Left Out

Whilst delivering on Girard Avenue today, I noticed some more shiny new paint on the road:

No, this is not instructing you to flip your bike.

This is a two-stage turn queue box. If you don't know what that is, check this out. Now that you know all about two-stage turn queue boxes, let's move on...

This seemed very curious to me, because Girard Avenue doesn't have a bike lane. This box looks very out of place at the normally busy intersection of 2nd St, American St and Girard Avenue:

Try fitting a Wash Cycle trailer in that green box. Not gonna happen.

There's a good reason Girard has no bike lane, as I've written several times before: It's. A. Dangerous. Street. It's ill-suited for bikes. Unfortunately three of my clients exist on Girard and another requires me to use it to get to them, otherwise I would avoid it like the plague.

So why, all of a sudden, did the city decide to paint one of these on Girard Avenue? I think I found the answer just a couple blocks down the road:

Let us never speak of the shortcut again. I really need to stop with all these Simpsons references.

I'm not sure if this is accurate, but this is my best guess: BicyclePA Route E, which regularly turns left at Lehigh Avenue heading South, has been detoured, and they decided to put in a bike box in an attempt to make things safer. There's been a lot of construction along Delaware Avenue/Columbus Boulevard recently, so my guess is that's the reason for the detour.

Really? This is the best they could do? Looks like I'll be waiting to cross the East Coast Greenway off my "to-do" list...

Oliver Clothesoff

For years, I've known about the Philly Naked Bike Ride, since 2012 to be exact. I thought it was an awesome concept for peacefully raising awareness for positive body image, environmentalism and bicycling and wanted to participate, but for various reasons, I was unable to until this year. It may sound crazy, but it was totally worth the wait.

For those of you who don't really know me, I've always been a believer in Naturism, but I haven't been vocal or "flamboyant" about it until recent years. I guess you could say, I grew into it? Or maybe I simply never outgrew "naked time." In any case, I've had several fantastic experiences where being nude was a casual detail (including naked swimming in Crater Lake two years ago), and add this to that list. After the first couple minutes at the starting point, I even forgot I wasn't wearing anything but my helmet and flip flops.

This was a showcase that the portrayal of nudity in our media and our society in general is not what it seems. It is not always a lewd showcase, but rather our body in it's most vulnerable, natural (and inherently beautiful) form. At no point yesterday did I encounter any disrespectful people, including pedestrians. Sure, there were a few detractors - like the woman who exclaimed "Hooooo baby, hide ya eyes!" - but they were not disrespectful. In fact, I saw at least half a dozen cyclists join the ride midway, stripping down to their birthday suits on the sidewalks and joining in as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Now it's time for some photos. I promise there's no full-frontal nudity:

The ride is dog-friendly!

Representing one of my favorite breweries

Myself and Anis, fellow Wash Cyclist

Early on, traveling on Market Street in West Philly towards Center City

Lots of great messages in body paint

Over 3,000 cyclists on our way to City Hall

Self love

A very creative body painting job

Think twice before you rent an IndeGo, or at the very least, bring a sanitary wipe...

Speeding down Market Street towards City Hall!

Rittenhouse Square

This is one of my favorite moments from the entire ride. These people were practicing cheerleading in the park, and we repeatedly shouted "DO IT NAKED!" They dismounted, the women took off their tops and they re-stacked. Beautiful. Thanks to the sun glare, you can't see the boobs on the woman on the right. I told you no full frontal. ;)

Love this pic. No words.

My message in support of macrobiotics and plant-based nutrition

All beliefs were well-represented, as seen by this Christianity supporter above

Another selfie, this time at Independence Mall

Forget it, Marge. It's Chinatown! Wow. Two Simpsons references in one post.

Many, many more pics and wonderful moments were shared, and of course, some bystanders were more than helpful documenting the event. WARNING - THERE IS FULL FRONTAL NUDITY ON THE VIDEO LINK (including me), just in case you're offended by that sort of thing, in which case, why are you still reading?

I can't say enough what a truly a wonderful experience this was, and I will do it again. I encourage all of you to consider joining next year. You DO NOT have to be naked to participate, and you will remember it for the rest of your life. I know I will.

A Not so Quick Fix

Always double check your (and others') work...

Several weeks ago, I noticed a strange "wobble" in my rear tire. I can fix most problems with my bike within a few minutes, a half hour at most. This one, though, continued to stump me for several days, so I finally caved and took it to a bike shop. Kayuh Bicycles, the place closest to where I work, seemed appropriate:

I'd never been there before. When I walked in, I found out that they're opening the front area as a cafe, so that'll be pretty sweet when it's up and running, no pun intended. Anywho...

They took it apart and it turned out that I had a warped axle. I guess that was to be expected, as the bike was already almost 20 years old by the time I got a hold of it last Summer. A 20-minute repair, out the door. Boom.

After a long and aggressive ride on Sunday, the wobble returned, so I returned to Kayuh after work on Monday. They said it probably "settled" and just came loose. They tightened a couple things up, and boom. Done. I left quickly, as I had to grab lunch before a meeting and my afternoon job.

On my way home, I felt a rub, and noticed that the rear brake was now rubbing the rim. No big deal, right? I re-calibrated the brakes when I got home, and everything was fine.

Except that an hour later, the wobble returned, even worse this time. I'm guessing when Kayuh fixed the wheel the second time, it stayed in place because the brake was holding it there. Either that, or the wheel wasn't completely tightened. Luckily, my afternoon job isn't far from my home and another bike shop, Liberty Bell Bicycle:

Of note, they used an air wrench instead of a hand crank, and it worked. It's been alright ever since, and most importantly, I'll be ready to ride naked on Saturday. ;)

This is not to insult Kayuh, because they're nice guys and until I beat the shit out of my bike on Sunday, their fix was working fine. I'm just saying it always helps to double-check your bike before you leave the shop. In this case, it didn't cause any major issues (thankfully).

UPDATE: So, it turns out I did have a serious issue, most likely exacerbated by these recurring trips to the bike shops. My rear hub was completely blown out, caused by over-tightening and then re-tightening. It started acting funny again on Friday, and when I attempted to tighten things back up again, it actually became looser. $25 and a new wheel later, I'm FINALLY free of this beast of a problem that should have been solved on the first fix. Jerks.

Nice Guys Finish Last

It's become like a broken record at this point (for those of you who know what a record is), but aggressive drivers are a fact of life as a city cyclist. I encounter several every day, most often when I'm working. Peeps really don't like driving slowly behind a bike trailer full of laundry, though sometimes I question their driving skills when I clearly have left enough room for them to pass. Anyway...

I was on Master Street, not far from our Thompson Street laundromat, when a gray pickup pulled up behind me and laid on his horn. Normally, I ignore these outbursts when I'm working (gotta represent the company properly, right?), but for whatever reason, I caved today. There was no space to pull over, so I pulled on to the sidewalk when I crossed the next intersection.

I should have waited for him to pass and got back on the street, but I decided to continue on the sidewalk. I mean, I didn't have far to go. Unfortunately, a top-heavy trailer, a narrow sidewalk and uneven terrain make for a terrible mixture. Funny thing is, I was actually walking the bike when this happened:

This isn't the first time I've toppled a trailer, and it sure won't be the last, but it could have been avoided. After spending 10 or so minutes disassembling, unpacking, reassembling and repacking the trailer, I was up and running again. Next time, I'll be a jerk, stay riding in the street and save myself the aggravation. Drivers can wait.

Positive Reflection

Back in May, I wrote about a roadside memorial for a cyclist killed at the intersection of Ridge and Girard Avenues, very close to the laundromat where I work. I bike through that intersection several times daily, and it's certainly a rough spot. I mean look at this list:

• Trolley tracks and several asphalt ripples surrounding them
• "No Left Turn" signs that everyone ignores
• Traffic entering and exiting a gas station on the northwest corner of the intersection
• A sizable sinkhole that hasn't been filled for months (you'll see it below)
• During the school year, Girard College students and busses in addition to the usual complement of pedestrians and traffic

All these problems are not solved, and likely won't be any time soon, but I saw a rather obvious step in the right direction today, freshly-painted crosswalks:

Seriously. Look at that sinkhole. This development likely doesn't help all that much for cyclists' safety, but they're trying. Even though I get into my fair share of dust-ups with them, pedestrians are people too.

On another note, things you don't notice when you're driving in a car, little piles of reflective glass beads that were applied to the wet crosswalk paint:

It's not what you think it is...

So yes, they're reflective, which is definitely a good thing. Next step, we all become reflective. Hehe.

The Forbidden City

I don't have a bucket list, but I do have a list of things I want to do (in my head, not in the literal sense). I crossed one off today, as I finally biked Forbidden Drive, after over a year and half of living in this city:

The south trail head at Lincoln Drive

A lot of people use this trail daily, maybe thousands, but most of them will drive to the trail heads and then proceed to bike. I decided to bike to the trail from my house, so by the time I got there, I was already about 8 miles and 45 minutes deep. Seemed like a good time to pause to see what I was in for:

No signs of bear crossings...

Not too shabby. It was actually kind of encouraging to see the "8 Miles from Fairmount" and etc. milestones as I got further from Center City. Of course, I was having so much fun that I didn't stop to take a picture of any of them...but anyway, the ride was amazing. As expected, lots of terrain changes, a few tight squeezes and some close calls, but a great experience. There's nothing like trail riding. I love city biking and all, but there's nothing that compares to clean, woodsy air and a cool breeze. Reminded me of biking back home.

When I reached the northwest end of the trail, I took a wrong turn and ended up somewhere out on Andorra Road. I eventually picked up Ridge Avenue and took that back towards the Schuylkill River Trail. I appreciated the overall downhill terrain. Hah...

Side note: that's also about when I started to notice that I knocked my rear axle out again - the one I just replaced two weeks ago - so I guess I have some work to do before Saturday...

Another side note: I did today's ride wearing nothing but swimming trunks and my shoes. Gotta prepare, right? Just kidding. But not really.

When I got back to Kelly Drive, I waxed nostalgic for a couple seconds as I approached East Falls. Most people don't know that it's where I actually lived very briefly before I found a home here, as I house-sat for my friends Dave and Biz and crashed in their guest room more than a handful of times (still love those guys - it's been far too long).

Anywho, I had a couple places I would frequent in East Falls, but not the neat little place that I saw on my left, which I eventually found out is called In Riva. The railings were covered with old bikes! In an impromptu move, I decided to stop in. A place with a sign that reads "Bikes Welcome" sounded like a place I wanted to be:

If you don't have a bike, get the f*** out!

It also seemed like a great place to reward myself, a halfway house of sorts:

Actually, yes. Beer always has been there for me.

After devouring some bangin' bruschetta (gotta get those carbs, right?), I was back on my way home, which includes a small section of one of the other items on my "to do" list, the East Coast Greenway:

No, really. I want to bike the whole thing. One of these years.

All told, 31ish miles on a Sunday was well worth it. Who needs days off?

The Naked Mural

Since the SHI office has moved deeper into South Philly, Watkins Drinkery has become one of my favorite after work haunts, as it's only a few blocks from our new location. If you've never been, I highly recommend, for herbivores, omnivores, swill and craft beer enthusiasts alike. Also one of the best happy hours in the city, IMO.

Anywho, I stopped off for a quick bite this evening. For whatever reason, when I left, I decided to go west on Watkins Street even though home is toward the east. The next building over, I saw this:

I've been here half a dozen times in the last month or so, and I have no idea how I missed this. This is Isaiah Zagar's mural warehouse, which I knew existed, but whose location I never looked up. Durrrr...

After I stopped gawking, I was about to leave, when a local from across the street called down to me from his roof deck. He told me to go down the alley between the bar and the warehouse, to which I said "Thanks, but maybe some other time." I actually had to meet a friend in Old City, which is another story for another day.

He also said that there's going to be an after party here after the Philly Naked Bike Ride, and "You look like you might be into that sorta thing." Not sure what that means, but at any rate, I guess we'll see next weekend...

Finally Flat

Two months ago, I posted about a couple streets in my delivery area that had been ground to make way for paving projects. Today, the city finally began to finish the job on North 3rd Street:

I guess all good things take time? Even though Broad Street, Snyder Avenue, 16th Street and several other projects were started after this one and finished first...I guess it doesn't matter. I can finally stop avoiding this area and get back to my normal delivery route, and hope and pray that PGW doesn't get anywhere near this street for a few years.

If you look on the lower left corner of the above pictures, you may have noticed the cafe:

The only reason I highlight it is because I used to work in that building. The owner moved into the former location of the Strengthening Health Institute, and it's a little weird to see. I will, of course, return once it's open to see what their definition of "gourmet" happens to be. Still a strange location for a cafe, if you ask me...

Tonight, my friends from DC are in town playing a show at Kung Fu Necktie. If the rain holds out, I may ride my bike there and have an excuse to blog about it on here tomorrow. If not, I may do it anyway. Ha.

Generally Frontin'

I passed by a van parked near Thompson Street's Laundromat several times yesterday. Something seemed a little off, but I couldn't figure out what, so I grabbed a quick pic and decided to look at it later.

This morning, I looked. The first thing I noticed (of course) is that "Residential" is spelled "Redidential." Whoops.

Moving on, there's no contact information. The name is as generic as can be. In fact, there's nothing on here that can be associated with anyone other than the license plate, which I don't have a picture of.

Could this be a front? Hmmm....

STOP THE VIOLATORS!

I regularly ride by quite a few newspaper stands on a daily basis. I stopped the other day to grab a few of my favorite free weeklies, when I saw this sticker on top of several newspaper boxes:

And here, the "offending" boxes:

Really? This is what we're concerned with? Your tax dollars at work.

So, graffiti, stickers and containing trash violates city code, and apparently the newspaper companies are responsible, even though the vandalism was not of their doing. Such is the paradox of living in the cradle of liberty... Remember this next time someone tags your house, puts a sticker on your front door or throws trash on your lawn. The city is coming for YOU! :P

One more note: it's highly amusing that the city uses stickers to notify offenders about stickers.

The Century Mark

Nothing too eventful happened today, and I'm thankful for those kinds of days sometimes. It was your average beautiful Summer day in the city of Philadelphia, as seen from the Girard Avenue Bridge this morning:

It was tough to get a pic through the holes in the fence, but you get the idea. Inadvertently, this puts this entry into perspective (no pun intended).

When I posted yesterday, I happened to notice that it was my 99th post on this blog (which, if you're keeping track, makes this post the 100th). Of course, I didn't hesitate to pat myself on the back today, and why not? I know there are people that blog for a living, but since I do this for fun, 100 posts feels like a big accomplishment, and a good time to reflect. When I started this blog back in January, I had very open-ended goals with this whole thing. I did that on purpose: because no matter what happened, I couldn't possibly fail! Ha...

All kidding aside, I'm in love with how this blog has gone so far. It hasn't been perfect, nor was it intended to be. It was just supposed to be whatever it became, and it has. Alright, that's enough ambiguity.

If you can believe it, I've got a lot of crazy stuff that goes through my head every day, and expressing even one tenth of it as some sort of creative medium is therapeutic. I haven't been trying to gain an audience other than my friends, but I know I have, and that feels good too - to know that people appreciate your writing. I've also learned way more than I could have imagined (for example, why "sharrows" are placed where they are), and I know I've taught said audience a few things along the way. I'll pat myself on the back again.

So, cheers on this Friday evening to 100 posts and hundreds more. Let's ride some more...

Thank You for Signaling

I've been on a bit of a brief hiatus, and this return post will be short, but it will be sweet.

In light of my recent posts about aggressive motorists, I was pleasantly surprised by a nice one today.

I was rounding Logan Square (yes, confusing, I know) and had to cross four lanes to get in position to make a right onto 17th Street. I put my right hand out (as a good cyclist should) to let everyone know.

When I got to the next stop sign at Race Street, a woman in a tan sedan (hey, it rhymes!) politely called out to me "Thanks for signaling!" I waved and went about my day.

Thank YOU for appreciating. We need more people like you.

This isn't in Logan Square. It is, however, a confusing signal at Moyamensing & Reed. I think it works in this context.

Sea Cycling

I was in need of a few days outside of my comfort zone - come to think of it, I'm not sure I have a comfort zone...maybe my "comfort zone" is to be constantly in a state of flux, finding new adventures, seeing new places and the like - whatever the case, I needed to be out of Philly for a few days. It happens. As luck would have it, my Mom, Stepdad and Aunt graciously whisked me away to Ocean City, MD for a long weekend of beachiness last weekend. Thanks to them and also my friends Fawn & Doug for making their condo available.

I ride for work almost every day, but even on a brief vacation, I just HAD to take my bike. Gotta keep those cycling legs healthy, unlike the last time, and I really hate driving my car these days unless I'm traveling great distances (I didn't use my car for the 3 days I was down there). Plus, it's always nice to bike in a completely different setting, especially a beach:

That was from the first night, about 7 miles south of our condo. I did ride on the boardwalk for a little while, but after the sun went down, it got really crowded, so I decided to head back.

The ride back was surprisingly challenging, with a fierce sea breeze blowing directly at me the entire time, but rewarding nonetheless. Ocean City, like many beach towns, is very bike-friendly. The right lane on both sides of the Coastal Highway is reserved for bikes and busses only, and considering how wide the road is to begin with, it's an absolute pleasure cruise compared to the often narrow streets of Philly. 14 miles on the first day of vacation is my kind of relaxing. :P

I also noticed something odd on the way back. Every so often, there were black squares in the bike lane, all the same size, in the same locations, just before or after intersections:

It's tough to see, but if you look closely, you can see that there were bike share arrows (or sharrows) painted underneath the black squares, which were used to cover them up. Why? Maybe they had some left over black paint...

At any rate, I did my fair share of riding up and down OCMD that weekend, mostly without incident. There were a couple of crazy kids who rented motorized three-wheelers and thought they owned the bike lane, and occasionally some joggers clogged it up as well (neither are supposed to be in the bike lane), but no crashes, so yay.

Biggest difference between the shore and Philly, I wasn't afraid to leave my bike out overnight (still locked, of course):

It looks rather nice with those beach chairs attached. :P

I was hoping to bike up the coast to Bethany and/or Rehoboth, but for various reasons, it didn't happen. I mean, when the beach looks like this first thing in the morning, why would you want to go anywhere else?

All in all, a gorgeous time down by the seaside. I don't need to go into much more detail. Reality isn't all that bad, but it's nice to escape for a bit every now and then...

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Several times a week, I come across the intersection of 16th St, Arch St. and the Ben Franklin Parkway, on the northwest corner of Love Park. It's a strange configuration which I don't really care to describe in great detail, but the traffic signals have an equally strange pattern.

Traffic heading west on Arch Street has a green light while everyone else has to wait. I always get a bit of a sarcastic smile when I'm stopped here, because there are usually at least half a dozen pedestrians who walk out onto the street (in the cross walk) to wait for their turn to cross:

...as if that's safe, or necessary. You'd never see this on the West Coast. People are much more laid back and/or patient. I'd love to do a time lapse of this intersection, or maybe if I felt like creeping out one of them, following them to their destination to ask "Really? You were in a hurry for this?" Ha...

A Few Friendly Reminders...

I don't intend for this blog to become political (as I've said before), but from time to time I will go slightly in that direction. This is one of those times.

A couple weeks ago, I was up north for a wedding, which involved driving on country roads near where I grew up. As such, I knew what to expect for the most part, so when I encountered a strange delay on my trip home Sunday afternoon, I wasn't sure why.

I didn't get a picture of it, but some yahoo was riding his bike, wearing fluorescent construction colours and brandishing a sign on his back that read:

<- 4 FEET

PA LAW

Even though I thought he was being a bit of a dick by purposely riding a little slower than normal, I get why he was doing it, I think...at the very least, he made me curious about the law, which I looked up. It's true.

So now, my mission is to come up with something catchy to yell back to the large angry woman in her dark green Buick that feels the need to yell at me to "MOOOOVE OVA!" on a near-daily basis in Francisville. Extra O's added for effect. Also, if you happen to be in that area, watch your back. She's angry...

Actually, my mission is just to continue to do everything I can to stay safe out there and hope that everyone else does the same. Getting tagged last month has made me a little more defensive as a cyclist, and also a little more vocal on the subject. It might be a little easier for people to know things like the 4 feet law if there were more signs like these, spotted on a random excursion to New Hope this weekend:

As you can see, it's not that large, but it's a step in the right direction.

There also needs to be a change of thinking among cyclists, as a patch on my friend's bag seems to suggest:

If we want to be treated as equals, we have to act like equals, but first we have to defend ourselves by just being smart. A cycling attorney that spoke at my friend's coffee bar a few weeks ago said as much. He also said that motorists are angry at us for a variety of reasons, which brings me back to that yahoo in the Lehigh Valley with the sign on his bike that I really shouldn't have been angry about. It's up to us as cyclists and motorists to remember that everyone is entitled to their share of the road, and not to be upset in either position. Lives depend on it.

I hope you enjoyed the vent, I hope you learned something, and most of all, I wish you safe cycling out there!

Guest Blog: Left Turn, Girard

I wrote an entry on my other blog for the first time in 8ish months! I mention my bike once...

Read if you want to be inspired to play softball or do other things outside of your normal routine.

And as always, Happy Monday.