Soy to the World

I'll go right out and say it: the weather has absolutely SUCKED around here lately. If not for last week including Christmas and this week including my birthday and New Year's Day (and an extended weekend), well, nah it still sucked.

In the midst of it, one day when it WASN'T raining and instead just gray and overcast, I was treated to a pleasant smell: tofu!

I know what you're thinking. "Steve, what the heck does tofu smell like?" And those of you who know a little about tofu might ask, "How can something that is inherently flavorless have a smell?" Well, I assure you it does, and I rather enjoy it.

I was riding up Fairmount Avenue last week, when I happened upon the familiar smell (some claim smell is the closest sense related to memory) but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then, I looked to my left:

Nature Soy is all over Philly, restaurants and Asian markets alike, but I had no idea their factory was right in the heart of my delivery area. Kinda neat. Best of all, it's non-GMO!

Seriously, it's been a bleak couple of weeks around here. I've had to find simple pleasures to keep my spirits up...EAT MOR TOFOO.

The Blight Stuff

I've long been fascinated by urban decay (or urban blight) for some reason. There's no shortage of it in North Philly, where I work most mornings. Some areas are on the rebound, but sadly, blocks like this one on Oxford Street between 24th and 25th Streets are still commonplace:

You can see the red paint on the lower walls of the houses, vain attempts to cover graffiti and other vandalism. This picture tells a much different story in black & white:

Creepy, right? This block is right on the northeast edge of Brewerytown, which is actually experiencing a small resurgence in the last few years. Actually, I have some friends who moved up that way. Not here, though.

As I ride past here on a semi-weekly basis, I wonder what this block may have looked like in its heyday. You know, when the paint was fresh, families inhabited every home and children played in the streets. Now it sits as a desolate place where there is very little life, but this seems far less depressing than it must have been when each house would be abandoned, one by one, each a victim of the slow decline of post-industrial America.

But hey, even in the wake of loss, there is always new life:

I think that's enough metaphors for today. The orange postings are imminence of demolition. There's only one inhabited home in that entire row (that I can see), and the remainder of them are in no shape for dwelling. We'll see what happens...

The Coffee Crusader

A co-worker out of our Thompson St. facility recently quit, and I decided to take on his duties as morning residential cyclist in addition to my commercial route.

It's been enjoyable in some respects, going back to the way things were when Thompson first opened...other aspects, not so much. For starters, I'm waking up about an hour earlier and starting my shift about 2 hours earlier, so I don't have much time in the morning to get ready. I guess I could wake up even earlier, but let's not get crazy. 6AM is early enough.

Anywho, one of the positives is that I've been exploring new areas of the neighborhoods I frequent and revisiting places I haven't been to in months. Take for example, Front Street Cafe, located at the corner of Front & Master Streets:

I service Fishtown and Northern Liberties quite frequently, but until last week, I hadn't noticed this place, which opened in August.

I popped in here today 'cuz I didn't have time to make coffee this morning, but was sorely in need of a fix. I mean, it was in the 30's this morning, and even on a nice day, I don't feel quite right without a solid cup of coffee.

I'm glad I did. It turns out I may be stopping by here quite frequently, because they happen to serve my favorite brand of organic coffee beans: Counter Culture. Because it's good, it's hard to find, but I absolutely refuse to settle for La Colombe. Shit tastes like aluminum. So, this was a pleasant find on an otherwise dreadful Monday morning, which I won't detail. Focus on the positives.

Have a great week!

Saint Beeramin

Last week, I had this absolutely amazing beer from Saint Benjamin Brewing called Hopligation. If you can ever find it on a hand-pump/beer engine, I highly recommend it. It's absolutely one of my new favorite IPAs.

What does this have to do with biking, you ask? Well, I was enjoying said beer with a couple friends and they asked where Saint Benjamin brewing was located. I said "It's somewhere in Philadelphia, but I don't know where." I did the Google thing, and found out it's at 1710 N. 5th Street, which is less than a half block north from Cecil B. Moore Avenue, which I ride almost every day for work. I couldn't believe I missed seeing this place all this time.

So one day, I decided to take the two minute detour to find it, and then I understood why I missed it:

Very unassuming, right? I mean, breweries are usually pretty sizeable, but Saint Benjamin is about as micro-brew as it gets, so it makes sense. Yet another reminder to stop and look around once in a while. Ya never know what you might miss...I think that was a quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or at least a rough translation.

Phone Tag

As I'm sure most cyclists will tell you, we find a lot of trash and other things laying in the street in our daily travels. Most of the time, it's small things like USB cables, phone chargers and headphones, and if they're use-able, I'll either keep them or donate them to Philly AIDS Thrift. But two days ago, I found a phone as I was riding up Fairmount Avenue:

ET phone homeless

So, that undoubtedly sucks for the person who this belonged to, but I did the right thing and turned it in to MetroPCS (I could see the service on the screen before I turned the phone off). I didn't think to leave my contact info to find out, but I hope they got it back...

When Worlds Collide

I was reminded on Friday that even though this city seems so small at times, it is quite the large animal.

I've worked part-time at Blue Ridge Communications TV-13 for the last couple years covering sports and other live events which take us all over Northeast PA. This Friday, we were scheduled to cover a rare game in Philly, Germantown to be exact. Exciting stuff, because it would give me an opportunity to ride my bike to TV-13 for the first time EVER, in an area of the city I know next to nothing about, other than when I pass through when the Turnpike is closed or something:

With an assist from SEPTA

North Philly gets a bit of a bad rap, and sometimes deservedly so, but I was pleasantly surprised to find ample bike lanes, like this one on Ogontz Ave:

Ogontz is fun to say.

Overall, lots of homes and nothing too crazy to write home about. It is pretty easy to get turned around if you're not paying attention. South, Center City and Lower North Philly is mostly grid work with very few diagonals. Everywhere else in the city, it's a bit of a crap shoot. I'm not ashamed to admit that I had to consult the map a few times. There's also the slight annoyance of repeated road names with different suffixes (Walnut Lane instead of Walnut Street, Rittenhouse Street instead of Rittenhouse Square, etc.). Then, there are the unique street names that I didn't know existed:

Or 'Gansett for short...

I'm also not ashamed to admit that I enjoy a Narragansett from time to time. Anyway, all told, with taking the train and biking parts of the way, it still took me an hour to get to the field from my house. According to GoogleMaps, it would have taken 45 minutes by car with traffic. So, it was worth it, and so was this view:

This was the last game of the season. There's a metaphor here somewhere...

The trip home was uneventful, which I'm very thankful for, as it was the first time I biked at night in the city since my crash (still working on the Thank You entry, BTW).

A nice little work-related excursion away from my day-to-day routine. Today, I may venture back out to West Philly to check out the Earthship build site. We'll see...

You CAN get There From Here

I was riding near the intersection of Broad and Cecil B. Moore after just completing a delivery to The Rad Dish (see what they did there?), a student-run co-op at Temple University, when a woman called over to me.

Because "Wide Street" just sounds weird.

Excuse me," she asked, "can you tell me if the streets go up this way?" as she pointed east.

A very ambiguous question for sure, but I knew what she meant. In what was a perfectly wasted opportunity for sarcasm, I instead opted for the truth. I said, "This is Broad Street. There is no 14th Street. 13th Street is that way, 15th Street is this way," as I pointed in the appropriate directions.

She said "Thank you so much," and walked away. I didn't think much of it, other than that "pat myself on the back" feeling we all love to have from time to time.

But then I thought, this was sort of bizarre. For one, how did she end up smack dab in the middle of North Philly without seeing which way the streets are laid out, or without seeing a map of some sort (they're all over the subways and busses)? And, with so many people owning GPS devices, Smartphones with GoogleMaps, Waze and other direction-related apps, it's not often that people ask for directions these days. Even rarer are people who can give accurate directions. Some people have absolutely no sense of direction, which I now realize could have been the reason for this encounter.

In any case, I liked giving her directions. Made me feel important. Hah.

I'm Back

I'm back! For now.

The Worksman, finally back in order on a Summer-like Autumn Tuesday

I wrote a little over a month ago that I needed a bit of a hiatus, mostly to get some things in order in my life. Let's just say, I've had mixed results. I also didn't have internet for the last half of October, but that's another story.

I found a place to live. I moved successfully (with the help of friends, family, and roommates, of course). I also crashed my bike a week before and busted up my face a bit and am still recovering from the effects. One day soon (as in, after my teeth are put back together), I will write a retrospective, if for no other reason than to thank everyone who helped me get my smile back. But, as there is still work to be done, that will wait...

- - - - -

I returned to Wash Cycle on Monday for the first time in over a week. Thankfully, my first day back was rather uneventful and laid back. There were plenty of well wishes, such as "I'm glad you're OK," "I feel you, man..." and "Wow. You recovered pretty fast." My trike that had been injured in a crash several months ago was also fixed while I was out (see above), so that was a nice bonus too. Anywho...

Tuesday, I was on my way to deliver Outward Bound when the trike got stuck in a roadside ditch (again, you can see above, but that was taken after the fact). I'm sure I would have gotten it un-stuck myself, but there was a gentleman sitting nearby on a picnic table who came over to help. Goes to show ya, there are a lot of good people out there.

Wednesday, I made my first visit back to the office. Again, many more well wishes and one person even commented "I can't believe you were willing to get right back on the bike." Well I mean, what did you expect me to do? Haha...

But seriously, looking at it from an outsider's perspective, I can understand why you might think I would be gun shy. In fact, I haven't ridden my personal bike since my crash, so I actually AM a little hesitant. While on the job, not so much. There's something so inherently neat about what I do that I sorely missed in my time off. I guess when your house is full of boxes, you're bound to go a little crazy regardless, but nevertheless, I also missed being out on the bike.

Why? Because of the stories above and the day I've had so far today. A friend once said to me, "You're really connected to your environment as a cyclist. You can't tune it out like you do when you drive a car." She's right. And I love that.

I love to ride through the neighborhoods, a cool, misty breeze on my face, saying "Hi" to passersby, listening to the chorus of 50 school children as a school bus passes, sharing a 10-second exchange with the PWD, and of course, responding to strange questions from onlookers like "You delivering beer in that thing?" Just an average Thursday...

Cycling has become a part of who I am, much like this blog, and it's good to be back to both. Happy Thursday.

Nice Rack: 4th & Cross

I'm still taking a hiatus of sorts, but I figured I could take 2 minutes to post this one...

There's a neat little place not far from my house called Fourth & Cross (guess where it's located?) that serves a pretty awesome menu, locally-sourced and organic if at all possible. I got stood up on a brunch date on Sunday, but despite being annoyed by that, I stayed for a meal. Her loss.

I also saw this when I was leaving:

Obviously it's been worn from use:

But even so, it's nice to see a business embrace the bicycling culture. I support this use of branding. The lettering kinda reminds me of Knoebels' hand-painted signs, if you've ever been there.

Happy Trails

It's been a few days since I've posted. I'll explain why in a bit. Meanwhile...

One day, I'm going to complete the D&L trail. I know it's something that could be completed in less than a day, but since I don't live close by, I'm going to have to piecemeal it together.

Last weekend, I knocked out another small section with my Dad (thanks for letting me borrow your bike while mine was being fixed yet again). The section between Slatington & Palmerton is a nice, gentle, mostly flat ride that takes less than an hour round trip. I did the upper part of it back in April plus a few small detours.

Anywho, not much to report on this section really, other than the Slatington Airport:

I swear I've never once seen a plane take off or land from this airport in all the years I lived there. It's gotta be a front.

There's also this ancient water tower that sits unused, unrestored and yet, is still standing for some reason:

Biggest thing I noticed: no graffiti either.

It's always nice to get outside the city and onto a trail for a change. It's always nice to experience different things, especially since my schedule has gotten crazily busy the last few weeks, which brings me back to the beginning of this post.

I love writing this blog, sharing my experiences and of course, living them. However, without going into too much detail, my personal and professional life has gotten very complicated recently, and over the next month or so, I'm probably not going to be blogging much, if at all. At least, not while I'm working on sorting this stuff out. Even writing a short post that takes up 10 minutes seems daunting at times with so much on my plate.

It's nothing serious, and I know this blog is nothing serious either, but as I've built a somewhat loyal following, I felt I owed it to you - the readers - to let you know what's going on. The biggest thing I have to take care of is finding a new place to live in Philly. So, if you can help with that, let me know. If not, I'll see you on the other side.

I'll be back to normal before I know it, so stick around. Thanks for reading as always, and happy trails!

Movin' Awn Up...

As I've mentioned before, this city is rapidly changing, and I see it every day right in front of my face. Case in point, last Friday morning I was riding up to the laundromat when I noticed the newly-adorned facade (it wasn't entirely a surprise, as I saw the guys measuring for it the day before):

Because "Illuminati Coin Wash" would have been too obvious.

From a strictly graphic design standpoint, I hate the color scheme. We all know what black and blue together implies. But, it's an improvement nonetheless. Of course, the place looks way better than it did back in April, before we opened to the general public.

Big picture-wise, I remember driving through this neighborhood when I first started volunteering at SHI back in January 2014. It looks nothing like that today (sorry, no pictures to prove it, but trust me). Gone are many of the vacant buildings that marred the landscape, and in their place are a garden (behind the laundromat) and an open triangular lot that seems ripe for development into a small park. We've also created half a dozen new jobs (gotta start small, right?). It gives credence to this mosaic half-wall just up the street:

It's not a Great Wall, but it's decent.

It reads "Ridge on the Rise" in the middle of the sun. At least in the area around the laundromat, it's true. There's still a lot of work to be done...

Rustcycles: Pennsylvania & Spring Garden

It's been a while since I featured one of these.

I'm surprised they haven't removed this one with the Pope visiting next weekend. It's most definitely within the "Black Zone." I guess there's still time...

Rustcycles is a series of abandoned bicycles and locks I've stumbled upon throughout Philadelphia.

Pedal to the Mettle

Let me tell you a little about Angel.

Angel is my Fuji 4130 (not this exact model, but close enough), a limited edition folding bike produced as part of a Marlboro Miles promotion back in the 90's. My Mom found her on Craigslist and she's been mine for a little over a year and a half. I won't go in to the story about her name. Mayhaps another day...

Anywho, I absolutely love the convenience factor that comes along with a bike that can fold and fit in my back seat. However, the design leaves much to be desired at times... This video shows a lot - even though it's not as difficult to fold as that guy makes it look. It also shows the pedals, one of which I broke on my way to work today:

You didn't really want an easy commute to work, right?

The heads of the screws attaching the bottom plate snapped off completely. This happened from the repeated stress of regular use and laying the bike down (I don't have a kickstand) on the non-drive side. Oddly enough, I've already fixed this pedal twice. The first time, it felt "squishy," so I replaced the original screws with new ones. The second time, the "squish" started to come back, so I tightened them. Yesterday, it started to feel "squishy" yet again, and today this happened before I could fix it. The result:

Wanna hang out?

Without a lot of time to figure something out, the best I could do was to continue on and try to ride gingerly, keeping my left foot on the pedal at all times so it wouldn't go flying off. That lasted about 5 blocks:

It's almost like I planned this photo.

I also injured myself in the process. Minor, but still, it sucks:

Also available with sock tan.

Needless to say, the rides to and from work was not pleasant, but I did manage to avoid further injury. After I get a new pedal assembly (whenever that will be), I think it's time to invest in a kickstand. Could prevent a lot of future problems from happening at all. For now, duct tape or a dreaded IndeGo rental will have to do.

Angel is turning out to be quite the Satanic mistress at times...

Clear the Lane

The Bicycle Coalition recently reported that some new signs have been popping up around Philly:

Well, they're not new in design, but new in the sense that they're appearing in more places. A step in the right direction for sure, but look closely at the picture above. There is a complete sidewalk separating this sign from Girard Avenue, which also has a row of parked cars next to the sidewalk. Who the hell is going to see this sign?

In any case, I'm glad to see these go up, especially when I'm on a narrow street in South Philly with residual trolley tracks. I'd much rather ride in the center of the lane than have to tight rope down the small space between the tracks and the parked cars, risking getting doored or running into a fast-acting pedestrian. I actually exploited this law on South 11th Street the other day, much to the angst of a New Jersey VW driver. Get over it.

These signs are supposed to convey a much clearer message than the usual "Share the Road" signs we're used to seeing around here, and I agree:

Side note, you can see this same sign in the top picture, so we're doubly covered here, sort of. Hey, at least they're trying, I guess...

Revengeance

The beautiful scene you see above was taken Monday morning at Ocean City, Maryland. As Labor Day is widely known as the unofficial end of Summer, and with absolutely gorgeous weather in the forecast, it only made sense to soak up the sun one last time. I took my bike with me of course, but unlike last month, I decided it was in my best interest to take a few days off for a change. However, I did stumble upon something cycling-related, as I always seem to...

As I've mentioned before, even though we live in the digital age, I still absolutely LOVE print journalism. I picked up The Dispatch, one of the free local papers and stumbled upon an amazing story (amazing to me, that is) that was buried in the middle pages, and it just so happens to be cycling-related. I apologize for my lackluster photography on this one, but you can read the article here. If not, scroll past the pic for a brief synopsis:

If you didn't read it, you should, because there's something adorable about small-town journalism that us city-dwelling folk don't often get to read. I can't quite describe it.

The gist of the story is: cyclist was hit-and-run by a drunk driver and the cyclist was ejected from his bike. A passing motorist (or following, I'm not really sure) followed the drunk driver until they crashed into another car. That's when police arrived, and eventually the drunk driver was charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident (no mention of charges for the 2nd crash that I read).

Well that's pretty incredible, and the guy is lucky he didn't kill anyone. Considering this staggering map of hit-and-runs in Philadelphia that was recently released, it's amazing there aren't more fatalities. Also, there are plenty more that I'm sure aren't reported or registered (my crash isn't listed there, for example). In any case, it's good to see justice served, even if it's only a small fraction of the time.

This didn't mar my experience at the beach in any way. Just thought I'd share. As always, be safe out there. It's a rough world...

Graffiti Design

Awhile back, I wrote about this wall on Cecil B. Moore & Germantown Aves with an evolving "mural," if you want to call it that. I happened by it today for the first time in a few weeks, and lo and behold, it's changed again.

Oh, and if you're offended by profanity, tough shit. ;)

So this is kinda neat. I like that there's a chance I might see something different every time I ride past here. Also, one of my favorite profundities has been spared (for now):

Think about it...

Just a couple blocks west on Cecil B. Moore, there's a warehouse on the right with some intricate graffiti of varying motifs, one of which is still in progress:

Interesting. Very clearly this is coordinated, and nicely done, I might add. I still can't figure out if this is part of a neighborhood beautification project or some renegade effort to deter the often-annoying "standard" gang tags, but either way, I like it. It makes me enjoy riding through this corridor every so often.

Americatown

On my way home one July afternoon, I happened upon these over-hanging American flag banners in Chinatown:

I wasn't sure if they were put up for the 4th of July, but as of today, they were still there. Maybe Philly Chinatown is simply an overwhelming source of American Patriotism...or maybe they're just lazy? Somehow I doubt the rest of the city will be flying Chinese flags any time soon though. :P

A Brief Aside

George Washington's River Farm in Alexandria, VA, a place I visited for a wedding 2 months ago

"Every front has a back."

This is one of the seven laws of the infinite universe as outlined by George Ohsawa, the founder of modern-day macrobiotics. You might ask, "Steve, why the hell are you quoting macrobiotic philosophy on your bicycling blog?" Glad you asked. It's been proving very true in my recent interactions, two in particular.

* * * *

The other night, I was at the bar with my roommate, sitting outside and enjoying some beers on an absolutely beautiful Summer night. I wrote a while back that sometimes I still enjoy a smoke every now and then, and for some reason, I felt like having one that night. I asked a guy on the corner who was smoking if I could bum one. He said sure, but he would have to go inside to get his pack.

On his way out, he stopped at the door as one of the servers asked him "Are you talking to those rich people who always ask if the fish is wild caught?" He said "I guess." The server couldn't see me, but I could hear her, and I knew her voice. I know she was trying to insult me, but I couldn't help but be a little flattered. Me? Rich? If you only knew...I guess I do put on a good front. :)

* * * *

On Friday, I returned to TV-13 for the first time since last October. I saw some of the guys I worked with last year, again for the first time since then. One of them remarked, "So, I see you've been keeping up with your traveling these days." I was a little confused. Other than Canada, I haven't left Philadelphia for more than a day or two at a time.

Then I figured it out. I post all of these pictures and blog posts all the time, most of which occur while cycling around the city, whether people realize it or not. Most of my other adventures are day trips to places that are not very far away. However, the city is many worlds among itself, and leaving the city is a whole different world. The picture above was from a friend's wedding in July, no more than a 3 hour drive from Philly. I could have driven back the same day. To the untrained eye, it probably seems like I travel an awful lot, but in real life, I stay pretty close to home.

* * * *

A long time ago, my "uncle" Bill (he was a close friend of the family, but we loved him like an uncle) told me that if I wanted to live large, I should just go ahead and do it, regardless of whether or not I thought I could afford it. I'd say I'm doing a decent job, or at least all outward appearances would indicate so. The man certainly lived large himself, and had a zest for life that even I can't come close to matching, but what he said carries tremendous weight in my day-to-day outlook on life.

The point of these stories is to illustrate that there is always another side to what you see. I work several jobs and live paycheck to paycheck, sometimes just barely making ends meet. Because of this, I don't go on nearly as many adventures as I'd like to. I don't have as much as people think or do as much as some think I do, and you probably didn't know that. I mean, how would you unless I told you?

When I sit back and take a deep breath, I know that I do have enough, and I do do quite a lot. I said doo doo. Haha. Anyway, everyone loves to have that "pat yourself on the back" feeling every once in a while, and this past week I experienced it twice. That's not why I do what I do, but it's a nice side effect. Most importantly, I have a good time doing it.

So, whatever you're doing, as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's really all that matters. If you truly want to live the life you want to live, you will. Or, as Andrew W.K. put it, "We do what we like, and we like what we do."

Me? I'm about to ride my bike to a New Belgium beer tasting, which is just fantastic, because I've wanted them to come to PA for about 5 years. I like all of that. All I have left to say is, thank you to everyone who is part of this fantastic human experience, big or small, and I hope you'll do something you enjoy today.

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.