DH in Pitt

[PinkBike]

DH is gonna be in Pittsburgh for two weeks, and was wondering if bike rentals are available and if there's safe places to ride. anybody know?

is Pittsburgh Mid-Atlantic? Or is it Northeast? I'm geographically-challenged

[Zen]

is Pittsburgh Mid-Atlantic? Or is it Northeast?

That's a tough one. It's closer to the Ohio border than it is to me, and Ohio would be Mid-West, wouldn't it?

Pittsburgh is it's own region.

[Velobambina]

Pittsburgh is mid-Atlantic.

It's my hometown, which I miss a lot. Your DH will love it there. The people there are very nice, and it's really a wonderful city.

[Eden]

My hometown too, but I haven't been back there in so long I don't really know how to answer your questions! I don't recall anywhere where I felt was unsafe to ride when I lived there. I used to ride out on the roads all of the time and I was just a teenager. If he only wants to ride on trails all of the county parks have them. I think there's some new rail trails that have been built since I lived there too.
http://www.traillink.com/TL_Active_Pages/TrailSearch/default.asp
(looks like there's a lot of new rail trails!)

[Velobambina]

Thread hijack alert!
Eden--What part of the 'burgh are you from? I spent my infant/toddler years in Monroeville. IBM transferred my dad to NY, where we lived two years. I spent the rest of my childhood/adolescence in Murrysville. Rode a lot as a kid/teenager. That's why I'm such a good climber, all those hills in Western Penna. I miss it--living in DC makes me appreciate the sense of community and the kindness/unpretentiousness/good "blue collar" manners of Pittsburgh folks.

[Eden]

I'm from the city proper myself. I grew up in Carrick from about 4 until I left for college. I guess we lived out in Castle Shannon near my grandparents for a while, but I was too little to remember it. My cousins live out in the Murrysville/Monroeville area so I spent some time out there too.
I used to ride a lot as a teenager too. No matter how you sliced it I had to climb a big hill to get home! Too bad we didn't have anything like this forum when we were teenagers huh. I always used to think I must be just about the only cyclist in the city... 70 mile rides and I'd rarely see anyone else out on the roads (this would be back in the late 80's). All the kids at my high school thought I was pretty weird.... I don't think they could imagine much more than riding a loop around the lake at North Park on a bike...

[bike4ever]

Oooh I'm going to jump in on this hijacked thread: We lived in Mt Lebanon for 10 years before moving out west. All of our boys were born there.

[Velobambina]

bike4ever---you're lucky you went to the mid-west. I think it's probably similar to Pgh in a lot of ways. Mt. Lebanon is a nice area! Do you miss it? Probably not the potholes!! LOL

[Eden]

Interestingly enough way out here on the other side of the country, Seattle, is actually quite similar to Pittsburgh, just with Scandanavians and Asians instead of Italians, Irish and Germans..... Seriously though, Seattle is a hilly, neighborhood based town with a compact downtown and lots of green spaces due to the terrain. Everything's a little newer out here - not too much that goes back beyond the 1900's (a lot of what did exist burned down.....), so the look is not quite the same, but the feel is still quite similar.
(oh, but better weather - I don't miss the cold and snow, or the heat and humidity....)

[bike4ever]

Velobambina - Yes we miss the 'burgh. No we do not miss the potholes. Odd thing about Pittsburgh - crappy roads, very nice drivers. Now we have nice roads in St. Louis - terribly mean drivers.

We also used to live in Manassas - definitely do not miss NoVa. I do miss VA - grew up in Roanoke.

[PinkBike]

DH called this morning. someone loaned him a hybrid, he's at a hotel about a mile from the airport where he'll be working, and he says the people are fabulously friendly! he says the weather's great too, getting a dig in i'm sure since it'll be about 110 here!

[bike4ever]

PinkBike - If DH is out at the airport, he should be able to pick up the rails to trails network that is out that way. He can get many miles on these trails.

[F8th637]

Wow, just had to jump in on this thread because of all the places I know in it! DH is from Pittsburgh and his family still lives up there. He grew up in the North Hills area and his sister is now raising a family out near Monroeville. I live in NoVa right now. .and while it does have its perks I definitely don't consider it home. That's the Hampton Roads area of Virginia for me and we went to school in Blacksburg where Roanoke was our closest city.

On my last trip up to Pittsburgh I was looking at how hilly it is up there. If P'burgh doesn't give your thighs a burn, I don't know WHAT will. ;)

[bike4ever]

I remember riding out in the south hills regularly. There was one challenging hill that I always thought snails could beat me up.:p

[PinkBike]

DH just found out about the rails to trails today, he wants to check it out, but he's been putting in 14 hour days. he plans to take a day off sometime soon i think. thanks everyone for the input!!

[Possegal]

ok, i'm doing a terrible newby thing and resurecting an old thread. but i just had to chime in. i'm a burgh girl myself. i live here in the DC area now but i was born and raised in the south hills of pittsburgh (dormont) and i'm still back there all the time. last couple of times i did bring my bike back with me and i'm amazed to remember the ease with which i used to be able to go up those hills. and it is true, there is no way to get any where without going up a hill. :) thrift drug used to have a race there where the pro riders had to go up the steepest hill in the city (second steepest was about 4 blocks from my house and no, at no time did i bike up it, heck i don't often drive up it!) about 4 or 5 times during the ride. it was brutal. my sister used to go watch it all the time and i think it may have been the first win lance had after coming back from cancer.

ok, enough rambling, just had to chime in. sorry for reviving an old thread.