Urban Ride, Two New Trail Segments

06/09/11 #220.4 25m

0800 yogurt crackers 1000 banana, granola bar 1145 strawberry pancakes (pamela's) 1400 granola bar, honey 1700 peanut butter, crackers, chex mix

Rode 25 miles in 2h12m, road bike, an urban ride.

Started at Western Penitentiary, rode to the stadiums then out to Millvale, had strawberry pancakes at Pamela's. I really enjoy Pamela's, the ride to breakfast is becoming a favorite. Sightings included a squad of four hipsters, each with a messenger bag with a blinky on it, but no bicycles. One hipster had a tattoo of the Boston T system on her calf, that was pretty cool.

Back to the Ft. Duquesne bridge, Point State Park, and then the brand new Strip District trail along the south shore of the Allegheny River, from the Point out to 24th Street.

The Strip District Trail (which I think I'm going to call the Strip Trail until somebody announces a better name) is a very nice paved trail, it climbs and descends - it's not a rail-trail - and it's a great addition. I do think that the section closest to Point State Park might pose a security issue for single female riders after dark - there's just a lot of limited sight areas around the concrete pillars of the overhead highway.

Left the Strip Trail and rode over to Penn Avenue, and rode through the Strip District to Blvd of the Allies, noticed that the Arts Festival is in town, rode down to Grant Street. There was a lunchtime concert in one of the corner parks, it was nice to see the sharrows marked on Penn, very cool ride with an urban vibe.

From Grant Street I took the Jail Trail down to the Hot Metal Bridge, noticed that the trail connector between the HMB and the new trail behind AEO is now open. Rode over to Southside Works, and realized < rant > there isn't much in the way of public waterfountains - or public shade, for that matter - in this development that I local government subsidized. < /rant off>

Stopped at Subway, which is often the best place for a bicyclist to stop - they're very cool about filling your bottles with soda fountain's water lever and ice dispenser. Cooled off there, it was a bit warm outside (88F).

Rejoined the trail at REI, rode north to Station Square, took the Ft. Pitt Bridge, noodled around Point State Park to see where it will eventually connect to the Mon Whorf trail, crossed the Ft. Duquesne bridge and returned to Western Penitentiary.

Interesting Sightings: saw a cool hard-shell locking trunk bag on a parked bike which would be great equipment for a commuter. Also saw a tandem recumbent.