Western Penitentiary to Pamelas Pancakes in Millvale Bike Ride

4/7/11 #233
42 miles

Today was a great day for bicycling, 55-60F. As I drove out to my first ride of the day I met five young men with loaded bikes riding from Harrisonburg VA to Ohio. They looked like they were enjoying themselves.

The plan for my ride with M. was to start at the Western Penitentiary, ride to Millvale and eat at Pamela's Pancakes.

Western Penitentiary Trailhead

To find this trailhead, you could use this address: Valspar Corp., 2000 Westhall Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15233-1090.

Bike Trail Route, Western Pen to Millvale

Millvale Bike Trailhead to Pamela's Pancakes

It's a short hop through the town of Millvale to Pamela's Pancakes. Crossing Route 28 requires your attention, cars are going through there fast and it's a complex interchange.

When at Pamela's

Pamela's in Millvale is very cool, it's co-located with the Lincoln Pharmacy - old-world drug store counter service, etc. I ate the crepe-pancakes with strawberries and had coffee, which was perfect fuel for the rest of the ride.

After Pamela's

After Pamela's we rode back along the Allegheny to the stadiums, crossed the two bridges to get to Station Square (my favorite ten minutes of Pittsburgh bicycling), and then we rode down to SouthSide Works.

Southside Works Bike Trail

While we were at Southside Works we took a look at the new trail under construction which will permit a smooth transition along the river without bicycles having to mix with sidewalks and pedestrians along Tunnel Park. Basically, the new trail route stays between the river and the Hofbrau Haus / American Eagle buildings, and connects to the Hot Metal Bike Bridge.


Total mileage for the Pittsburgh ride was 22.1 miles.

Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail, Lisbon Ohio

Later in the day I met K. and we rode the paved Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail out of Lisbon, Ohio to Leetonia, Ohio. The south end of the trail has an adjacent bike shop (Donna's Bike Shop, very nice, friendly, well supplied). This is a very nice trail, well maintained; we rode 20 miles. It starts along Little Beaver Creek and has some very nice views.

I saw a black squirrel, which I'd only heard about for the first time last week.

There are a few at-grade road crossings that make some funny angles, so you want to be watchful. We saw probably thirty other people while we were out. Nice trail and I'll ride it again, I hope.



Total mileage for the day: 42.1