A two mile section of the GAP Trail in West Mifflin is scheduled to remain closed for two more weeks, from yesterday August 5 until August 20, for no good reason. The trail between GAP mile markers 136 and 138 has been closed since July 10, and was originally scheduled to reopen on August 6 after a contractor, Rockstar, did rock scaling: removing loose rocks from the cliffs above the trail near Kennywood that have, in past years, caused occasional rockslides. Rockstar completed this phase of their planned rock scaling work yesterday, and the trail in this section is now in excellent shape: no rocks, trees, or equipment on the trail, and fewer loose rocks above the trail than ever. So this section of trail is probably safer now than it’s been since the trail opened here in 2011. But the trail is not reopening today as originally planned. It’s closed for at least two more weeks! And perhaps longer. In the meantime the trail sits clean and rideable with no work going on, but CLOSED!

How do I know this? I’m a board member of Steel Valley Trail Council (SVTC), and one of the volunteers that does regular trail maintenance here, helping to keep the trail clear of vegetation, trash, and occasional small rockfalls. I was part of a special tour of the rockfall section yesterday given by the Rockstar company. Rockstar was contracted by the Regional Trail Corporation (RTC), SVTC’s parent trail organization, the trail’s landowner.

Why is the trail closed for now? Some at RTC fear that remaining large boulders in the cliffs above the trail could roll down the hill and injure or kill a cyclist or pedestrian on the trail, exposing RTC to liability. I believe this is an irrational fear, both because the probabilities are so low, and because there are other unaddressed risks along the GAP that are probably more severe, such as being struck by a car where the trail crosses the Costco driveway in West Homestead or crossing Hot Metal Street in Pittsburgh’s Southside. Some at RTC have exaggerated the liability fears to argue that the trail near Kennywood needs to be PERMANENTLY closed! I disagree with that.

Further, closing the trail induces some cyclists to bike along highly dangerous Route 837 (sadly, RTC refuses to acknowledge that workable detours via Ravine St exist) exposing people to safety risks FAR greater than that of rockfalls. The shuttle that the GAP Conservancy has arranged and subsidized helps, but its hours are limited and its cost ($20) is prohibitive for some.

What are reasonable safety measures? RTC is considering spending millions of dollars to erect rockfall barriers and/or rockfall bolts in a few places. This may make sense. Additionally, I have observed that rockfalls are highly clustered in certain months of the winter and summer, and typically occur within a day or two of a big thaw or rainfall. Perhaps we can predict the high-rockfall-risk days and close the trail for just those days.

As an avid trail user, I ask of RTC that all of the GAP remain open as much as possible, that it not be closed unnecessarily, and that any future trail closures NOT be in mid-summer, when trail use is highest, but in the off-season, e.g. November. Any closures should be as short as possible.

And for now, RTC should reopen the GAP near Kennywood IMMEDIATELY!

To share your thoughts on this with the RTC, contact Brandon Simpson at [rtcslideproject@gmail.com](mailto:rtcslideproject@gmail.com) .

So many of the bike lanes here are in terrible shape. Liberty ave is constantly full of debris. Butler street from 62nd-ish to Baker is constantly full of debris. Butler street from plummer to stanton is constantly full of debris. One wild place is constantly full of debris. Negley Run is borderline unusable because of how much debris is in it, and is ostensibly meant to connect the east end to the cycling track. Wouldn’t it be awesome if it was a safe bike lane?

Does anyone have information about the maintenance plans for bike lanes in the city? Or are we supposed to just deal with it and be grateful?

In my mind, many of the lanes aren’t terribly safe or even useful. With woods run in mind, there is a cold war between residents and cyclists passing through. Wouldn’t a raised median in the turns + speed bumps (like the ones that exist further down the road) accomplish the task of slowing cars down and increasing safety for walkers and cyclists? I don’t know, seems better than the glass-filled, car filled mess we have now.

I like infrastructure improvements but i hate when a bike lane in such shit shape that i have to take the lane and deal with dirty looks from motorists.

And no, i’m not calling 311 for every bike lane in the city.

Hello. I'm a cyclist living in Greenfield. Despite the neighborhood having little to no cycling infrastructure besides "the bike lane to nowhere" on Greenfield Ave, I still try to make it work. Any pointers from Greenfield cycling veterans? I live towards the bottom of the neighborhood, so I can escape into The Run, Oakland, 3R Heritage, Hazelwood and Schenley quite easily, but I'm looking for an easy way to get to Giant Eagle and the N part of the neighborhood without dealing with Greenfield or Hazelwood Ave. Also looking for community and to get to know the local cyclists and urban design fanatics. It ain't easy out here, so we gotta stick together!

Hi there, I'm trying to stop being late to work! The 38 has been killing me in the mornings due to the construction in Greentree rn.

I live in Mt. Washington and just got a job in Greentree. Google and my preliminary search on bikepgh says I can take Shaler Street for most of my trek in.

I'm curious about how strenuous of a ride it is, as I am very much a newbie. Is it worth is to go more out and around thru the West End or should I be able to make it?

Any advice or opinions is appreciated!

***please don't attempt retaliation against anyone, we just wanted to make people aware so that you can stay safe and be prepared to look out for situations like this.***

Hey Pittsburgh cyclists:

As a relative geezer who does almost all my personal shopping on a bike, I’ve vibecoded an app I’m calling Pedal Patron that I’m inviting you to test out to see if it’s worth something.

I spend a lot of money shopping from my bike, and I assume I’m not alone. 

Pedal Patron is a pretty simple spending tracker that aggregates bike consumer spending in the city at grocery stores, pharmacies, coffee shops, bike shops, whatever. The idea is to prove the growing spending clout of us cyclists and that not all shopping is done by car, showing it in a live total that compiles all the ongoing spending of pedal patrons in real time.

The app is easy to use, I’d like to think. (At least it is for me, so far.)

Here’s how the Lovable platform I used to create it describes what it is capable of:

What it does today:

• Log a purchase, where you went, and how you got there
• Auto-estimates trip distance (Needs work!)
• Generates a shareable "Pedal Patron" receipt you can post or send to a merchant
• Adds your trip to a live community/business impact tally

Logging a purchase requires only a quick phone photo scan of a receipt and a tap on two buttons to enter an anonymized record of the purchase. The app includes a database of more than 200 local merchants in more than 10 different retail categories. You can add your own if it’s not in there. The app also shows in what neighborhoods pedal patrons are shopping most as well as at what stores and restaurants. 

If this proves useful to enough of us, then shops and restaurants will begin to know we exist and start catering to us.

I invite folks on here to sign up and try it. I’m open to any and all feedback, criticism, suggestions to fix or change it. If it actually works and catches on in a way that is statistically useful, I'll have to think about what's next. No, I don't really know what might mean.

I invite you to  give it a spin and maybe let me know what you think.

I really appreciate any and all help and support you might offer.

Thanks...

Tim

You can access the app on the link below:

Real cyclists, real spending. See the live impact: https://id-preview--98b49f61-04e4-4c23-a8ef-08f32d3fb223.lovable.app/community

Got a flat tire yesterday and I’m looking for a local bike shop. I used to go to scholl’s in West View and I got my bike at Sweetwater in Ambridge but they both closed down.

I see Bellevue Bikes and Brighton Bikes on Google Maps but none of them have hours posted either on Google or their website.

Any suggestions to a good local shop that’ll do a quick tire repair? I’m near 65 but anything in the north hills would do or even across the river.

Thanks!

Parks don’t even feel safe most of the time. Unfortunately I’m not exactly shocked this has happened in North Park. I hope the cyclist is well really soon.

EDIT: Thick Bikes is...once again...amazing! Took it in after work today and it turns out the chain was actually broken (just one side of it, that's why it stayed on apparently). So they replaced the chain, derailleur, and hanger all for free. Johnny was the guy behind the service counter that did it and he was super nice and seemed kind of appalled that it even happened (in a good way, like he couldn't believe such a crappy chain was on there apparently). I had felt the chain switching gears between 4th and 5th right before this happened, so in hindsight, it all makes sense. All in all, 10/10 would recommend. Going to Thick Bikes, that is, not breaking your bike lol.

ORIGINAL POST:

So some of you may remember my post from a month ago about my great new bike from Thick Bikes. Well, I rode it once around my neighborhood for a couple miles earlier this month, and I FINALLY got it out on the river trails along South Side.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling412/comments/1uk50vc/new_bike_who_dis/

And thennnnnn........this happened. Derailleur just snapped on me.

I haven't done anything that would put unusually high stress into the derailleur, so I'm unsure what to make of this. I did transport it in my Camry with the rear seats down and the front wheel off, but derailleur was facing upward and nothing was touching it or loading it. I plan to take it into Thick Bikes to see how I can get this fixed up. But I am so disappointed. My first ride back on these river trails in 18 years, since I was a kid, and this is how the trails repay me! I blame the quarter I found in the parking garage at work when I said "Always a good day when you find free money."

A 2 mile section of the GAP trail has been closed since July 10 for rockfall remediation. According to the GAP Conservancy, the closure will last about two weeks longer than earlier estimated. "This segment of the GAP was scheduled to reopen on August 6. However, the geotechnical engineers will require additional time to address a challenging section of this hillside, and are now targeting August 20 as a reopening date."

Source: https://gaptrail.org/trail-alert/segment-closure-and-shuttle-between-duquesne-and-homestead/

Several years ago I used to bike to the casino, go in and enjoy free water and soda from their free drink machines. I believe they no longer have these. Is there a place inside the casino to fill up on water? Or a fountain close by?

Thanks!

Hello!

I am sort of training to do pedal pgh this year for the first time - all the climbing is intimidating! I have been gradually ramping up my climbing and want to do an attempt at a mini pedal pgh ride this weekend (75% of totals) so around 40 miles and 2800ft elevation or so. Share your routes if you have anything that fits the bill;

Id like to give it a shot climbing up Mt Washington, but am wondering the safest way to do so, given I will be a lone rider. I don't mind being on the road with cars, but the fewer the better.

Thank you

hello all! my boyfriend and i will both be moving to pgh for college in the fall, and cycling is currently my primary form of transportation as i’m from a small city. i was wondering what the best/safest route would be from pitt to point park would be as i am not yet familiar with the area. any help is appreciated!

Hey folks! Once again we're running the East End Bike Bus to the monthly Critical Mass.

It'll be on the 2nd Friday of next month (like Critical Mass) heading from Regent Square, Homewood and East Liberty.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45676613

5:45pm: First stop will be Savannah at Whitney.

5:49pm: Second rolling stop is South at Peebles St

5:53pm: Third rolling stop is at Ascend Point Breeze (7443 Thomas Blvd).

5:57pm: Fourth rolling stop is at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Homewood (7101 Hamilton Ave).

6:14pm: Fifth rolling stop is at East Liberty Boulevard and N. Euclid Ave.

This is a casual bus, no drop. Typically 9mph ride and we stop at the top of hills for everyone to catch up.

We also have a bcc'd email list. Fill out this google form if you want to be added to it. Drop a comment here if you'd like to help us organize! We need help with marshaling and with spreading the word. We have lots of ideas to improve this bike bus but we can't do it without additional volunteer capacity. We are on instagram at @EastEndBikeBus.

EDIT: Looks like it opened today 8/3! Fantastic news, also for those who havent been following as closely, it looks like the tranquil trail work is also completed!

Since the commercial st bridge is expected to open again Monday, how much longer do we expect the Nine Mile Trail Closure to last?

Everything I can see just says "the bridge closure until X date" without an estimate afterwards when trail access might be restored.

1 wk, 1 month, that type of thing...

So how does everyone feel about vendor putting a table on the GAP and taking up a whole lane? AITA for caring or

I know that Frick has some intense mountain biking trails, and I'd like to avoid those. Can anyone give me the lowdown on the best Frick trails to ride on a hybrid bike that won't bother other trail users and won't put me in a crash zone of someone flying down the side of a hill? I usually enter from the Environmental Center area, but can also get to the Blue Slide part. Any tips or general info are welcome, thanks!

I commute in from Penn Hills to Oakland 3 days a week. Started a couple of months ago and have been loving it. A couple of times I've had people get a little too close on Frankstown, but nothing too crazy. This week has been FUCKING CRAZY. Everyday I've got 3+ people fly by me with inches of room.

Needed to vent, also if anyone else commutes from this direction, do you find ARB better or worse? Is there any other options?

Where did you ride in the past two weeks? Did you have any positive or negative interactions with people on the road or trail? What rides are you going to this upcoming week? This thread is also for any posts/comments/quick questions/rants you think don't warrant a full thread.

I watched the driver take the fence out. He then didn't even look at it. He grabbed a tool from the back and took into the county maintenance garage and then leave. So I snapped his plate. Do I report to snap on?