Pittsburgh makes sense once you see where it sits. The city grew at the meeting of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which merge to form the Ohio, and the point where they meet is now a park with a fountain at the tip. Steep hills rise from the water on every side, and the streets climb them in flights of stairs, so that the old neighbourhoods look stacked on one another. More than four hundred bridges cross the rivers and ravines, and it is the sort of city where you cross a bridge without noticing.
Riders arriving from the south get the best welcome of all. The Fort Pitt Tunnel carries the highway under Mount Washington, and as you come out of its mouth, the whole downtown spreads out in front of you across the rivers, with the bridges gleaming. It is one of the great urban reveals in America. The Duquesne Incline, a cable car from the 1870s, still climbs the same hill, and the view from the top at dusk is worth the fare.
Steel once defined the city, and the old mills lined the rivers, belching smoke, but the economy has since turned to medicine, education and technology. The Cathedral of Learning, a forty-two storey Gothic tower belonging to the university, is a landmark of the Oakland district. The Strip District, along the Allegheny, is the old wholesale market, and its Saturday morning crowds, fishmongers and Italian groceries are a joy. Pierogies, a nod to the city's eastern European roots, turn up everywhere.
The ride out toward the Laurel Highlands is the reason for the visit, and it takes you into rolling hills, forest and farmland. Fuel and food are no trouble anywhere in the city and its suburbs, and parking a bike in town is straightforward. Rain is common, and winter brings ice and steep, slippery hills, so it is worth checking the forecast before a morning start. Spring and autumn are the best times.