Cycling Club
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The Ohio River Trail Cycling Club is a recreational club located in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metropolitan area that promotes health, wellness and fitness in our community through a variety of biking events. Our goal is to encourage cyclists of all abilities in the quad-state area to explore the wonderful opportunities of the region - from the Heritage Trail and roads of Pittsburgh to the rural scenery of the four-state area, including Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The bike club provides cyclists with a diversity of riding experiences. Ohio River Trail Council members can be seen on city bikes, comfort bikes, cyclocross bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes, recumbents, road bikes, touring bikes, and tandems. The club supports and promotes safe bicycle riding.
About the Trail Ride Series
The Ohio River Trail Council (ORTC) and the Western Pennsylvania Wheelman (WPW) have formed a partnership to develop a Trail Ride Series for the quad-state region. These rides are an opportunity for recreation, to explore new trails, and to discover ways to get involved in the many great efforts underway.
Beginning with weekends in March, two to four monthly rides are held along rail-trails within two hours of Pittsburgh. The rides will be between 20 & 50 miles long. They will range in difficulty from beginner to intermediate, being moderately paced on primarily flat or rolling hills. Rides usually stop for lunch at an outlying restaurant.
Example rides include the Allegheny Highlands Trail, Allegheny River & Samuel Justus Trails, Armstrong Trail, Arrowhead Trail, Bike and Hike Trail, Butler-Freeport Trail, C & O Canal Towpath Trail, Conotton Creek Trail, Deckers Creek Trail, Ghost Town Trail, Greater Wheeling Trail, Hoodlebug Trail, Little Beaver Creek Greenway, Lower Trail, Mahoning Shadow Trail, Maurice K. Goddard State Park Trail, Mill Creek MetroParks Bikeway, Montour Trail, Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, Oil Creek State Park Trail, Panhandle Trail, Pine Creek Trail, Sandy Creek Trail, Stavich Trail, Steel Valley Trail, Three Rivers Heritage Trail, Western Reserve Greenway Trumbull MetroParks, West Penn Trail, and Youghiogheny River Trail.
In addition, the Ohio River Trail Council supports two cycling tours. The first is a weekend trip to the Pine Creek Trail in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania and the second is a week long trip from Coraopolis to Washington D.C.
Want to join or find out more? Call the ORTC office at 724-728-2625, email Vincent Troia, Nathan Peluso or attend one of our council meetings.
Please refer to the Event Calendar, ORTC Google Calendar or Ride Schedule for event dates.
All are welcome! Come ride with us. In the event of rain, most rides will be rescheduled for the following day or week. Please refer to the ride calender for details.
If you have been inactive for several years or are currently under medical care, please consult your doctor before starting a new exercise program. It is highly recommended to always carry water and food. In addition, always carry a spare tube, pump and tools to replace a flat tire. A Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved bicycle helmet securely fitted and fastened is required on all ORTC Trail Series Rides. In order to participate in our events please print and sign the OHIO RIVER TRAIL COUNCIL CYCLING CLUB RELEASE and mail to ORTC 1100 Pennsylvania Av Monaca, Pa 15061.
Trail Information
FreeWheelling Easy: The Guidebook - Mary Shaw and Roy Weil
The Ohio River Trail Council (ORTC) strives to improve bicycling in America through construction of trails and paths. In addition, the Ohio River Trail Council Cycling Club promotes general bicycling advocacy on a national, state and local level. Cycling advocacy consists of activities that defend the rights of cyclists to use the public right-of-way roads for travel, to improve the conditions for cycling, and to make cycling more popular. Alternative transportation advocacy and grassroots activism is transforming our region to become a bike-riding haven.
Advocating for bicyclists is one of the most important goals of the ORTC. The ORTC supports the development of a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) for each of our partner communities. The Bicycle Friendly Community Program provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. A Bicycle Friendly Community welcomes cyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation. In order to make our towns and local streets more bicycle friendly, the club promotes safe bike riding for cyclists to local government, like providing bike lanes on city streets. Transportation planning must include how to design streets that will accommodate everybody: autos, bicycles and pedestrians.
The real power at the local level comes from the community’s citizens. Our governmental decision making process is dominated by people who show up. It is much easier for a transportation official to overlook the rights of bicyclists when there is no cycling advocate in the room. Bicyclists can have tremendous influence on the system. We each need to add just a little time, energy, and money and the gains will be substantial.
The best way to get involved and work with our local officials so they understand the importance of bicycling is to join the ORTC. We are supported by donations, membership dues, and volunteers. For less than the cost of a tank of gas, you can add horsepower to the bicycle movement.
The ORTC club members serve as ambassadors for bicycling every time we ride thus projecting a positive image of bicycling to the public. Always follow the rules of the road!
Copyright © 2009 Ohio River Trail Council
