FreeWheeling Easy Bookstore

Mary Shaw and Roy Weil

Bicycle Guides to Western Pennsylvania and nearby areas

Guides are written with different audiences in mind. We group them in three categories: rail-trails, road rides, and mountain biking.

Rail Trails

FreeWheeling Easy is currently out of print. Some copies may be available in western Pennsylvania bike shops, outdoor stores, and bookstores for $13.95+tax. The 24 page Supplement is also available for $2.00 at many of the same places.  If you can't find it there, try the used books on Amazon.com, or send us an e-mail and we will notify you when the next edition is available: 

Roads

Bike rides Around Pittsburgh: 300 bicycle rides from 0.6 to 100 miles. Gives a brief description of the routes of 300 rides in counties bordering Pittsburgh. Each description is in paragraph form and contains necessary route information and total mileage. Almost all of these rides are on roads -- sometimes busy roads. A lot of the rides are on streets that I (Roy, the author of FreeWheeling Easy) would not be inclined to ride, but there are many roadies who can and will use this book. Check your local bike shops for this one.

The Western Pennsylvania Wheelmen have a collection of ride descriptions. Contact the Wheelmen.

Mountain Biking

The Mountain Biker's Guide to Central Appalachia: Covers a wide area, describing clusters of three or four rides in widely separated areas over x states. We find it spotty. If it has anything in the area your are interested in, there will be three or four good rides. However it only covers 16 areas in 4 states. It looks like they hooked up with local bike shops and included their favorite rides. Order it from Amazon.com

Mountain Bike Adventures in Northwestern Pa, by Barry Bryan, 1996. Find this in your local bike shop.

It isn't exactly a trail guide, but Tim Palmer's Youghiogheny: Appalachian River is a worthy complement. Palmer explored the Youghiogheny valley from its headwaters in the Maryland mountains to its end in the industrial borders of Pittsburgh. Join him to meet the land and the people of the valley, both past and present. It's an excellent narrative about a major stretch of the Pittsburgh-to-Cumberland Trail. Order it from Amazon.com

These two are actually walking tour guides to Pittsburgh, but their narratives provide insights that bicyclists will enjoy:

Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait, by Franklin Toker, 1986. Extensive identification of features of the Pittsburgh cityscape. Order it from Amazon.com

Seeing Pittsburgh, by Barringer Fifield, 1996. Identification and historical interpretation not as extensive as Toker, but the information is presented as wallking tours. Order it from Amazon.com