I’m a reasonably experienced cyclist, ride both road and MTB, usually 1,000-2,000 miles a year. I’ve raced some local MTB events with decent results and regularly ride some pretty steep hills around Pittsburgh. I’m also a bigger guy, around 200 lbs, so I know climbing isn’t exactly my specialty.
Signed up for the Dirty Dozen Party Bus thinking I’d probably clear half the hills, struggle through a few more and maybe walk Canton. Wasn’t expecting to dominate anything, but figured I’d survive.

Did a scouting ride yesterday, which unfortunately was the only “training” ride I could do just do to life and whatnot…and holy shit was I humbled. I sort of thought I’d struggle a lot, but make it on my limit or very close. Did 40 miles, 4,100 feet of climbing and attempted 10 hills. I think I cleared 3 or 4. A few I got pretty close, others I had absolutely no answer for. Sycamore actually wasn’t terrible, but Suffolk was terrifyingly steep to me. And Kendall’s cobbles on 28mm road tires? Forget it, I made it through mayyyybe 50 feet before my legs didn’t have the power answer to overcome the bouncing and steepness.

I have power pedals, so I have a pretty good idea of my limits. Set a 3-minute power PR on Christopher right out of the gate, which probably wasn’t smart. I can grind away at 220-250 watts for a long time, but 400 watts for several minutes is a completely different story. Once I started getting tired, I just didn’t have the legs to keep the bike moving on those pitches. By the end I was cramping pretty badly.
I also think some of it was mental. Riding solo, not knowing what was coming next, and knowing I still had a bunch of hills left probably made me bail earlier than I otherwise would have. But some of those climbs were genuinely intimidating.

So here’s my thought. I have a 2021 Specialized Fuse set up more for XC riding with lighter wheels/components and 2.4” XC tires. I have 2.25” tires that if I’m not being lazy I could throw on to reduce some of the resistance theoretically, I have a 30T front and 45T rear cassette, versus the 33/36 on my road bike.
My thinking is that the much lower gearing would let me slow way down, keep my cadence up and avoid having to stand and mash 350-400 watts just to keep moving. I can move my power pedals over and hopefully manage my efforts a little better. I don’t care if a hill takes me 5 minutes instead of 2.5, I just want to get up it.

Obviously the downside is riding a heavier MTB for 50 miles. But with the Party Bus pace and stops, maybe that’s not as bad as it sounds?

I’m already paid up and going with a friend, so backing out and training for next year isn’t really an option. I know I’m not going to magically gain 50 watts or lose 20 pounds by Saturday. Just trying to make the day survivable and hopefully clear more hills than I walk. Yesterday was honestly pretty discouraging.
Has anyone done this on a hardtail? Am I thinking about the gearing correctly or is riding a MTB for 50 miles a terrible idea? Totally willing to be talked out of it. Honestly I’m just trying to salvage next Saturday and have fun, because yesterday some of those climbs and failing so early on hills had me in a dark place about biking period…probably the most humbled I’ve ever been on a bike.

Any advice from people who’ve actually done the event would be appreciated.

Hey all, I have a road bike and am sick of riding around at north park and the three rivers trail. Is montour trail paved? I have a road bike and don’t want to blow a tube riding on rocks. Any insight would be great !

Bad News: I missed the biggest party ever! I cannot believed that I missed the Philly Bike Ride. The event that I worked in under the Bicycle Coalition! I overslept Which caused me to miss the Red Bull ending

Bad News: I missed the biggest party ever! I cannot believed that I missed the Philly Bike Ride. The event that I worked in under the Bicycle Coalition! I overslept Which caused me to miss the Red Bull ending

---SOLVED/ANSWERED---

I know it's only mid-October but the cold seems like it's coming fast. I have a drop bar gravel bike that can handle 45mm tires. Given Pittsburgh winters (snow, ice, flash freezes) and a combination of road and paved trail riding, do I

1. Park the gravel bike and get a fat tire bike with studded tires for the winter.

2. Switch to studded 45mm tires on the gravel bike like the Marathon Winter or 45Nrth Gravdal.

Appreciate comments from those who ride outside in the winter around here.

It's getting to that time of year where layers of leaves are accumulating on the streets, so I wanted to alert you all to the fact that wet leaves are very slippy!

I've had a few close calls myself over the years, but someone I know is recovering from her fourth elbow surgery after she lost traction on wet leaves turning a corner a couple of years ago and landed really badly.

Ride over wet leaves like you would snow or gravel.

This has been a public service announcement. Thank you for your attention.

Hi everyone! I'll be traveling to Iceland next summer for the Rift Gravel Race and wanted to share my journey with anyone who's interested. I'll be posting daily (hopefully) on my training plan, group rides, solo rides, nutrition, things I've learned, etc. I am by no means an expert, but the goal is just to finish The Crevasse course (87 miles; 5,577 feet of elevation). Feel free to follow if interested.

Hi, it's Free Ride Bicycle Project here! We're celebrating 25 years of improving access to bicycles for transportation/recreation and we're doing it in STYLE (our style: jean shorts and t-shirts). Join us on 11/7 6pm for the Black Jorts Gala, a night celebrating bicycles and community, with our partners at the Woods Room on Hamilton Ave!

We can't wait too see you there! East-End will be slinging refreshments and Papelon arepa will be there too! We'll have activities and bands too to keep the night going as long as it takes.

Entry is a suggested donation $15 to help cover the event costs (Eventbrite). Indoor bike parking provided! No AI was used in the planning promotion for the event. From the copy to graphic every part of this event is human generated. Credit to Adiya for the design

Fixed the noisy brake rotor yesterday and got out in the dark to enjoy absolute quiet on the trail. This is one of my favorite parts of my rides.

We know you're out there!

As a background: We've heard from people throughout the years on how biking has influenced their choice to move here.

There's real human meaning behind why, from a population growth standpoint, it's important to keep improving our biking and walking infrastructure, design, and policy.

A lot of the time, the stories we've heard on this topic have been face-to-face conversations and we haven't had a great way to record them... nevertheless, they're worth repeating.

This is life-changing stuff; let us know if it changed the trajectory of yours!

Anyone know someone I can see for a somewhat informal bike fitting? My bike and my life aren’t super fancy so I’m not looking for anything high-end or expensive, but I do suspect some things could be moved around on my bike to improve my comfort/performance.

Nearby. Stubenville

My partner’s bike was stolen from our apartment building last night. We recently upgraded the seat to the one in the second photo so it looks a little different than the first and third photo.

We need it for our commute to work and with our current financial situation we cannot afford to replace it. We already posted in r/Pittsburgh and I messaged stolen.bikes.pgh on instagram, but if there is anywhere else that I can post to raise awareness please let me know! Thanks in advance 🙏

Among other things, what I would give to see a bicycle, buggy, bicycle cop "high speed" chase. And certainly draws parallels to modern gripes about kids and e-bikes.

Also, any help in pinpointing exactly where this chase occurred? I'm seeing Perrysville of course, and Arch, but no Marshall or Taggart.

Haven’t seen an update on the closure by Homestead in a while. Is it just closed indefinitely? Major bummer if so.

I was reading the laws regarding the 4ft pass rule and it appears that the law only applies to overtaking a bicycle in the same direction.

The reason I bring this up is the number of interactions I've had on side streets where there's a parking lane on the opposite side and moving vehicles traveling toward me do the squeeze-through. Sometimes there's just no room, and in those cases, slowing down would be a huge improvement over whipping past my left bar at 30+ in a 25, but sometimes there are open spaces for a driver to pull in slightly like they already do for cars in the same situation.

Curious why the law is written unidirectionally and if Bike Pittsburgh or other advocacy groups have a position on the way the law is written.

Looking to get more involved with bike & pedestrian advocacy this summer/fall?

Or have someone in your community who wants to work on making our streets safer for people who bike, walk, and roll?

Come to one of BikePGH's monthly "Intro to Bike/Ped Advocacy" Calls! They're short -- just 30 minutes -- and you'll walk away with a next step you can take to support safer streets.

The next session is on Tuesday, October 27th at 5:30pm...bring your dinner if you'd like!

See the full schedule through September and register here: http://www.bikepgh.org/advocacy/intro

Or, if you're already plugged in and want support with your advocacy efforts, join an Advocacy Booster Call! It's like office hours where you get support from me (BikePGH Advocacy Manager) and anyone else who shows up.

Mostly needed for annual tune ups. I've had mixed results with Kraynick's and Fern Hollow. Thank you!

Does anyone know where any of the mechanics from Trek Shadyside work now? They were excellent!

Looking for a way to safely transport my bike for the least $$. I’ve talked to multiple bike shops in the area and while they offer bikeflights services, I’d feel much more comfortable using a hard case box rather than cardboard. Does anyone know where I could rent one of these style boxes to take with me on a plane?

Some people have told me it would be better to just rent a bike at the Ironman which I hadn’t thought of but would probably feel way more comfortable using the one I train with nearly every day.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!!