Local trail council gearing up for annual Yough N’ Roll

The bike rides will be followed by a Party on the Trail at the Boston Trail Access in Elizabeth Township.

The Mon/Yough Trail Council is inviting the public to its 30th annual Yough N’ Roll celebration Saturday at the Boston Trail access in Elizabeth Township.

Since 1994, Yough N’ Roll has been a popular annual event with area cyclists and families.

The day will begin with a series of bike rides ranging from a 40-mile ride for advanced cyclists, a 20-mile trip for intermediate riders and a 4-mile, family-friendly ride for families and novice bicyclists. The rides will all begin and end at the Boston Trail Access of the Great Allegheny Passage. The 40mile ride will begin at 7:30 a.m., followed by the 20mile ride at 8:30 a.m., and the family ride at 9 a.m.

Afterwards, riders and nonriders are invited to the Yough N’ Roll party at the Boston Trail Access from 10 am to 2 p.m. The trail council will be serving up free hot dogs while supplies last starting at 11 a.m. The event will offer musical entertainment, food, children’s games, raffles, a “Wheel of Fortune” game, prizes and more.

Exhibitors will include several local artists, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Bike Pittsburgh, Venture Outdoors, the Elizabeth Township Historical Society, the Western Pennsylvania Audubon Society, Rivers of Steel, the Allegheny Land Trust, the Garden Club of McKeesport, and the Council of Three Rivers Indian Center.

The trail council will also be collecting used children’s bicycles. The bikes will be donated to the Red Lantern Bike Shop, where they will be refurbished and distributed to children with limited access to bicycles. During the Yough N’ Roll event, Red Lantern will offer free bike inspections and will perform minor repairs and adjustments.

Author Bill Metzger will be on hand to sign copies of his “GAP Trail Companion.” “Conductor Rich” will be available to answer visitors’ questions about the area’s railroad history, the trail and cycling.

The Mon/Yough Trail Council was founded in 1991 and is one of the nation’s oldest all-volunteer rails-totrails organizations. They are the stewards of 15 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage.

The event committee would like to thank the many local businesses who have donated to Yough N’ Roll, particularly their “partner/sponsors” Levine Furniture and TBI Contracting as well as the event’s media sponsors 91.3 WYEP and 90.5 WESA radio.

All Yough N’ Roll events are free, and there is plenty of free parking at the trail parking lot at Boston Park. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Mon/Yough Trail Council.

For more information on the Yough N’ Roll Event or the trail council, go to the-BostonTrail.com.