300

30 Days Mileage Counter
Bike: 301.5
Car: 223
Train: 8
Accurate as of 11:15PM 4/16/16

HOOOOOOO BOY! I got LOTSA pics for y'all tonite! I began today knowing it would be quite epic. Unintentionally, and half-jokingly, I ran into this mural on S. 22nd St. I've been meaning to pass by for some time:

Philling the Bern right now...

Yes, I was already feeling the burn in my legs from a vigorous week of, well, pretty much anything I could possibly do on a bike, knowing that approximately 60 miles of cycling lie ahead of me today. By the time I reached the mural, I was already 2 miles deep. By the way, Go Bernie.

Some Wash Cyclists (and non cyclists who also work for Wash Cycle) got together to organize a ride for a co-worker's birthday. It started out with a group of about 10. Those who survived to "play" showed up today:

I wore pants. It was cold. Don't question my fashion sense.

So here's the really awesome part: Todd, whose birthday we were celebrating, is the dude who inspired me to do the #30daysofbiking challenge in the first place. He's wearing the blue fleece above. Here's the second awesome part: Noelle (all the way on the left) helped us organize it and joined us for the first part of the ride, even though she's Asthmatic and it was downright frigid on the river this morning. Like I said yesterday, this month is about inspiring people to get on a bike. I think we've succeeded already, and it's day 16.

Todd has this tradition where he rides the mileage equivalent to his age each birthday. He happens to be turning 58. We've got some work to do, right? So, already 5 miles in (for me), we began on the Schuylkill River Trail on our way to Valley Forge:

There are usually more tourists, but we sent a cowcatcher out in front

I didn't take pics for awhile, because you don't need to see any more pics of runners' or cyclists' asses, which is basically what the River Trail offers for the first few miles within the city limits. We move on...

Somehow this is still considered within city limits

Noelle had branched off after East Falls and we continued on through Manayunk, which was the farthest I had been on the trail to this point in my cycling life. It turns left, then sharply right midway thru the neighborhood:

Fifteen miles on the dreary canal

Riding on the towpath reminded me a bit of back home:

Only difference was the lack of Dutch Whale sightings

It opens up a bit after that, and I was able to throw some cheezballz into the mix:

It's not technically a selfie if I'm including my friends, right?

At this point, we started chatting, because we were finally free of all other distractions and we could just...well, ride and hang out like we wanted to. I stopped taking pics for a while. At some point, I snapped this mile marker:

I don't wanna read it. You do it.

AND, we ran into another fellow Wash Cyclist on the way:

Heyyyy. Caaaaarl. Good to see you.

He was actually planning to join us, but our ride didn't coincide with his other ride he had going, yadda yadda yadda, but I may end up joining his Full Moon Ride later this month. No nudity. Promise. Anywho, I decided to "stretch my legs" at this point, but I did "pause" to snap this during a coast:

I just wanted to show off my light

As we neared Valley Forge, Todd pointed out the would-be Hollywood of Pennsylvania that never quite made it:

I mean, the concept of a "motion picture" is inherently wrong, right?

And then, we reached the halfway point, so to speak:

The Helmet. That's where we'll meet. It will be there. With a Wash Cycle logo on it.

At this point, it was getting really warm, so we all got naked shed some layers, and Todd revealed his Bike PHL shirt that had been signed by people he met on an international ride:

There's no witty caption here because this is too cool.

We began our trek back towards the city, with a much-needed and intentional stop at the Conshohocken Brewery:

Just throw your bike on there. Maybe you can pick a better one when you come back

I was "warned" by my friends that biking to Conshohocken and going to the brewery on a Saturday was kind of the "thing that you do," but it was still worth it. I mean, who doesn't love a flight?

Not pictured, the vegetarian chili with the jalapenos that will most certainly destroy my colon

Wanting to make sure he got his 58 miles in, Todd took us on a beautiful detour to the Cynwyd Heritage Trail, which can be accessed from the old Manayunk rail bridge extension. It provides some great views of the area and the river:

OK, that last one, not so much. I hope, for his sake, she said "Yes." The remainder of the trail was pretty tame:

Except for this part where we needed to get the cowcatcher out again. GET OUT OF MY WAY ALREADY TOURISTS

BUT there was this neat bike pump installation, and it works!

Because if it didn't, that would be a dick move...

We finally finished up on the River Trail on our way back to the Art Museum:

Don't try this at home. Unless your home happens to be a 57 mile round trip

I commissioned a beautiful young woman to take our triumphant "victory" photo afterward. Apparently she knew how to take pictures, because we did 4 takes, 2 in landscape form, 2 in portrait form. They were all good, because seriously, look at this subject matter:

And you were expecting the Rocky Statue, WEREN'T YOU?!?!?

We did it. A great ride, a great time. Can't wait to do (something like) it again. Like the next time someone has a birthday??? Just a thought...

However, I wasn't finished. By the time I got home, I was at around 57 miles for the day. Not wanting to come up short of 58 miles per Todd's stipulation, I decided I needed to go the extra mile (there's no way I couldn't make that pun) by riding to the New Wave to watch the Flyers tonite. Let's not discuss the game. Turns out, the round trip from there to my house and back put me over 300 for the month and close to 200 for the week. This isn't Sparta, but damn, that's a lotta ridin'.

Many, many thanks to Todd, Noelle, Johanna and Elliot for their companionship in cycling today and everyone who continues to ride along literally and figuratively through this adventure. 16 down, 14 to go. #30daysofbiking FTW.