The best place for that glorious first bike ride is now open for cruising.

Nothing comes close to the thrill of the first ride. It could be the first time you wobbled along after the training wheels came off, or when the ice and snow finally melt so you could venture out for the first ride of the season. Whether you’re eight or 80, we very happily encourage you to take that first ride on Pocusset Street.

The first of its kind in the nation, Pocusset Street is a successful experiment in ‘road shift’, a term coined by Bike Pittsburgh. The project, spearheaded by Bike Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh, was all about rethinking and resizing this paved surface, taking a structurally unsound and sharply curving through-street and creating a safe — and repaved! — avenue for bikers and walkers through Schenley Park. Linking Squirrel Hill to Greenfield, Pocusset Street has been shifted into a very sleek and safe thoroughfare with ‘lanes’ for bikers, wide shoulders for walkers, new LED street lighting, and reflective bollards that bar motorized traffic. Now, it’s a road for everyone.

The recent installation of the bright yellow candlestick bollards are the final pegs in this redesign. The project is a real testament to committed community members; with the support of neighbors, a road that would have normally been shuttered has contributed tremendous value to the park. On a larger scale, Pocusset Street is another step for connected bikeways through Pittsburgh and is definitely something worth bragging about on a national level (did we mention the perfect timing?)

Jump on Pocusset Street as the weather breaks for a cruise with a sweeping vista to one side and the park to the other. Bring along your friends, your grandparents, your little one with the training wheels — anyone you want along for that first ride.

Remember your first foray on two wheels? Roads like Pocusset make the parks bikeable and enjoyable for everyone. This spring, enable an awesome child to get out in the parks to ride a bike of their own through Variety the Children’s Charity “My Bike” program. Through this happy project, children with special needs are outfitted with a bike specially tailored to their disabilities. Currently, they have 150 souped-up bikes for eligible kids that fill out the application before April 1st. Spread the word!

Lauryn Stalter for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy