This is a Populaire sanctioned by RUSA. As such (a) You must join RUSA to ride it, and (b) it is not a Western PA Bicycle Club ride per se. Please register for this ride on the Pittsburgh Randonneurs website https://pittsburghrandonneurs.com/event/2023-100k-acp-populaire-03-11/

President Jim recently scouted the route, since he originally designed the route. He says:

I rode the “Near Pittsburgh Mostly Paved Trail” 100 km Permanent on Sunday 2/26, on which the upcoming Winter Warmup, Pittsburgh Trails 100K ACP Populaire is based. The Populaire version of the route is here: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41806952. Info on the upcoming Populaire is here: https://pittsburghrandonneurs.com/event/2023-100k-acp-populaire-03-11/

What’s Fun About this Route:
This route uses most of the riverfront trails close to Pittsburgh. It visits Allegheny Observatory on the Northside in Riverview Park, and you get the view from the only substantial climb of the day. You visit the tip of the Point twice, including the marker for the start of the GAP trail and the people watching opportunities. Where it’s possible, it uses trails on different sides of the river – this includes near Boston and near downtown and the Southside. I find the Color Park fun, and many views from bridges if we have any visitors. If you (i.e. me) are not riding for time, The Sly Fox Brewery is several miles before the end.
I designed this Permanent as a base miles training route that has virtually no dependencies on traffic conditions and can be safely ridden any time without worrying about traffic conditions.

Detours I hit:
– The Mon Wharf start of the GAP is closed for now. I used the marked trails exiting Point State Park next to the Wyndham to get to the jail trail.
– The Southside trail is closed on the Southside approaching Station Square in the section after the Color Park and Sly Fox Brewery. The detour in words is “head for the sidewalk on South Carson”.
Trail conditions generally:
– The mostly paved trails still have their many bumps due to tree roots and such, which are sometimes painted.
– Relatively loose gravel in two places – (1) on the trail passing the apartments at the Waterfront, (2) on the start of the bypass loop approaching Boston.
– The bypass loop approaching Boston has quite variable surfaces. A sort of smorgasbord of surfaces. None of them are very long. Few of them are smooth.
– The water taps are still closed for the season near Kennywood and at the Boston trailhead. This time of year, I didn’t really need them.
– The pit toilets at the Boston trailhead are open.
– The tea shop (Boston control) was open. They have a cooler with pop and Gateraid.
– I rode on a windy day, and I appreciated we live in PA and not Kansas. Our rivers swoop in curves, so even on a windy day the sections in the wind get broken up.
Bike selection (like a Zwift course review):
– While this course is mostly paved, it isn’t always smooth. If you have a gravel bike, you might appreciate the plushness of the ride of gravel friendly tires. On the other hand, I rode my Trek with 700×28 tires, since I value my big boy gears and my aerobars more for the flats than I do plush tires for the rougher patches. Anyone should be fine on their standard rando bikes.