Sculpture Culture

I've said many times that I love how much art I find every day in this city (which could be true for just about any city), but it's true.

I was riding on Girard Avenue this morning and happened upon this unassuming sculpture. You'd miss it if you were driving by, as it almost looks like an ordinary bike from the street:

Ya know, except for the really tall handlebars and seat...

A closer look reveals that this is actually a sculpture of a deconstructed bicycle:

Maybe this should be my logo for "Free Wheel Spirit." Free Wheel. Get it? The wheel...alright I lost you.

There's not much else going on at this part of Girard Avenue except some beautiful old stone row homes and the Berean Institute in the background at 20th Street:

And BRICK sidewalks - no one does that any more!

Still not 100% sure on my interpretation of the sculpture, but in any case, art really is everywhere. Sometimes you just gotta look around.

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In case you missed my post a few weeks back, I'm very excited to be participating in 30 Days of Biking starting tomorrow! I already have several adventures planned, but many more that will be spontaneous (as I usually do). Ride along with me all month long, and support World Bicycle Relief while doing so. Happy trails!

Nice Rack: Girard & Corinthian

Sew beautiful

More often than not, I find little treasures in the places I ride past the most but never take the time to just stop and look around...case in point is the yarn bomb you see above. There are 4 of these just outside of Girard College, all curiously empty in the middle of a school day:

My lens isn't wide enough to capture the 4th, Trust me. I know how to count.

I bike past here nearly every day in the Summer and I've never noticed this before. This either means it's new, or I haven't been paying attention. In any case, good work, yarn bombers.

Nice Racks is a series of bike rack art I've stumbled upon throughout Philadelphia.

Turning the Blight Around

For those of you who follow me regularly, my Sunday Cycling Series was put on hold this week due to nasty weather. It's likely going to be on hold for another week due to Easter. I may sneak something in on Saturday, but that's for another time. Today...

I was thinking about how it's been almost a year since Wash Cycle moved into our Thompson St. location, and how the neighborhood has been rapidly changing since we moved in. One example are the seemingly daily demolitions and new constructions.

A rather large demolition occurred this past weekend just west of our Thompson location, when the Blumberg high rise was imploded. I couldn't attend (and believe me I wanted to), but I spotted the rubble on my route today:

Partially hidden by other structures that will soon bear the same fate

If you look closely, you can see the center city Blue Cross building in the hollowed out townhome on the left. The Blumberg high rise was a once imposing figure in the neighborhood, visible from our laundromat almost 10 blocks away and also from Ridge Avenue:

Not anymore!

Pretty metaphoric to see something that was once so towering (literally) be brought down. If you're curious, my friends over at the Spirit of Penn's Garden covered this much more in-depth, including more photos from where I'm standing in the last picture above. They're making way for low-rise housing which will hopefully reduce the blight, recreational drug use and other crime that has long plagued this post-industrial area.

Anywho, I continued west on Oxford Street towards my first delivery. Something looked different between 24th and 25th streets:

Well obviously the houses are different...

I photographed this block back in December, when the entire row was standing. Come to think of it, I passed through here no more than a couple weeks ago (it may have even been last week) and they were all still standing. Things can change faster than you think...

But on the contrary, there's this baptist church just a couple blocks away that's been standing for over 125 years:

Probably because they're tax exempt...

As I mentioned, we moved into our Thompson St. location almost a year ago, and these are just another two of the (hopefully) positive changes I've seen in the area in that short of a time. I know we've played at least a small part in it, and again, hopefully we'll continue to...

Sometimes Nice Guys Finish First

I've made it no secret that I love Chipotle. Any time I'm in need of a quick, quality meal during a busy day, they're my go-to. Yesterday, I had to stop there because I had very little time between my morning route and a PR event we were doing.

Long story short, they screwed up my order and gave it to me for FREE because I didn't make a scene and was willing to take the screwed up burrito rather than having them waste all that food. I tipped them generously in exchange - it still cost less than the burrito, but not many people tip at fast food restaurants, so I'm sure they appreciated it.

If you're wondering what the screw-up was, they put mild AND medium salsa on it when I only asked for mild, making for a very LARGE burrito and an extremely worthwhile keep on my part:

To quote Homer Simpson, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."

On top of that, while in line, the guy behind me was asking questions about these two coupons he had. They explained that he could only use one at a time, so he offered the other to me because "I never come here." So, of course I said thank you for the coupon and walked out with a free chips and salsa to boot. I thanked the guy and wished him the best of days.

Sometimes I get lucky...

Tacony Me

For this week's installment in my Sunday Cycling Series, I decided to take a trip down memory lane. Sort of. I decided to explore Tacony Creek Park, which is right around the corner from where my Dad grew up.

It's not right around the corner from me, so I took the train. Don't judge me.

I took the El to Erie-Torresdale, right on the border of Juniata Park/Kensington/Frankford. Here to find out, I was on another stretch of the East Coast Greenway:

More like the REDway at this point...

One day, I will bike the entire Greenway. I think when I come through this stretch, I'll try to make sure it's during daylight hours:

Not pictured, the man who asked me for a cigarette, then asked for money to buy cigarettes.

I headed west from here on Erie Avenue. In a moment that reminded me of my youth (and probably my Dad's, and his Dad's, etc.), I passed by the Bachmann Train Factory:

Looks like any other factory. Meh.

I turned the corner at I street:

Not much, but check out those trolley tracks.

I, Erie. Sounds like a biography?

The trolley tracks are remnants of the former route 56 trolley. SEPTA has been talking about bringing back more trolleys for years. I'd love to see it, but I'm not holding my breath, considering how many times they've paved over tracks in South Philly (which is better for cycling, oddly enough). Anyway...

The neighborhood slowly transitions from dregs to some relatively nice-looking row homes. One of these was my Dad's:

AND THEY HAVE YARDS. JEALOUS.

Finally, I continued north past Juniata Park to the entrance of the Tacony Creek Park Trail at I Street and Ramona Avenue:

Road block.

I didn't take many pictures along the ride, because I was tired of stopping (as you can see above, I did a lot of that). Overall it was a nice ride, paved trail, ups and downs, etc. Of course, there was some graffiti on underpasses:

Yea, I like street art and all, but this gives me the feeling that I wouldn't want to venture here after dark

The southern and northern sections are still disconnected, interrupted by Roosevelt Boulevard:

You wouldn't know from this picture, but this is one of the most dangerous roads in Philly.

There's been an underpass for the trail in the works, which is sorely needed. Crossing Roosevelt is not fun. At any rate, I survived and was able to continue:

Apparently horses are commonplace on this trail?

As I continued along the trail, I noticed several groups of volunteers cleaning up at various spots. You can see why they're needed. They haven't gotten to this spot near Rising Sun Avenue just yet:

Ugh.

After another 20 minutes or so, I reached the end of the trail (after a killer hill) and found myself on the Tookany Creek Parkway, when I noticed the street signs were not Philadelphia-issued:

Suburbs. Meh.

I decided that the edge of the city was a good enough point to turn around and head home. No stop at a new brewery or bar at the end of this ride, but I did manage to reward myself with ONE before I got back on the train:

Also showing my St. Patty's spirit, or something...

I decided to take a different route back to the El and got slightly lost (my sense of direction isn't so good when I don't have the sun as my guide), but found something AMAZING in the process, which I'll be exploring some time soon. Never be afraid to take a detour.

A Bike Blog Challenge - Coming Soon

Bike blogging makes me happy.

What's one thing that all bloggers attempt at least once in their blog life? 30-day blog challenges.

I've kept up with this blog for more than a year and I have yet to do one of these. I guess it's because I've found them to guarantee failure more times than not. When I first started blogging here, I did challenge myself to blog 5 days a week. Soon after, I realized that was also foolish. Forcing myself to write on a blog that is strictly for fun was not a good idea. My ideas come best when they flow naturally.

The closest I came to blogging for 30 days in a month was April of last year, when I wrote 20 posts. That's pretty good, eh? Fitting then that this April, I've decided to take the plunge and attempt 30 days of blogging in conjunction with 30 Days of Biking. I can't guarantee I'll complete the challenge, but I can guarantee it will be fun to try.

Let's ride.

I Have the Best Words

In fact, they're Megawords!

Last Sunday, I participated in a community bike build. I Instagram'd lotsa cool pics on behalf of Wash Cycle too.

I had originally planned to do a full write-up of the experience. Ya know, how cool it was to help build bikes for the community and volunteer to support bicycling, etc. etc. etc, but in all honesty, they had enough bike mechanics on hand that I didn't even have to pick up a wrench. I spent most of the two hours carting trash away and helping kids move bikes upstairs, which was pretty fun, but certainly not glamourous. I ended up writing something else much more enjoyable that day.

Towards the end of the event, I was sitting and chatting (and drinking beer and eating Chipotle) with some folks from Gearing Up and happened to notice 4 or 5 copies of this mysterious publication sitting on the table (the aforementioned Megawords).

I didn't have time to look at it before I left, but I grabbed a copy and threw it in my bookbag for later. Turns out, it's quite the interesting little publication. Lots of great photos, oddly enough not that many words! One picture in particular caught my eye:

A picture of a picture. The infinite regression!

I photographed this same building myself almost a year ago:

The oats have gone stale by now.

It's an old Quaker factory at 9th & Poplar Streets here in the city. Makes me think I should submit some photos to these guys...

I had no idea this magazine existed until last week, but apparently they have produced 22 issues. Guess I gotta keep an eye out for this from now on, being the amateur photo-nerd that I am...

North Phillies

For my entire existence, the Phillies have played their home games in South Philadelphia. For nearly 100 years before they moved into the Vet, they played in North Philly in two separate stadiums just 6 blocks away from each other.

What does this have to do with anything? Glad you asked. Both sites of their former North Philly stadiums happen to be on my Wash Cycle route. Since I usually don't have time to stop and look around on my route, I decided to make them one of my stops on this week's random Sunday bike ride. Let's call this a series.

I got a bit of a late start today, so I decided to do part of the route via train. I got off the Broad Street Subway at North Philadelphia, which happens to be at the corner of where Baker Bowl once stood:

Now the site of an abandoned building, car wash and gas station.

Fun facts, eh?

I don't bike past here as often as I used to, but I do drive past on a regular basis to deliver 20ish bags of sheets to several homeless shelters in the far north. I used to have a client near this corner in what used to be a railroad station, which has since been moved across the street:

This isn't the station, obviously.

The mural painted on the bridge wall, similar to the one I visited last week, is a tribute to various forms of rugs and/or textiles in various regions of the world:

I've never seen a high voltage rug. Is that similar to an electric blanket?

Random thought: maybe one day I should try to visit all of the mural arts murals. But I digress...

You'll notice the picture says "Wall of Rugs #2." #1 is catty-corner on Lehigh Avenue:

It's back there somewhere. Trust me.

On a side note, that diagonal building (which used to be a Ford Motor Company assembly plant) has been there for over a century, which is pretty damn impressive, considering it's mostly abandoned. This all paints a very sad picture of what was once a thriving neighborhood.

Not too far west on Lehigh Avenue sits the site of the Phillies' second home, Connie Mack Stadium or Shibe Park (which Mr. Burns referenced in a Simpsons episode):

A cathedral of baseball, or something...

The A's won five World Series before the Phillies won one. Gotta love 'em.

A very similar vibe to the neighborhood on Broad Street, but the building standing in its place here is at least respectable-looking:

...and there's a bike lane!

If you're at all curious about baseball history, please read the two links for the stadiums listed above. Lots of great stuff in there.

After these brief stops, I decided to head east towards Kensington/Fishtown. I almost feel a little guilty that I enjoy riding through here as a bystander to so much blight, but I really do enjoy envisioning what this area must have looked like when places like this were thriving:

Whatcha gonna do, cousin?

Sadly, sights like that are all too common in this city, just like every post-industrial city. Makes for some interesting photography though...

Anyway, on to happier things, BEER! I have a long list of places in this city that I want to visit and eat/drink/experience, and I think this Sunday bike ride thing will be my impetus to start checking off more of them. I was inspired to go to Fishtown after talking with a long-lost friend last night and hearing her lament that she never has anyone who likes to venture up there for some reason. A shame. Fishtown is pretty groovy. I miss living up that way sometimes.

So, rather than waiting to set something up with her (which I will, just not today), I decided to take my ride to the Memphis Taproom, which is a small place nestled deep in the heart of Fishtown, not on any major thoroughfare and with a sign barely big enough to spot from the street as you ride by. Great beer selection, and a food menu with something for everyone:

I'd like some food with my ketchup, please.

That's most definitely spaghetti on that sandwich. Believe it or not, I have never had a spaghetti sandwich before today. Complete with lentil "meatballs" and daiya "cheese" (which I don't often eat, but when in Rome...), it was pretty damn delicious. And filling. They already had me at the beer engine though...

2 weeks in a row, this "random Sunday bike ride" has been a pretty good experience so far. I think I'll keep it going. No idea where I'll go next, but I'm sure I'll find something. Any suggestions, please pass along.

(Multi) Modal Citizen

As much as I've really grown to love all aspects of cycling, I'm not going to lie to you: in the Winter, I have become a cycling hermit outside of my job. Since December, I've been buying monthly transpasses and taking the Subway/Bus to and from work every day to hide from the cold as much as possible. Call me a wuss, but I have no regrets. I prefer to use the term multi-modal.

Apparently everything stops here.

I write this entry not as a puff piece for mass transit, but rather because it's been yet another interesting facet of my life in this city to see how people react (or don't react) to things on a day-to-day basis.

There's always a man on the subway who asks for change. I can count on one hand the amount of times they've actually gotten some change out of another rider. I mean, if you're looking for change, how did you afford to get on the train in the first place? Often, they're met with indifference and even ignorance, myself included. I have a good reason why, but that's a story for another day.

In fact, most of the time, people on the subways and buses don't interact much at all. Everyone seems so unhappy at times. On the train, I think it's just because the subway is by nature a very cold, emotionless thing that carries you underground from point A to point B. Unless point B is exciting to you, which work isn't to most people, you have every reason to zone out for 15 minutes.

On the bus, I think it's a product of the driver. I'd say 9 times out of 10, I get on the bus and say hello to the driver, only to be met with indifference. On that rare 1 time, the ride is dramatically better.

Yesterday, I got on the 33 at Ridge & Thompson. The driver asked me "How ya doin?" before I could even ask him how he was doing. A good start, for sure. About 5 blocks later, we were stopped for much longer than we should have been. The driver said "We got a truck up here, folks. Just be patient." This simple act sparked a conversation amongst myself and the riders, beginning with our thoughts on whether or not people should be allowed to double park, then running the gamut to politics and sports.

I swear it was the fastest bus ride I've ever taken, all because of pleasant conversation started by someone who genuinely enjoys their life (or they can reasonably fake it, at least). The driver even got engaged, and I made sure to thank him kindly after I got off at City Hall. I'm not always in the mood for it, but in this case, it was a breath of fresh air.