 15:19:13
14
Ridding the Colored Belts
So I was out near the Zoo on Sunday and decided to take the trek out to Oakmont more or less since I'd never done it. It probably the funnest part of the ride.
Somewhere in there I passed the Green belt, and that got me thinking... does any one (or is it even possible) ride the belts?
Seems like they would be a fun way to see parts of the city that I wouldn't normally get too... and relatively hard to get lost which for some of us (me) is a huge advantage.
2011-07-20 15:16:36
I r a gud spellller! 
2011-07-20 15:19:58
@myddrin: The Red Belt (Tarentum-->Ambridge, most times) is my default "I have no idea where to ride" ride.
2011-07-20 15:27:21
@reddan -- that looks pretty good (or at least this does http://ridewithgps.com/routes/249489 ).
Looking for a fun 60-80 mile ride for Sunday.
2011-07-20 15:42:56
Oscar Swan's book has plenty of rides that use the belts. (Great book!)
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~apd/Pittsburgh/Oscar_Swan_Bike_Rides_Out_of_Pittsburgh.pdf
I searched through the document to find the main "Belt" ride. It took about 5 minutes to find what I wanted because a typical page of ride descriptions will mention the belts half a dozen times.
Pg 36:
Yellow and Green Belts. Follow the Yellow Belt off Freeport Rd. all the way over to
the Ohio River at Glenfield, then left on Ohio River Blvd. to the Green Belt, returningall the way to Aspinwall (with the opportunity to cut short at various points, e.g. Rochester Rd., Babcock Blvd., Mt. Royal Blvd., Middle Rd., Saxonburg Blvd.) Up to [55 miles].
And pg 46:
Rainbow (All-Belt) Ride: This used to be my favorite longer ride, but due to increased traffic on the latter parts, it isn't what it used to be. Take Freeport Rd. to the Red Belt at Tarentum. The point is: to start this ride at the periphery of the beltways and then spiral back to town. Take the Red Belt to Ambridge-Sewickley, joining the Orange Belt on the bridge over the Ohio River to Coraopolis. Go through town and join the Yellow Belt. Follow the Yellow Belt south (major climb) to SR60, and stay on the Yellow Belt through Carnegie and Mt. Lebanon. Left on
Washington Rd.=West Liberty Ave. to the Blue Belt (right). Follow the Blue Belt along McNeilly Rd., Library Rd., Maytide St., Brownsville Rd., Becks Run Rd., to Carson St. (right). Take the Blue Belt into Homestead. Leave it at the Homestead High Level Bridge, and join the Green Belt into Rankin across the Rankin Bridge. Leave the Green Belt at Braddock Ave., which will take you to Forbes Ave. (left) and Squirrel Hill. [100 miles].
2011-07-20 15:55:21
Important to note: not all the belts are actual belts. Some simply begin and end in a nice gentle arc around the city. There was an earlier thread about this maybe a year ago, but the wikipedia page about the belts shows which ones complete a circle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_County_belt_system
2011-07-21 16:20:00
purple and blue are the only ones that make a full circuit. also the belts do go on the highways here and there. so plan accordingly!
2011-07-21 16:23:00
Pittsburgh has belts that don't go entirely around the waist? yeah, that seems right.
2011-07-21 16:24:45
I did the Red Belt ride with Dan and Nick and a couple other guys a few months back. It was a pretty nice ride, just wish I would have been in better shape.
2011-07-21 16:34:32
The belts are in ROY G BIV colors. R being
the furthest out.
Even if they are not good for riding, they
are good to get an idea of where you are (if
you are say riding north on saxonburg, you
cross orange then red, )... Some of them are
very very busy roads. I would just use them
as markers and ride around them, except
the red belt in certain areas
2011-07-21 18:22:38
Purple is roughly the periphery of Downtown.
Blue is roughly the periphery of the city line.
Green is roughly "where the sidewalk ends"; beyond this is suburbia.
Yellow is smack in the middle of 1950s sprawl.
Orange delineates 1970s sprawl.
Red delineates 1990s sprawl, and what's left of actual countryside while staying within Allegheny County.
2011-07-22 03:00:45
So I followed @reddan's Basic Red Belt Loop this morning.
Awesome ride!!! I only got lost once (getting onto neville island, missed a turn), so with getting lost and getting to/from parking probably added another 10 miles or so.
2011-07-24 22:03:36
Damn.
Last night I had my hopes up for a nice long ride... but I slept in, and this is all that could I manage:
2011-07-24 22:25:09