Maidei goes on a world tour-Part 1 of the Bicycle Mystery Tour

(1)A trip around Pittsburgh has to start near my home - but when Maidei saw the 37% grade, she said NO WAY. Not that I've ever once tried to pedal up this hill. I'm crazy, but not that crazy. But it wouldn't be Pittsburgh without some hills! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Avenue
(2) It wouldn't be Pittsburgh if there weren't cobblestones!
(3) It also wouldn't be Pittsburgh without a tunnel! Those we drive through though!
(4) Pittsburgh is trying to be a much more bike-friendly city. They are developing these trails that run around the edges of the rivers. They still need to connect them a little better.
(5) That's Heinz Field in the background.

Continued...

(1) (2) Pittsburgh is also known for the inclines. We went up to the Mount on the Duquesne incline.
(3) One of the prettiest views in the country. Then again, I'm pretty biased. The fountain at the Point is under repair. I would have biked over to take a photo there if it was working, but since it wasn't, we didn't head that way.
(4) Another view from the Mount as we made our way toward the other incline.
(5) A stop at St. Mary of the Mount, to prayer for a few less hills, seemed like a good idea.


Continued...

(1) Hanging in my pocket
(2) Heading back down on the Mon Incline
(3) Another Pittsburgh standard - a bridge. Depending on the source you read, Pittsburgh and its vicinity either has the most bridges in the world, in the US, or just a whole lot of bridges. :) This is the Smithfield St. Bridge. Some bridges are not very bikeable, some aren't so bad. This one is pretty easy to ride across. And to fall at the end of it.
(4) A view from the bridge
(5) View at the end of the bridge, into the city.

Continued...

Nice pictures. Did Maidei get a nosebleed from the heights? What an awesome view from the top of the incline.

Pittsburgh, hometown of Frank Lenz, amateur photographer who became a well known adventure cyclist in the late 1800's (fascinating story).

http://vannevar.blogspot.com/2010/04...kurdistan.html

(1)That's the incline we rode down on
(2) That's the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. I wish we had more time and I would have taken her around Oakland to see the sights there.
(3) She was very glad that my family does not live up on the side of that hill!
(4) She wanted to stop for a drink, but we had a long drive back to MD ahead of us!
(5) Oh no, another hill! yeah, it just drops off at the edge there. That's another hill I never rode up or down in my years of biking around that city. :)

The end...

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Originally Posted by kmehrzad

Nice pictures. Did Maidei get a nosebleed from the heights? What an awesome view from the top of the incline.

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I kept longing to have the legs I had when I was in my 20s and my only form of transportation was my bike or my feet. Dang I had some strong legs back then. I need to move back home! :)

My former roommate from Pittsburgh thought my reaction to the hills when I visited her was hilarious.

Did she get the Hot Dog Labia from that thumb in her crotch?
and (purely as an aside)why are there so many Burghers in the DC area?

That must have been a pretty empty car tunnel that Madei stopped in. There is no way one could stop a car in the middle of a car tunnel in Vancouver. She would be squashed flat.

Great views. She looks thrilled to see so much. :)
So how many road bridges does Pittsburgh have? Wonder if Madei has to top this one when she gets to Metro Vancouver. We have snow-capped mountains and ocean to see from our bridges..some which would be tricky or dangerous to stop on bike (or in a car).

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Originally Posted by Zen

(purely as an aside)why are there so many Burghers in the DC area?

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As the saying goes - can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting one of us. :) Due to lack of jobs in Pittsburgh, and the close proximity to this area. I can be home in 3.5 hrs, which is nice! I'd live in Pittsburgh now if a job was there for me to do, but alas, there is not.

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Originally Posted by Owlie

My former roommate from Pittsburgh thought my reaction to the hills when I visited her was hilarious.

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I have a few hills I LOVE to drive people down when they are new to the city. Of course requiring them to yell WEEEEEEEEEEE as we fly down them. Then people ask how it is that we can run and bike around there. Admittedly, I'd have a harder time doing it now, but you also learn that it pays to go a long way around in order to avoid certain hills. :)

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

That must have been a pretty empty car tunnel that Madei stopped in. There is no way one could stop a car in the middle of a car tunnel in Vancouver. She would be squashed flat.

Great views. She looks thrilled to see so much. :)
So how many road bridges does Pittsburgh have?

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Middle of the day on a weekday, and I'd just turned from a traffic light and was the first car at the light. Usually, we'd be sitting in traffic in that tunnel. It was just good timing.

I find conflicting numbers, and apparently partly due to what the definition of 'bridge' is, but I keep seeing around 2,000 in the greated Pgh area (Allegheny County). And that would include train and trolley bridges, I think.

Pittsburgh.
Makes me think of the kid Shane from the TV show Weeds.

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Originally Posted by Possegal

I find conflicting numbers, and apparently partly due to what the definition of 'bridge' is, but I keep seeing around 2,000 in the greated Pgh area (Allegheny County).

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Must include every dinky little pedestrian public bridge too. :)
I worked for an large engineering project where it was 1-km. major highway road bridge (with bidirectional protected bike lanes) plus 4 bridges, some of which one wouldn't even know they were on a bridge..it covered a tiny creek, etc.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

Must include every dinky little pedestrian public bridge too. :)

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No, I don't think so. It looks like there may be about 15 or so pedestrian bridges. I honestly don't know of very many of those in the area. It's a very hilly city surrounded by rivers, it requires a lot of bridges.

There are 446 bridges with piers and stands (criteria for calling it a bridge) located within the city limits. More than Venice Italy, making it the most in the world, according to a 2006 book about the city's bridges.