SW Pennsylvania: Motorcycle Heaven Or Maybe Not
We just didn’t see that many bikes over eight days in the area. Meanwhile, do you see that kiosk on the left? That’s a bus stop. On a busy highway. With no pull-off area for the buses. And there were Ubers picking people up and dropping them off along there not even at the bus stop. It was crazy, not to mention incredibly dangerous.
Judy and I just spent a week in southwestern Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh area generally, and while we were not on a motorcycle you can bet I was taking it all in from the perspective of a motorcyclist.
My initial impression was pretty negative but it evolved over the time we were there. In case you don’t know, it’s really hilly around Pittsburgh, and you might think that would lead to great motorcycle roads. It does. Sorta.
The thing is, in the immediate metro area there are a lot of hills and they’re very steep. Translation: Going anywhere but along the drainages is unfeasible. And in a metro area of 2.3 million that means a lot of traffic on not so many roads. Roads that would be gorgeous to ride except that on both sides of the highway it’s one big strip mall, there are frequent traffic signals, and the roads are choked with traffic.
We got a bit further out of the city, and more importantly, we got off the main highways. Now it was sweet. The hills were not as steep so you could go up, over, and around them, and there was almost no other traffic. Very sweet for riding a bike. But there were two problems.
First off, as we’ve seen in some other parts of the country, it’s all trees. There’s nothing to see but trees. On these small roads, even when you get to the top of a hill you have no view of the surrounding area because all you can see is trees. We rode along a river at one point and could hardly see the river because of the trees. In fact, as we saw later, it was the big highways like the US highways and the interstates that were just cut through the topology where you actually had views from time to time. Trees are nice but after awhile they get very boring.
The other problem was that while these little roads are great motorcycle roads, if you actually want to get somewhere, taking these roads is going to take you a very long time. It’s rare that the speed limit even reaches 45 and with all the winding around you’ll cover at least 150 miles going 100 actual miles. Terrific if you just want to go out for a nice day ride; terrible if you’re traveling and want to stay off the big roads.
Now, don’t get me wrong. We really like the Pittsburgh area. When I told the guys we were going to spend a week in and around Pittsburgh John’s immediate response was “I’m sorry.” John, you don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s a lot to see and do in this area and we had a great trip.
But is southwest Pennsylvania a good place for motorcycling? I really don’t know what to say. If you do, if you’re familiar with riding in this area, by all means, please leave a note and clue me in.
One other thing. We really just didn’t see all that many bikes. In mid-week we were in Altoona and in that little town we saw more bikes than we had all the rest of the week up to that point. Who knows why. But we never really did see all that many motorcycles at all. Who knows. Not me.
Oh, and one more aside. We got home Sunday, unpacked, ate dinner, and were immediately faced with a plumbing emergency. Welcome home.
Biker Quote for Today
When the road ahead seems impossible, start the engine.
