October 2020 Monthly Catch-Up

Summary

October 2020 was a pretty good month. I did not do big long runs on the weekends, but got a good fifteen runs done, with fourteen of them covering new streets. Final stats were 100 running miles with over 12,000 feet of elevation. I’ve made significant progress in north Pittsburgh, with 98% of the streets done from the Northshore to Riverview Park. I’ve also continued to cover southern neighborhoods such as Carrick and Lincoln Place. It’s been a beautiful Fall, with only a couple of cold days. Several runs swept through ‘stairy’ areas; run #319 hit at least half dozen long ones. For better or worse, there are several significant runs in this catch-up, so its rather long.

RATS #00315: Brookline, Overbrook and Carrick

https://www.strava.com/activities/4212640666 — RATS #00315

Starting at Brookline Memorial Park, I ventured down Breining to Briggs in that area of long streets. But Briggs turns into Seldon, which took me directly to the Fan Street Steps down to Glenbury. I’m constantly attracted to dead-ends, tunnels and steps. This had it all. I passed through the Glenbury Viaduct to find myself at the busy intersection of Saw Mill Run Boulevard and Library Road.

I noticed a line of steps up the farther hill and waited patiently at the light wondering exactly where they would lead. Those steps turned out to be Horning Street, off of Ivyglen. Horning keeps rising, even after leaving the benefit of the steps behind. At any rate, in keeping with the spirit of the run, Horning dead-ends at a cemetery, Beth Abraham Cemetery. I kept on its perimeter, looking in briefly where Ivyglen enters.

I wandered further into Carrick, eventually getting to Brownsville Road and almost stepping into Brentwood. Thankfully, a sign alerted me, so I curved back. The curvy streets twice concluded in curvy sidewalk steps along Ivyglen, once where Lodge meets Ivyglen and again where Odette hits Ivyglen. For some reason, Odette is not in Bob Regan’s book and not on the City of Pittsburgh’s stair list even though they both include the Lodge Street steps, a block away. They also both include the Sanderson Street Steps which have been closed since at least 2007.

With that I made my way back, peeking in on Pinecastle Street in passing.

RATS #316 Brighton Heights and Marshall Shadeland

https://www.strava.com/activities/4221953319 — RATS #00316

This was a five mile run on a chilly misty Autumn evening starting at Legion Memorial Park. I have mixed feelings about this memorial. While I have the utmost respect for those whose names are listed, I find the Disneyesque Mr. Universe sculpture almost ridiculous.

From there, it was just down Shadeland Avenue, then up Schimmer.

RATS #00317 Just a bit of East Street

https://www.strava.com/activities/4226476207 — RATS #00317

There’s a new run club in town – City of Bridges Run Club. This run was supposed to be with them, but I was running late. No worries, I just took on a small section of East Street, climbed Suffolk and got a Fineview. It was great to hang out afterwards, masks and all.

RATS #00318 Back to Carrick

https://www.strava.com/activities/4230823897 — RATS #00318

Another run in Carrick, mainly along Spencer and Kirk avenues. Eventually, I stepped out of bounds, dipping my toe into Baldwin Borough for a bit. It was dark, so I can be forgiven. Speaking of dark, they could use a few lights along Custer Avenue I daresay. I skirted a couple of spooky cemeteries along the way.

RATS #00319 – Marshall-Shadeland and Woods Run

https://www.strava.com/activities/4238684338 — RATS #00319

Hold onto your hats and handrails! This was an epic half marathon in Marshall-Shadeland and Woods Run. What made it so epic? The autumn scenery, the crazy number of steps, the half-marathon distance, the 1,768 feet of elevation, and finally the hills and houses! I also took an epic number of pictures, which I pared down to fit here, believe it or not.

First, some Autumn scenery

Now for some steps. Of these, Wing Way was pretty neat because it intersected several streets on the way up and had a little walkway to Courtright Street, which took me under the Shadeland Avenue Bridge. Malden Street Steps were also pretty cool.

Now for some houses and scenes along the run. The neat white house is in Highwood Cemetery, while the multi-level ‘chalet’ at first looks impressive, until you see the boarded up windows. The rather rural looking Courtright Street runs under the very urban Shadeland Avenue Bridge. Deck gargoyles added a little spookiness to the streets, as if they needed it.

Finally, I got a kick out of the intersection of California Street with California Street and I always love seeing the belly of the bridges, like large dragons sprawling across the hollow.

At the acute angle of California with California

RATS #00320 Sunday Afternoon in Carrick

https://www.strava.com/activities/4242858122 — RATS #00320

RATS #00320 took me back to Carrick. In particular, I wanted to finish up on some areas which had been cut short by darkness earlier. Unlike the epic run #00319, this one was fairly tame. A few steps, some deer and lots of suburban houses.

At the end, though, I got quite a scare. I had stepped out of the city again.

And that’s about it. November, with early darkness and poor weather was a struggle for me last year. Hopefully I can do better this year.

September 2020 Catch-Up

Summary

September 2020 was a pretty busy month with 124.8 miles run and 12,500 feet of elevation gain, the most since May. I ran often, 23 days with 17 of these covering new streets. I crossed over the 300 run threshold. With any luck, I’ll be done before I hit 400 runs, but that remains to be seen. I can see a flicker of light at the end of this project tunnel!

Unfortunately, my blogging hasn’t kept up with my running, so this catch-up blog will be a veritable book. Oh well, here goes!

RATS #00292

https://www.strava.com/activities/4012388510 — RATS #00292 in Squirrel Hill

This was a short run to cover a few errant streets in Squirrel Hill and Schenley Park. I cut through Frick Park, using Iron Gate Trail to vault me over the big hill separating Swisshelm Park and Squirrel Hill. By the time I came back, it was too dark to gallop through the park without a flashlight.

RATS #00293

https://www.strava.com/activities/4016390122 — RATS #00293 in Perry Hilltop

This was roughly a 10K to Perry Hilltop from West Park. It got started off with a sparkling sculpture, a yellow-eyed cat and a colorful backyard.

Then, I explored Irwin Avenue, which rises out of Central Northside. Surprisingly, it is blocked off for a few hundred yards and then jumps up to the top of Perry Hilltop on steps.

I zigged-zagged up here a bit, eventually finding my way to North Charles Street. Just before crossing the Swindell Bridge, I cut off to the left on Hazelton, to clear up that dead-end. Further along, up on the hilltop, I got a good view of the Swindell Bridge over I-279 and then wandered down into Fineview. That’s not something you hear much… “DOWN” into Fineview. Everything is steep over here. On one side, you have the ravine down to I-279, on the other the streets fall steeply towards Perrysville Avenue. Tall houses stare down from their perches like vultures.

RATS #00295

https://www.strava.com/activities/4025090610

This was a run cut short by tired knees and mistaken maps. Nonetheless, I made some progress on a few Shadyside alleys and small streets near Ellis School. By the time I got to East Liberty, though, I was done.

RATS #00297

https://www.strava.com/activities/4071163546 — RATS #00297 West Liberty and Brookline

This was a gut check run. It was late and I didn’t go far, but I got out there. I did finish off Flatbush Avenue in Brookline, but it was too dark to do much exploring and I didn’t stop long enough to take crisp pictures.

RATS #00298

https://www.strava.com/activities/4075550982 — RATS #00298 – Brookline

Another evening run in Brookline. This time, I made a beeline for streets on the left of Whited Street, as you go towards Saw Mill Run Boulevard. I really wasn’t sure what I would find, but found very residential, suburban streets perched on a plateau. There were tweens goofing off in the street, a couple walking their golden retriever and a mom walking up and down the street with a stroller and a chatty three year old; “Mom, why is he running THAT way?”

Coming back along Whited Street is NOT something I would recommend, especially in the darkness. At least, I could see headlights in time to huddle off the road.

RATS #00299

https://www.strava.com/activities/4079580634 — RATS #00299

This was a short run in the South Side Flats. Like a vampire, this neighborhood keeps coming back with some little street or alley I’ve missed. I’m really trying to drive a stake through the heart and get this area done. In spite of the short run, there was lots to see. Perhaps my favorite were the pierogie signs around Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church. Downtown Pittsburgh is just across the Monongahela River and the skyscrapers caught the evening sun nicely.

RATS #00301

https://www.strava.com/activities/4094305425 — RATS #00301

This was quite an adventure. I checked out one of the lesser known neighborhoods, New Homestead. It is west of West Homestead/Munhall, east of the Glenwood Bridge interchange and south of Sandcastle yet north of Mifflin Road. Looking at the map below, you might notice that there are three disconnected areas of New Homestead. I ran most of the northeast section.

Also looking at the map, you might notice a lack of streets. Okay, a lack of anything. Your observations would be pretty much correct. There’s just a number of long streets dotted with houses and large areas of woods. Deer were everywhere and seemed offended by me disturbing them. I actually parked in West Homestead, above a baseball diamond.

RATS #00302

https://www.strava.com/activities/4103987670 — RATS #00302 – Carrick & Overbrook

Run number 302 saw me back in Carrick and Overbrook. Unlike New Homestead, this area is dense with houses and people. Hills, steps, alleys, this run had it all. I don’t remember seeing many deer, though. I was amused by the war memorial in front of Carrick High School. Most memorials of this age have howitzers or bronze soldiers. This one had a bronzed shell. Many lawns were covered in political signs; often with neighbors cheering opposite sides. Just think how fun that block party would be! That cat, however, wasn’t the least ruffled as I run past it, huffing and puffing up the hill.

The Englert Street steps conveniently took me from Saw Mill Run Boulevard up the hill again, while the Dartmore Steps were just a convenience. Unfortunately, the Antenor Way Steps were blocked off, even though they didn’t look too bad.

RATS #00303

https://www.strava.com/activities/4108586048 — RATS #00303 – Lawrenceville

Speaking of neighborhoods which keep coming back with uncovered alleys and streets, Lawrenceville takes the cake. This five mile run just went round and round dim back alleys. Interestingly enough, it was busy enough, between restaurants and residents that I felt more comfortable here than in New Homestead.

RATS #00304

https://www.strava.com/activities/4115676785 — RATS #00304

This was a nine mile run (not to be confused with the stream of the same name) through Manchester. With this run, I’ve covered all the streets between the railroad and Chateau Street. This is a large, flat area. Mexican War Streets, with their 1890’s row houses gradually transform into sprawling mixed housing, newer three bedroom split levels interspersed with magnificent mansions. Some of the ‘mansions’ have seen better days.

Alleys are where you see the underside of a neighborhood. These show the old warehouse nature of the area. There’s also a major railroad line, below grade, which dominates the eastern fringe of this area.

But there’s a lot going on here. New construction isn’t too surprising given the great location and flat land. People have gardens and little libraries and seem to generally be active. I didn’t expect to see that huge rooster mural or a booming market along Juniata Street, but there it is.

RATS #00306

https://www.strava.com/activities/4125952429 — RATS #00306

Once again, I returned to Carrick and Overbrook in the evening. At this point in the month, I was really trying to complete a Strava Challenge (200km), so after doing Yale Street, I just went exploring.

Yale Street is in the same are as RATS #00302. One section has extensive steps leading up into Phillips Park, then it drops precipitously to Dartmore Street. Clawing my way back to Brownsville Road, I needed a couple more miles, so trotted along Carrick Avenue. It was fully dark and I wasn’t 100% sure where I was going. Nontheless, I ‘just needed to bear right’ a couple of times to take me back to Brownsville Road and into Pittsburgh again.

RATS #00307

Must say, I’m proud of this run. I planned it pretty well and stuck to the plan. It was a little over seven miles in Banksville where it borders Greentree and Mount Lebanon. It is a nice area with long winding streets. However, there weren’t many distinctive things to see. At the start, I did pass a soccer field off of Hillsdale Avenue, where a girl’s soccer game was in progress under the lights. They have a powerful PA system, and for the rest of the run, I could hear the announcers.

That’s All Folks!

So, there you have it. September 2020 in the books. I think this is the longest “Catch-Up” blog I’ve had and I might change things up a bit to avoid this in the future. Maybe a weekly blog?

At any rate, I want to run a bit farther in October and continue to efficiently cover streets. I’ll try to get into Lincoln Place, another outlying neighborhood, as well as continue to finish out the Hill District, Marshall-Shadeland and Carrick.

Cemetery Sunset

https://www.strava.com/activities/4041859021 — Route of RATS #00296

The sun is setting earlier. I’m not getting out earlier. The result? Lots of sunset and dusky runs. This short, steep run was in the Carrick area. Lucky for me, I wasn’t going up and down the hills, just across. Even so, I had over 100 feet of elevation per mile.

I started overlooking St. Adelbert Cemetery along Brownsville Road, then sauntered past backyards and into the cemetery itself. Just putzing around for information about it, I came across this “Pittsburgh Cemeteries” blog, which is pretty interesting. In an older section, trees have re-asserted themselves around the plots, making for a spooky evening scene.

I made my way down West Meyers Street. It actually dead-ends, for cars, but a little wooden staircase leads to the end of Mt Joseph Street. It was rather small, but is actually an official City of Pittsburgh stairway. From there the streets generally went “parallel” to Brownsville Road. “Pittsburgh Parallel”, that is; they followed the same contours and did not intersect. As is typical for the area, it is densely packed with two and three story houses. This one caught my eye, with it’s red and teal trim.

I worked my way back up the hill towards Brownsville Road, crossing Newitt Street from time to time. At the top, where it meets Bownsville Road, it has street steps. The picture of the parked car parked gives some scale for that slope.

The night came on fast and I didn’t get anymore pictures. But, it was a worthwhile run, covering some streets and chipping away at the vast network that is Carrick.

Picaso’s Dog

https://www.strava.com/activities/4008140074 — RATS #00291 – Looks Like Picaso’s Dog

A six mile run, with a few ‘targeted’ streets to begin and some exploration to end. Another Carrick evening run, which, in my humble opinion, traced a route which could be a dog drawn in Picaso’s style. Do you see it?

But first things first. My ‘targeted area’ was a small set of streets wedged between Brownsville Road and Becks Run Road. Athena Street was the entry-way and I was pleased to find some classical yard decorations right off the bat. Athena Street itself, was more of a country lane.

Athena Street took me to a small enclave of two and three bedroom brick homes nestled below it. Beyond the unexpected interruption of Nuzum Avenue, there wasn’t too much to see here. Once done circling the block, I popped out on Brownsville Road and hopped over to Parkfield Street. The drive behind Carrick High School is actually listed as a street, and, luckily was still open and had a nice view of the residential valley below.

Coming up Santron, I saw three or four tweens grass-sledding and giggling while moms watched for cars. “Grass-sledding” is a high form of sport wherein you take a large cardboard box, place it on the edge of a grassy slope, and whizz down gripping the sides, trying to stay on. It is summer practice for the winter sledding season.

Eventually I came down Westmont Avenue, meeting the Mother and Child sculpture, with its greenish patina as Westmont met Ravilla. Ravilla, which I’ve already traversed, does have a set of stairs smack next to a rather active house. I missed the steps my first time through, but today took them down to Almont. I encountered another lending library, very emphatic in its instructions to NOT BRING THE BOOKS BACK!

From here, I wound my way to Maytide Street and followed it to Saw Mill Run Boulevard. Maytide starts promising, with decent sidewalks, but as it descends, it deteriorates into broken sidewalks and then no sidewalk. There were a couple of step flights reaching up into the hillsides, but they had the “Thou Shalt Not Pass” bar across them. Saw Mill Run is not runner friendly. At least there are so many parking lots and businesses you don’t have to run in the street. This area has the prototypical used-car lots, with shiny streamers and lights. An older dealership had this mural, replete with the Pittsburgh skyline, traffic, houses and greenery.

Car dealer mural — Balcony overlooking Maytide

Now my dilemma was finding my way back. I spied some steps and made my way to them. The first set was confusing. They looked like bona fide city steps, but after going up, I felt like I was on someone’s front porch. That didn’t feel comfortable, arriving unexpectedly on someone’s porch in Carrick in the dusk without even a six-pack or bottle of wine to share. So, I went down and checked out the next set of stairs, Sinton Avenue. These even had a street sign so they must be legit.

Sinton Avenue went up several flights, finally dropping me off near the high-school. There was one, minor detour, but except for that missing block, they went straight up the hill. Love the street sign of Marland Way and Sinton Avenue where steps meet alley. It was all the more incongruous in that the alley had run out of pavement at this point and was just a grassy space between yards. Got to love the sign department.

That brought me back to Brownsville Road and the civilization of Dunkin Donuts. Another section of Carrick explored, another doughnut devoured.

August 2020 Monthly Catch-Up

Summary

This August was hot with fifteen days of highs above 85; and busy, with a move. While I love this project, sometimes it is a chore. So in August, I’ve been slightly more relaxed about running with friends or just for an adventure, without regard to the streets I’ve covered. I’m keeping my knee problems at bay with a combination of new pair of shoes and using KT tape. (I’m back in a new pair of Altra Escalante 1.5’s.)

I’ve made large strides of progress in the South Hills, including Beltzhoover and Carrick, and continue to fill in the gaps in the North and West sections of Pittsburgh. August’s 97 miles was considerably more than July, and doubled my elevation, increasing it to 11,189 feet. Of the seventeen runs I recorded in August, fifteen covered new streets.

Without further ado, here are the rest of the August runs.

RATS #00279

https://www.strava.com/activities/3909687450 — RATS #00279 Allentown & Beltzhoover

Just a short evening run to cover some streets before it got too dark. Looking at the pictures, maybe it was already too dark. Long dim streets filled with kids playing and adults coming home from work.

RATS #00281

https://www.strava.com/activities/3928625534 — RATS #00281 – Carrick

Another evening run, this one in Carrick with its busy streets and close houses. Georgia Avenue dead-ends into a ghostly cemetery, especially at dusk.

RATS #00284

https://www.strava.com/activities/3943240703 — RUN #00284

Hammering it out with the evening runs in Carrick. This one took me down Overbrook Avenue to Saw Mill Run Boulevard. The uphill slog was epic. Nighttime phone pics + running = streaks.

RATS #00286

https://www.strava.com/activities/3955466444 — RATS #00286 – Beltzhoover and Bon Air

Finally, a daytime run! This Sunday run was intended to clean up a few streets Erin and I had missed the previous day. Turns out, one of the alleys in Bon Air which I had ‘missed’ doesn’t exist anymore. No worries, there were plenty more alleys, with more cars rolling down them than you might expect! If it sounds like a broken record, it is… at least you can still hear “Tubby the Tuba” on Youtube. Between this run and the previous, I covered 95% of Bon Air.

RATS #00287

https://www.strava.com/activities/3961468743 — RATS #00287 – Brighton Heights

For a change, I headed north to Brighton Heights and traversed the small streets ending high above Route 65. These small streets are quite the mix and you can see the smokestacks of Brunot Island from several. Davis Avenue ends in steps down to Rt 65 and one house on Verner Avenue sported a manatee guarding its mailbox. That’s a first.

RATS #00288

https://www.strava.com/activities/3966234640 — RATS #00288 in Bloomfield, Friendship and Garfield

This was short run to catch some alleys in Bloomfield. Within the first mile, I had most of the target streets done, including all of Jordan Way in Garfield. I was surprised to find the painted doors along the alley. Not only were there dozens of bird houses in that tree, there’s also a “Little (Bird House) Library” in front of it.

RATS #00289

https://www.strava.com/activities/3983608398 — RATS #00289 in West Liberty

This last run, on the last Saturday of August, hit another section of alleys and streets in West Liberty. I think the auto artifacts along an alley’s garage and the yard decorations were the most surprising finds of this run. I get a kick out the various little libraries I see.

Finally, there were several sets of steps; long ones like Ray Avenue and Belle Isle Avenue. There was also a shorter set of steps, Templeton Street, but the lower section was too overgrown to use. Ironically, the City of Pittsburgh’s steps webpage give these a fairly high score. Here’s the Belle Isle set.

Here’s the Templeton set.

And finally, here’s Ray Avenue.

On to September

So, that’s all for August. I’m looking forward to cooler temps and a reprieve from moving boxes.

Carrick Buck and Bon Air Rooster

https://www.strava.com/activities/3949650172 — Route for RATS #00285

First blog in a few days. Sorry, I’ve been running. Going back to last Sunday, me and a friend, Erin, tackled Bon Air and more of Carrick. I’ve known Erin for a few years and she has progressed from a beginning runner to quite the endurance athlete. Just the week before she had done a multi-day run/hike in the Laurel Highlands covering over forty miles. Last Sunday, she agreed to tag along in my all the streets adventure.

We started at the tip of McKinley Park and immediately went uphill on Bausman. Before we got into Bon Air, I had to cover some streets in Carrick. Aside from Brownsville Road, there are only a few small streets which continue into this area. Romeyn was one of them. It is impressive how high the houses are off the ravine floor.

This part of Carrick is densely populated and filled with Pittsburgh four-squares on small, hilly lots. There are few steps, notably Georgia Avenue, which go two blocks uphill. Also, as streets come off of Brownsville Road, there are often steps such as these Moore Street Steps.

Deeper into the neighborhood, away from Brownsville Road, vegetation starts to take over again, both controlled gardens and the lush mix of trees, wild grape vines and invasive Japanese Knotweed which is so prevalent in Pittsburgh. The green hillsides host a surprising amount of wildlife. We saw this buck nibbling grass along the top of Georgia Avenue Steps.

Moving up into Bon Air, we noticed a striking difference. While there were still some large Pittsburgh four-squares perched high on hills, there were many small two and three bedroom ranch houses and split-levels. These looked like houses built in the 1950’s. The yards were larger.

The streets were also long and straight. As I’ve mentioned previously, straight streets are attempts by planners to ignore the region’s topography. They are invariably very steep. At the bottom of one section, along Drycove Street, we saw not only another of Tom Murphy’s “Project Picket Fence” fences, but also a curious block of grass with steps into it. A lawn pool? I’m sure there’s a better explanation.

Bon Air was pleasant, in spite of the hills. We saw the largest lawn Rooster I’ve ever seen, ironically watched over by sunning cats. Lawn decorations were everywhere. I was impressed by this patio garden.

There are several flights of stairs in Bon Air. If you’re adventurous and go down a long asphalt alley, you’ll get to the Bon Air T-Station. I’m not sure why, but if you scour Bob Regan’s book on Pittsburgh Steps, you won’t find “Caperton”, but you will find a set of steps listed between Fodyce and Conniston, which are the steps on Caperton Street.

After rambling through Bon Air awhile, we went back to Carrick. Here, brightly colored yard decorations and a exquisitely planted pool awaited.

At the end of Amanda Street, we only had about 7 1/2 miles in, so we explored some more. We took streets which plunged down to Route 51. One woman on her porch suggested it would be easier to roll down than run down. I think she was right. Not wanted to dodge cars along Route 51, we made our way along Noble Street, encountering a number of flights of steps. These were fairly long.

We finally made it back with about ten miles under our belts. I was happy that Erin came along. We explored an area of the city neither of us had been in before. After such an exploratory run, I start to mentally connect different parts of the city together.

Water Domes and Garden Hedgehogs

https://www.strava.com/activities/3870482463 — RATS #00276 – Carrick

Another evening run in Carrick. This time, I chose to stay south of East Agnew Avenue. I’m slowing warming up to this area, though should warn all potential runners that once you leave Brownsville Road, it quickly goes downhill, elevation-wise. The neighborhood is mixed, with broad streets and large houses followed by steep streets with small houses. There’s also a some suburban decay – a few residences are condemned to voracious vines.

But the real surprise of this run was how quickly I went from those residential scenes above to the water filtration plant along Madeline Street. These geodesic half-domes are part of Pennsylvania American Water’s system. American Water is a much larger company than I expected, supplying water to communities in 46 states. Alcosan, servicing much of Pittsburgh, seems to be the bigger water player around here while another water company, Penn-Wilkinsburg Joint Water Authority, services suburbs east of the Pittsburgh, like Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills.

I wandered between East Agnew and Madeline for most of my run. Redrose Avenue dead-ends but has a flight stairs coming down to Madeline. Later in the run, I found a curious set of sidewalk steps along East Woodford Avenue. They were sunken alongside a retaining wall instead of above the street.

At the end of Hornaday Road, I found an interesting collection of neighborhood delights. I could be wrong, but it looked like a garden, a playground and a Little Library all in one! That sounds like a fun place. I also came across a hedgehog shrine.

Little Library with garden and playground

I also encountered my share of house guardians. A few just stood stone-like, scared of me, I suppose, while many more voiced their disapproval that I was running by, or running by without petting them and giving them treats.

Crossing over Brownville Road, I discovered the streets on the far side to be steeper than the ones I had just left. West Woodford Avenue, for example, drops nearly 170 feet in two-tenths of a mile. Climbing back out of that well, I ran to my car and finished with five miles.

Bikes in Carrick

https://www.strava.com/activities/3860611348 — Carrick – RATS #00275

I’m not familiar with Carrick and this area has flummoxed me before. I find Brownsville Road to be dusty, dirty and busy. I’m not sure where to park or what my “boundaries” are, so every turn is a mystery. Brownsville Road isn’t too hilly, but everything else seems to be falling off cliffs. So, for this run, my mindset was pretty much “just do it”, without much expectation for a dazzling run.

In most neighborhoods, I like to find a quiet street on which to park unobtrusively. However, here, people park all over the sidewalks in front of their house and I haven’t seen too much public parking. I resigned myself just to parking along Brownsville Road itself. From there, I took a right onto East Meyers Street. Almost immediately, I came across Highnote Way. Now, this felt familiar; an “alley” that transforms from steps to pavement every few blocks.

I came out on Birmingham Avenue. Birmingham was my college town, (Go Blazers!), so I rambled up that street back to Brownsville Road, intending to complete the square. By the way, that’s my favorite derivation of the quadratic formula, in case you were wondering.

That aside, I found myself trucking down Linnview Avenue. Again, cars were parked all over the sidewalk. Everything was cool until I spied an energetic girl clad in all black peddling like mad up the hill towards me. OK, I got on the sidewalk. And she did too. Argh, I scooted out into the street at the last minute to avoid her. Whew! I did have to admire her, as that was pretty steep.

Zoom! She swished right past me again, this time with earned downhill speed. I KNEW this was a dangerous area!

Past Susie Speedster, Linnview dead-ends into a grassy patch overlooking Becks Run Road, far below. I meandered a bit down there among the short streets, hoping that “Parallel Street” would actually continue to parallel Birmingham. Alas, it does not, so I’ve have to brave Susie Speedster for another trip down there.

Along the way back to my car, I found myself on “The Boulevard”, a surprisingly open and luxurious street. Then, on Transverse, it was back to tight houses on big hills. This time, a young man was zipping up and down the road doing wheelies on his motorbike. These folks seem to have a thing for bikes.

Finally, reaching Leolyn, I popped up the steps back en route to my car.

I must say, my feelings about Carrick have ameliorated a little, but I don’t feel I understand this area. Not ALL of Carrick is dusty and dirty, but it remains one of the more populous and sizeable of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. I’m sure I’ll see many things out here, if only I can avoid being run down!