Buoyed by the popularity of its Three Rivers Heritage Trail Map and guide, Friends of the Riverfront has launched an online interactive version.

It has "a much greater capacity for listing trailside amenities and points of interest" close to where the Heritage Trail runs, said Tom Baxter, executive director of the organization. It's "the first adaptation of interactive mapping technology applied to trail use."

The paved trail travels more than 21 miles along both sides of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. It is popular with bikers, walkers, runners, anglers, birders and, in some places, rollerbladers. Baxter said more than two million people use the trail annually.

He said there are more than 200 points of interest categorized on the interactive map, adding that it has integrated features such as zoom, click and drag. It can print isolated sections, save favorite locations/destinations and provide contact information for all points of interest. He said it also has the ability to turn all features of the map legend off and on for ease of use.

Baxter said the organization anticipates an increase in visitors because of the "added efficiency" the online map provides to users. The organization's Web site had more than 17,000 unique visitors last year. He said printed maps are available at several hundred locations within the city and surrounding communities.

Friends of the Riverfront partnered with Bally Design Inc. of the North Shore and Southern California-based web design company Juxtaflo to design and create the online map. Support was provided by The Buhl Foundation, Allegheny County, Steel Industry Heritage Corporation and Visit Pittsburgh.

To view the new map, go to www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/map, or call 412-488-0212.

A retired couple, both avid walkers, asked me to remind bicyclists, "especially Pitt and CMU students," not to ride on sidewalks.

"But if they do, they should let us know when they are about to pass us, " said the woman, 73, a retired educator. "If they have a bell on their handlebars, and they should, they should ring it. If not, they should say they are about to pass and do so slowly."

The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she and her 79-year-old husband, a retired engineer, walk about 1.5 miles several times a week in Oakland and Squirrel Hill. "We take our lives in our hands every time we go out for a walk," she said. "We should feel safe and secure, but we don't. We've had a number of close calls."

The Eighth Annual River & Wind Challenge, an at-your-own-pace Metric Century (62.5 miles) round-trip ride along the Great Allegheny Passage from Confluence to Meyersdale in Somerset County, will be June 6.

The ride, a fundraiser for the Somerset County Salvation Army unit and its Service Center, will depart at 8:30 a.m. from the gazebo in the Community Park in Confluence. There will be stops at the Maynard Sembower Visitor Center in Rockwood. Lunch will be provided at the restored Western Maryland Railway station in Meyersdale, with dinner at the Community Center in Confluence.

The ride will cross former railroad bridges in Confluence, Harnedsville, the Pinkerton High Bridge and the Pinkerton Low Bridge between Fort Hill and Markleton and the Salisbury Viaduct in Meyersdale. The scenery includes the Casselman River and the wind turbines above Garrett and Meyersdale.

If you register by Thursday, the cost is $50. If you procrastinate, the price increases to $55. The fee includes lunch, dinner, fruit and drinks and a T-shirt. Helmets are required.

For more information, e-mail Holly.Skinner@use.salvationarmy.org or call 1-814-445-9232.