Riding the New GAP From the Waterfront to Duquesne

The new section of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) officially opens this Friday, June 17. But that didn't stop people from giving the new trail a spin this weekend. I decided to take KJ down there this past Sunday.

We actually rode from our house down to the trail. For us, this is the biggest benefit this new trail section offers. We took a different route to get to the trail. From Squirrel Hill (the end of the Beechwood Boulevard bike lane) we rode down Saline Street, which takes us behind the Wendy's and Dunkin Donuts on Brown's Hill Road. We then took the upstream sidewalk (riding "against" traffic if you will) until we got to the Waterfront ramp that comes up from Amity Street. We crossed this ramp (there's a walk sign) and then rode down the sidewalk to Amity Street. We walked the bike across Amity Street, and then rode behind the stores. There isn't a lot of traffic here, so it is ideal for biking. This brings you out on Waterfront Drive, across from the beginning of the gravel trail that runs behind the apartments. We crossed Waterfront Drive, and rode the sidewalk to the Pumphouse. We saw quite few cars at the Pumphouse at the Waterfront, which has become the defacto trailhead for this section of the trail. We continued on the sidewalk until we got to the start of the main off-road trail at the bottom of the flyover ramp, across from Guardian Self-Store. The main trail is paved, but it is definitely not flat, and euphemistically referred to as "rolling". If you are used to the older flat sections of the trail (south of Boston, for example) you will be in for a rude awakening. We were contantly having to shift gears and apply brakes. Be especially careful not to accelerate too much on the downhills, because there are often sharp blind turns at the bottoms of the grades. Between the grades and the sharp bends, I wouldn't consider this section of trail particularly kid- or trailer-friendly.

The scenery on this section is definitely "industrial". It is interesting only because it is several hundred feet below Route 837, and an area the public normally doesn't see. A good part of the new route is fenced off from the adjacent industrial/railroad property. Although I realize this is required in order to allow the trail to go through, the fences are a psychological as well as a physical barrier, claustrophobic at times, preventing you from feeling you are part of your surroundings. The two bridges over the railroad tracks are similar. For me the scenic highpoint was passing behind Kennywood Park, and seeing the tangle of roller-coaster tracks from a unique perspective.

Even though this section of trail is considered "finished", parts of it are definitely temporary. This is especially true when you are riding in the Waterfront area itself. The official trail ends, then there is a short rough gravel section to take you to the road. You need to jump on the road for a very short distance before getting on the sidewalk for the ride around Mangagalia Steel to get to the pumphouse. The sidewalk is very narrow (by trail standards) and is effectively a single-lane path. To complicate things further, in some places there is a 3 to 5 inch drop off from the sidewalk to the grass, which makes it impossible to move off the sidewalk briefly to facilitate passing. My understanding is that this section is curently under review and improvements will be made.

My biggest complaint, though, is with the intersection of the trail and Grant Avenue in Duquesne. Grant Street is very wide at this point (4 lanes) and there are no lane markings, signals, or warning signs for the trail. We were nearly hit by someone making a left turn into the RIDC complex from Route 837. They had bikes on the back of their car and were looking for a place to park in the RIDC park (In Duquesne you should NOT park in the RIDC development. Parking is available in the Park-n-Ride lot on the other side of 837). There is a traffic light above the trail at this intersection (if you are heading towards McKeesport), but it is always red, very high up, and there are no buttons to manually activate it. Apparently it is a remnant from when trucks came that way. If you are headed towards the Waterfront, there appears to be two trails once you cross Grant Avenue. The trails are separated by a fence, but there is no signage to tell you which is the correct trail (You want to take the one of the RIGHT).

Bottom line, this new trail section is an important link to the trail leading to Washington DC. But it is just that, a link, rather than an interesting destination in its own right.

Bike Valet at the Three Rivers Arts Festival

Today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had an article about the valet parking service for bikes that is being run by Bike-Pittsburgh. It is located at the entrance to Point State Park, so you can just ride up and drop off your bike, and then enjoy the Festival. There is no charge for using the service (thanks to a grant from the Colcom Foundation) but tips are appreciated.

Blowout!

Sunday morning was a wonderful day, so I decided that we would take the bike to drop KJ off at religious school. We've done it in the past, and it is always a pleasant ride. Traffic is light, and most of the route uses bikelanes. The only issue is making sure we leave early enough that we don't have to rush to get KJ to school on time. School starts at 10, and we left at 9, so I thought we were in pretty good shape.

We had gone a little over a mile, cruising down Edgewood Avenue, when suddenly there was a loud Bang! from the rear of the bike. We've never had a flat sound that loud. I stopped the bike immediately. Our rear tire was flat. We were lucky that this occurred on a level stretch of road, when the road was lightly traveled. Had it happened during a rapid descent, we likely would have taken a tumble.

Years of experience have taught me that you should ALWAYS carry a spare inner tube, along with a pump and the necessary tools to change your tire. Make sure you have a tube for each size tire you are responsible for. Having a spare for your 26-inch mountain bike tire doesn't help when the 16-inch tire on your kid's trailer goes flat.

A first I figured that I had enough time to change the tube. We moved the bike to the sidewalk, took everything off of it (bottles, rack bag, etc.), and flipped it over to remove the wheel. It was then that I discovered that the tire had worn through completely. Even worse, the sidewalls had blown out in several locations, and the tire was unusable. The photo shows the extent of the damage.

We ended up walking the bike back to the house. Fortunately we had enough time that I could drive KJ to school. Later I dug through the garage and found an old tire of the same size (26x1.95) that I could use as a replacement. Unfortunately this replacement tire had more wear that the tire on the front of the bike, so I decided to move the tire from the front of the bike to the rear, and mount the replacement tire on the front of the bike. Your rear tire always wears faster than your front, so it makes sense to have your newest tire (with the least amount of wear) on the back. Once the tires were mounted and the wheels put back on the bike, we were all set.

Duquesne-Waterfront Trail Opens June 17!

UPDATE: The new section is unofficially open, and it is possible to ride it now, prior to the ceremony on the 17th.

The latest section of the Great Allegheny Passage, from Duquesne to the Waterfront complex in Homestead, will officially be open on June 17. There will be a ceremony at 10 am at the new Whitaker Bridge (one of two new bridges used to cross the trail over the adjacent railroad tracks).

Please RSVP to admin@atatrail.org or call (724) 537-6905. For parking, please enter at Guardian Storage (1002 East Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120) where you will be directed by volunteers where to park.

For us this is a HUGE development, because we will now be able to easily get to the trail from our house without using a car. We can either go through Rankin and over the Rankin bridge (which we haven't tried since the bridge was reopened) or we can use the Nine Mile Run Trail to get to the Homestead Grays Bridge, and then go across the bridge (usually by riding the sidewalk) to get to the Waterfront. From our house we can ride all the way to Washington DC!

Now we just need the last section of the trail finished so we can get to Pittsburgh just as easily...