Bike Pittsburgh

Help! New Bike Commuter

My name in Maryellen I am 50 years old and I always drive. I want to get strong enough to ride my bike to work...

The problem is, I live in Knoxville and work in East Liberty. Is there a mapping program that would help me find the best route with the least hills? (hahaha)

Does anyone know the best way?

I rode my new bike today for 45 minutes on the bike paths by the mon river...feeling ok right now...

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

50 is young, but Knoxville to East Liberty is no joke, and getting home will be even tougher. But hang in there and you'll get used to it.

As for the route, I think the best way would be to head for Arlington and take that and Josephine down to the flats. There's a bike/pedestrian bridge next to the Hot Metal Bridge that will deposit you on the Eliza Furnace Trail. Go right. The Trail ends a little ways in a parking lot. You'll either have to ride for a few yards on Second Avenue or you can walk your bike on the sidewalk. It's set off from the road with Jersey barriers and I don't recommend you ride here as it's very narrow. You'll go under an overpass and find yourself at the bottom of Greenfield Avenue. Go left. I think its called Irvine. This will lead you to the Junction Hollow Trail, also sometimes called the Panther Hollow Trail. You'll see it heading off behind a basketball court on the left side of the road. This trail goes around the bottom of Schenley Park and deposits you down at the bottom of Oakland. Head Right toward Boundary/Neville. This will be the worst part of your ride to work. At the top you'll be at a traffic light at Fifth Avenue. Keep going straight and the next right is Ellsworth. That'll get you into Shadyside. After that I'm a little fuzzy. You want to get on Highland, but Highland passes over Ellesworth rather than intersect, so you'll have to veer off into Shadyside and find your way to Highland. A right, a left, and a left at Highland ought to do it.

I'm pretty sure this is as flat as it gets. It'll definitely take you longer than 45 minutes. Wear a helmet and bring some tools for changing/patching tubes.

There's some really handy bike maps recently printed that you can probably get for free at your bike shop. And of course folks here will be glad to help.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

I work up in Baldwin and live in Regent Square so I do a very similar ride every day..Ken's route is the easiest you'll find...in my opinion.
Getting home for you is a little tough. Josephine and Arlington are a nice set of hills to tackle at the end of the ride. The good thing is traffic along this route is fairly light, especially at the Eliza Furnace Trail and the Junction Hollow sections.

Try http://www.bikely.com it will allow you to draw your route online...very helpful

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

Do you have access to a gym, or maybe some free weights? I started working out with weights last fall as part of my efforts to lose weight. Now that I'm back on my bike, I see a big difference in my ability to climb hills. I'm 42, and I'll never be a speed demon, but the hills are definitely easier this year.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

can a person take a bicycle on the incline? that would be nice for the trip home.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

You can take bikes on the incline. There's some weird rules about it and one's easier than the other... surely this information is available somewhere. Anyway, I thought maybe the traffic you're likely to face between East Liberty and the incline, either through Downtown or through the Southside, would be intimidating to a new bicycle commuter.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

What organization might have information on bikes on transit in Pittsburgh? ;)

The Mon's rush hour restrictions make it the opposite of useful for commuting, but the Duquense seems pretty easily reachable via the South Side trail, except the trail gets pretty hard to keep track of right before Station Square. After that, it's Grandview and other roads to Maryellen's home. Seems like it'd make a beautiful end to the day.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

I forgot about the South Side trail.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

I lived on Mt Washington for a few years in college and never had an issue with the incline nearest Station Square. Even after riding it a dozen times per week, I get the names mixed up.

The one further down river towards the West End circle would give me friction now and again about bikes. I had some old teller there try to get me to stick around so he could call the police on me for trying to bring my bike on once, but that was years ago. I stuck to the Station Sq one and never had an issue, rush hour or not, just use the one with the wheelchair accessible compartment. They like it when you do that, even if there are no signs saying to do so.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

They just posted a sign about the handicap car a couple of years ago. You can see it in the header here.

RE: Help! New Bike Commuter

I use the bike racks on Port Authority buses a lot. While I don't have exact numbers, I'd guess that more than half of buses have the racks, and every new bus they get is so equipped.

From Knoxville, you can probably bike to a 54C stop, mount the bike, and ride into Oakland to Craig past Fifth, where you would exit, hop on the bike, and finish the trip. Just about anywhere along the 54C between Fifth Ave and Liberty Ave will get you close enough to bike to ELib. Unlike a bus-and-shoe-leather combination, you don't have to get real close for the bus to be useful. And the bus can deal with the hills for you, too.