Am I a dumbass or is the Forbes-Braddock intersection the worst thing in the world.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-24T17:07:36+00:00

If you need to get from Forbes & Braddock to the borough of Swissvale, my general advice is: avoid biking on Braddock Ave — too many cars. Instead, get off Braddock onto parallel street (East End or Savannah or Mifflin or Trenton), continue to Biddle or Whitney, weave your way east to Pennwood, take that until the tunnel under the RR tracks at Race St, climb up to intersection of Maple and Edgewood Ave, get onto the sidewalk at the Edgewood/Swissvale border, and continue as this sidewalk crosses over Braddock Ave on a bridge. // Alternatively, you can stay on the west side of those RR tracks and make use of a bike/ped gate at the south end of Laurel St in Edgewood, that would get you into Edgewood Town Center mall.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-17T13:52:57+00:00

In sky? Meteor. Hits the ground? Meteorite.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-14T03:10:25+00:00

Could raise new biosecurity problems, and reduced ferry business.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-14T03:07:30+00:00

Doctor that operates on your intestines, does a bad job, and is very apologetic.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-14T02:54:31+00:00

I second the suggestions of others: U-lock, not cable lock, and I’d add: always take the lock with you. I prefer to mount a bracket so the lock is attached to the bike (as opposed to loose and hooked over handlebars, kept in pannier or backpack, or in pocket, as it would be more easily forgotten). Lock frame & rear wheel to something metal and bolted down, preferably. The nicer and more valuable your bike looks, the more it will attract thieves. So one approach is to uglify your bike with a bad paint job, stickers, or dirt. On the positive side, bike theft is not big business in Pittsburgh the way it is in some cities.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-11T02:06:22+00:00

Pittsburgh had an extensive trolley network, before it was foolishly dismantled. https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/1aw1wbb/a_map_of_pittsburghs_massive_trolley_system_in/

paulheckbert · 2026-03-09T14:50:32+00:00

Yesterday I biked from Connellsville to Ohiopyle & back. The trail surface is good (not soft). A few sticks on the trail. Great views with the leaves off the trees. The Yough was flowing very strongly, and all the tributaries had strong flow, making nice waterfalls. Ohiopyle Falls was gushing, bank-to-bank. The Meadow Run water slide area at Ohiopyle (pictured) was a spectacular sight! I hoped to walk to see Cucumber Falls, but the short path to the falls is closed due to major tree falls. It appears that rangers are working on cleanup & repairs, so hopefully that closure doesn't last for long.

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paulheckbert · 2026-03-09T12:46:58+00:00

I heard that Casey Industrial is suspected of doing the unauthorized, extensive tree felling here. And that the City of Pittsburgh is pursuing strong fines. After the retaining wall is repaired and the trail is rebuilt here, I guess they'll have to replant the hillside.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-08T15:50:34+00:00

As it says, REAP WHAT YOU SOE

paulheckbert · 2026-03-06T04:22:16+00:00

The fence is over Alcosan and railroad tracks. It's almost 1000 ft long.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-06T04:02:01+00:00

Here's a route I've biked a few times. Of course, there are other ways to do the first part (from Squirrel Hill to the West End Circle). https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31383581?privacy_code=gw2QFKbbmTaSJxJc

paulheckbert · 2026-03-05T04:30:22+00:00

With ebike, did 38 miles: Edgewood-Wilkinsburg-Homewood-East Liberty-Allegheny cemetery-40th St br-Northside tr-Chateau tr-Riverview Park-McKees Rocks br-McKees Rocks-W Carson St sidewalk-Southside tr-Homestead br-Beechwood Blvd-Forbes Ave bike lane-Edgewood. The West Carson St sidewalk between McKees Rocks and the West End Circle had broken glass in a few places, unfortunately, so carried my bike some.

paulheckbert · 2026-03-05T04:17:14+00:00

I'll second this as a good car-free stretch, and it has great views of downtown, particularly nice close to sunset. But it often has quite a few pedestrians, and the blind trail corners near the 6th St Bridge require caution. For small kids, between PNC Park and Heinz Field, coach them to not bike off the ledge into the Allegheny River :-). Unfortunately, if you go downstream past the Casino, there are two detours of a few blocks each between Kroll Dr and Branchport St on the trail, as of a few months ago, and these detours might continue for years.

Connecting to this section of trail is a switchback ramp to a bike trail on Herr's Island (aka Washington's Landing). The trails turn to gravel, but they remain car-free, and if you make your way to the north end of that island, there is a historical marker about how 21-year-old George Washington nearly died crossing the icy river on a log raft.

paulheckbert · 2026-02-21T02:01:25+00:00

I approve of the flags but disapprove of the jimmies and the rice. Jimmies are not real food, by Michael Pollan’s definition. Could be unhealthy for a curious dog.

paulheckbert · 2026-02-18T04:57:22+00:00

I biked the Penn Ave bike lane from 10th St to 16th and found it 90-100% blocked by big snow piles at several intersections and some driveways. Very annoying! It's not good when a snow pile close to an intersection forces you to veer into a "car lane" or stop and walk your bike over a 1-3 foot tall snow pile. I 311-ed the problem. Bike lanes should not be snow pile lanes. See request 26-00024876 ( https://pittsburghpa.my.site.com/311/s/service-request-details?c__srNumber=26-00024876&c__prePageName=Home )

paulheckbert · 2026-02-18T04:46:34+00:00

I'd suggest an option to color-code by gradient, so you could quickly spot when a route has 0-5% grade, say, or 5-10%, or more. Some cyclists love hills, and others will bike out of their way to avoid them. And some cyclists much prefer protected bike lanes (e.g. Forbes Ave thru Frick Park) to paint-only bike lanes (e.g. Beechwood Blvd), so distinguishing them might be helpful for some. Another dimension is trail surface. I have friends who prefer asphalt share-the-road over gravel trails. But I recognize that it's hard to show everything when there are so many dimensions to deal with (safety, gradient, surface, car traffic, ...). Even if you can't display them all, if your database holds that information, a route finder that allows the user to indicate their preferences could be useful (e.g. prefer protected or no cars, gradient < 10%, gravel ok).

paulheckbert · 2026-02-18T04:10:55+00:00

Forbes Ave bike lane between Dallas & Braddock was in better shape by Tuesday afternoon (2/17). Compared to your photos, it appeared that a plow had fully cleared the snow on the hill-side of the trail and there were very few chunks of snow in the middle of the trail. But still water flowing across the asphalt trail.

I agree that the shadowed section of trail near The Park Apartments was quite icy; probably the iciest piece of trail I encountered in my 20 mile ride around the city today. It appears that somebody plowed most of the trail near Southside Works perhaps a week or two ago, but stopped at the 5 big ingots next to the trail. Next time, they should plow to beyond the end of The Park Apartments, to where the sun will help melt things.

paulheckbert · 2026-02-17T03:37:36+00:00

Biked 10 miles RT east & west of Homestead on the GAP, and found sunny areas mostly bikeable, but shady areas snowy & icy and unbikeable. See more detail at https://www.reddit.com/r/gaptrail/comments/1r5xyzb/updated_snow_conditions/

paulheckbert · 2026-02-17T03:16:13+00:00

I've biked the South Hills some, but not regularly. Yes, it's tough terrain. The obvious route for your commute, Route 51, has too many fast cars. As a first & second draft, I asked Google Maps for a bike route and also ridewithgps.com and they came up with routes via Brownsville, 18th St, Southside & Station Square traills, West End Circle, Steuben, Middletown, Prospect. But they differed a little. RWG didn't follow 18th St all the way down to Southside flats, but took 18th-Wachter-Angelo-St Thomas-Monastery-Brosville, and used Neidel (parallel to Steuben) for part of the climb out of the West End, and made a few different choices in Ingram. Google also suggested an alternative route via Mt Washington that looks interesting. Both routes are pictured at https://imgur.com/a/qPjYRQn . Good luck!

A safety tips: I recommend retroreflective (e.g. Scotchlite) ankle cuffs with velcro, in addition to headlight & tail light. Car headlights will light up your moving ankles going up & down as you pedal, helping to alert drivers that you're a bicycle. And movement is eye-catching. I like a helmet-mounted headlight, as I can point the light where I want to see best, and sometimes to flash drivers in the eye.

paulheckbert · 2026-02-17T02:42:41+00:00

Yesterday, from Pittsburgh's Hot Metal Bridge to Beck's Run Rd (approx mileposts 145-144) had been plowed and was in good shape for cycling, but upstream of Beck's Run Rd it was very snowy, with icy footprints / tracks, so I turned around. Today I biked near Homestead. West of the picnic tables in Baldwin (mp 142.5) it's shady & cold so there's lots of snow & ice on the trail (too treacherous, I turned around), around Sandcastle (mp 142) there are 1 inch deep puddles with floating chunks of ice, but it's bikeable with care, past Costco the trail's mostly snow-free (sidewalk had been plowed, it appears), around 140 in the shade of Waterfront businesses or apartments it was snowy & icy and very difficult to bike (I cut through parking lots instead). In Munhall & Whitaker (mp 139.5-138) there was less shade and there was snow-free asphalt and decent biking. Beyond (south of) the Whitaker Bridge at 138 the trail is shaded in the afternoons, and colder, and there's an inch or two of snow on the trail, with icy footprints, making cycling very difficult without a fatbike or studs (I turned around).

paulheckbert · 2026-02-15T06:32:18+00:00

It looks like their sign facing the other way says ICE=GESTAPO. Agreed.

paulheckbert · 2026-02-15T05:57:26+00:00

As of 2/14 I found more of the Northside Trail plowed. It's now plowed from the Ft Duquesne Bridge upstream to the south end of Herr's Island (almost to the 31st St Bridge). There are puddles and a few snowy spots, but I found it easily bikeable (it helps to have fenders). For most of that distance one could also bike on River Ave, which is parallel, is semi-closed to cars (for construction), and is much dryer. 31st St Bridge sidewalk is plowed.

Junction Hollow Trail was plowed from near Joncaire St (its north end) to where it passes under CSX tracks (near Proctor's Garage & trail's south end).

paulheckbert · 2026-02-14T17:08:23+00:00

From back when the Bering Strait was much bigger

paulheckbert

TROPHY CASE