Options for Ravens fans in Pittsburgh
Since the Ravens-Steelers AFC title game this weekend will only take up a small slice of the evening, I figured I’d give a few tips for those whose non-football interest in the area might go beyond weird sandwiches. Here are some weekend options:
Walking/Transit
Growing up, watching the trolley on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was an unhealthy gateway drug into both jazz and rail geekdom. What I didn’t find out until a few years ago, however, was that Fred Rogers’ real neighborhood contains some transit that’s possibly even cooler (albeit sans theme music). Pittsburgh is home to one of the more famous funicular systems in the country, as well as some light rail, but it also plays host to a less famous (but nearly as cool) system of grade-seperated busways. One state legislative staffer even documented his daily experiences with the system as a whole. A (more-or-less-complete) map of that system can be found here.
Biking
Along with an emerging system of bike lanes, Pittsburgh has an older, more developed network of paved and unpaved trails. I could give a quick summary of those trail offerings, but these folks already did a much better job. One cautionary note: I don’t have any idea how/whether they plow or scrape these trails in the winter. For example, my run to work yesterday on the Jones Falls Trail was a mixed bag — snow was removed, but iced-over puddles remained. In a different (and more northern) city, your experience may be worse. Or it may be better. You have been warned.
Running
Along with the biking route options linked above, you can check out the usual online options for a bunch of improvised routes. There’s also a race if you’re willing to go out to the exurbs: I have to grant the organizers of the Bushwacker’s Nightmare Trail Run congratulations for choosing an excellent name. The race is Sunday at 10 a.m.
One more thing
If you’re not sure what non-game events to walk/bike/ride toward, and you’re short on time or morbidly lazy (the latter being unlikely for a reader of this blog), here’s an events link to get you started on your search. It’s been a couple of years since I last visited Pittsburgh, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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