2009, The Year in Review

It is the end of the year, and it doesn't look like we are going to be doing any riding at all in December. Our local squirrels seemed to have unusually bushy tails, indicating a harsh winter ahead, and so far that forecast has been accurate. We haven't been out for a ride the entire month of December, and judging by the amount of snow on the ground, it might be quite a while before we're out again (yes, I know, there are studded bike tires available. The dynamics of our tandem bike preclude using them). So it seems like a good time to review our 2009 riding season.


Ever since our first year with the tandem (2003), our goal has been to reach 1000 miles per year. As you can see from the chart, at first that wasn't hard to do. But once I started my new job in 2006, which requires working 3 weekday afternoons and one day per weekend, it got to be a lot harder to reach that 1000 mile goal. Last year was the lowest mileage we've had since we first got the tandem. This year we finally broke that 1000 mile barrier that has alluded us. I think the big reason for this is that we made an effort to stretch out our riding opportunities, particularly on the our local (non-trail) rides.

One of the problems this year was the shutdown of some of our favorite local routes due to construction. The Rankin Bridge has been closed for two years now, which makes it impossible to get from our house to the Waterfront shopping complex. This put a serious crimp on the 8 to 9 mile errand rides we used to do on a regular basis. The other construction was a ramp in Turtle Creek that blocked our 19 mile route from our house to Trafford. It isn't clear at this point whether either of these routes will reopen any time in 2010 (but we keep hoping).

The biggest improvement this year was the introduction of bike lanes along Forbes Avenue between Braddock Avenue and Dallas Avenue. Given that construction forced us to use this route more often, this was a huge improvement. It made the whole process of getting up into the Squirrel Hill area a whole lot saner.

Our favorite route of the year was a new route for us, a 15 mile “Y” route that goes up Forbes Avenue to Beechwood Boulevard, and down Beechwood towards downtown. When Beechwood gets to Fifth Avenue, we turn around and go back up Beechwood, crossing over Forbes. We stay on Beechwood until we reach Brown's Hill Road. We then turn around, go on Beechwood back to Forbes for the trip home. Most of this route is on bike lanes, and the “Y” layout gives us the option of cutting the ride short if necessary. Very little of it is flat, so there is definitely a good workout in there.