600

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 644.8

Today marked the culmination of my second consecutive #30daysofbiking attempt, and what better way to finish than with an epic birthday celebration ride? None.

If you followed me last year, you may remember the ride I took with some friends in celebration of my friend Todd's birthday. He's got this cool tradition of riding his age in miles every year on or close to his birthday, a tradition I've since decided to start for myself. He turned 59 a couple weeks ago, no easy ride to complete even for a veteran cyclist.

Noted event coordinator that I am, I helped him organize the ride this year. We originally had about 10 people say they were interested, which dwindled down to 6 by the time this morning rolled around. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 9:30AM, we met behind the Philadelphia Art Museum and set off on the Schuylkill River Trail bound for Valley Forge:

It's tough to ride 6 guys on 4 bikes

Unfortunately, Todd's bike fell victim to a flat tire early on, so he and my friend Elliot had to ride back to a nearby bike shop to pick up a new tire. That set us back about 45 minutes, but with every curse comes a blessing. We met this woman riding along the trail who was about to embark on a bikepacking trip. She needed some assistance with her tire, and she told us all about what she was doing. She gave me the name of Adventure Cycling Association, the website she used to plan her travel. Definitely worth a look if you're interested in touring (I have aspirations of doing this one day). We ended up seeing her further out on the trail on our return later as well.

Anyway, after Todd was patched up and ready to roll again, we continued on. His friend Jay had to drop off about halfway up due to time constraints, so we were left with 5 by the time we got to Valley Forge to stop for water and snacks:

And sits

The ride there was quite nice. It seemed to be an ideal day for a long ride, with overcast skies keeping us relatively cool, and low humidity keeping us feeling light. After we turned around, we began to face a much fiercer headwind (why the ride out was so pleasant, no doubt), but we still reached our next way point pretty much on schedule, Conshohocken Brewing Company:

I think this is the 22nd brewery I've visited this month

In case you're not familiar with Conshy either through this blog or from your own travels, it's a very bike-friendly place, as are many micro breweries. In fact, I've been here twice and I don't know if there's another entrance other than the one you see above, which is within spitting distance of the SRT:

I don't recommend trying to spit over all these bikes, though

Strangely enough, the overcast and 70-degree weather (which is ideal for riding) seemingly deterred a lot of riders. This bike rack is usually packed at 1PM on a Sunday. I didn't mind, of course. More room for us and less time waiting for service means more time to ride.

After a few tastings and some light grub, we were back on our way. The wind seemed to pick up a bit more as we got closer to center city Philly (more on that later). I felt fine up until about mile 48 or so when atrophy started to set in, but we did survive long enough to make it back to the fountain. No after picture. We were all a bit bushed, and I still had about 5 miles to go to get home:

I burned 75% of my recommended daily calories

As you can see, I didn't quite make it to 59 in one ride. Todd did make it to 59 combining his extra couple miles to go pick up a new tire and his rides to and from our meeting place at the Art Museum. I did, however, add 6.5 miles riding to and from dinner after I got home, which got me to 58.5 for the day. Close enough. Hey, it's not my birthday...those 6.5 miles were quite arduous, with even fiercer winds and darkening skies. I feel a storm may be coming. We got our ride in just in the nick of time. :)

I'm not going to lie and tell you I'm brimming with energy right now, but today was seriously a lot of fun. You learn a lot about someone when you share a long ride together, and there were a couple first time encounters that I think will lead to friendships, at least for me. The more you ride, the more cycling friends just seem to come into your life, right? I also like that we had a wide array of age groups represented, including my friend Jeffrey who joined me for my birthday ride last year and is more than twice my age!

If I didn't mention this before, Todd's also the guy who inspired me to do the 30 Days of Biking Challenge last year. Interestingly enough, I crossed 300 miles for the month last year and 600 miles for the month this year on his birthday rides. I can't thank him (and everyone who rode along) enough for all of the memories that 30 Days of Biking has produced. This was the best possible way to end an epic month that shattered all of my expectations once again. Cheers to many more birthdays, and of course many more rides...

Add Ons & Add Ups

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 586.1

Day 29 of #30daysofbiking is in the books, and beyond the 13ish miles I logged today, I'm grateful that I finally used the gift cards my aunt and great aunt bought for me for Christmas/Birthday gifts several months ago:

And of course, my Mom for buying the bike as a Christmas/birthday gift well over a year ago

On first glance, it doesn't look like much happened. BUT, 3,500+ miles later, I finally made a much-anticipated (to me) fender upgrade today:

Not just a guitar brand anymore

Even though I think fenders should be standard on a commuter bike, this is really the fun of owning a bike in general - customizing it and putting shit together! Like I said, I feel like you wouldn't notice them up there if I didn't tell you they were there, which is kinda cool too. Also pictured, the neat little rear-mount bag, perfect for storing all the tools, food, and other stuff I need to take long rides, like the one I'm about to take tomorrow (spoiler alert):

Including a six pack

Don't get me wrong, my little duffel will do the trick, but this guy will actually lock to the back rack and allow me to stack on top if necessary, and I can throw it over my shoulder too. Double duffel, if you will. I also picked up a couple small but VERY important items today, a bottle of chain lubricant and a truing wrench:

Triple nipple and lube? Excuse me for a minute...

They cost about 20 bucks combined but could save you hundreds in the long run. Do it. I spent a couple hours after I got back home working on installing the fenders and truing my wheels. Installing wasn't necessarily easy, but considering how often I ride in the rain, I'm betting it will be worth it. At the very least, things went well on the "dry run" up to my friend's house in Fishtown, pun intended:

I'm not praying for rain, either

That being said, things did shift around a bit and I know I need to make a few adjustments tomorrow morning before heading out.

The fun never ends, even though 30 Days of Biking has nearly reached its terminus. Be thankful for the experience, and that we have one more day. Barring catastrophe, I'm going to reach 600 miles in a month for the very first time...!

A Challenge, You Say?

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 572.7

I spotted this ad on the front page of the Philly Metro this morning:

I've mentioned the Circuit Trails many times on this blog, and being that I've already logged 500+ miles this month, I feel I'm up to the task of riding 500 miles on the trails over the next few months. Let's see what happens, shall we?

Anywho, day 28 of #30daysofbiking was gorgeous, with temps in the 80s and a light breeze in the forecast. Views like these make you forget all about the chaos going on in Center City:

I managed to go largely unscathed by the ensuing traffic jams caused by the NFL Draft and Penn Relays, but trust me - they were still present. I got a little cooked (my own fault - at least I'll have a nice cyclist tan eventually), but I have nothing but good things to say about the riding from today, all 17 miles of it. Mostly commutes, nothing major, and that's just peachy.

The day did take a bittersweet turn in the afternoon, as my week of training a new cyclist came to an end, and I was also forced to say goodbye to these felines that I've been babysitting for the last week:

I will say that, due in large part to the 570+ miles I've logged so far this month, I was pretty tired this afternoon, so I did share one final cat nap with them before leaving. That was nice. It gave me enough energy to go see my brand new nephew for the very first time! I didn't ride there. Maybe one day, but not today:

I see plenty of rides in his future ;)

So here we are. 2 more days, one last weekend, zero regrets. It's been super real once again, 30 Days of Biking! I'm already at or above last year's mileage total. Think I can get to 600? I think you know the answer...

Draft Hoarse

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 554.8

Day 27 was beeeeeeeeauty-full! Well, weather-wise. Event-wise...not so much.

It didn't start off bad, although I made the mistake of carrying a rain jacket in my bag (just in case) and wearing a sweatshirt when I left the house this morning, not to mention zip-off pants. None of those were necessary by 11AM, when the temperature approached 80 degrees and it felt like early Summer as opposed to late Winter. What a week...

After another morning of riding along for training (which went well), I hopped on the trike briefly to finish up a couple appointments. I love this fella:

He's indifferent to me

I headed back southward to grab lunch and move to the office. Today happened to be the first day of the NFL Draft, so I skidded by just to take a look:

Not much to see, IMHO

I really didn't want to get any closer. The entire Ben Franklin Parkway area and beyond is a shitshow right now and will be for the next few days. You'd think as an avid sports fan I'd be interested in this fiasco, but no. At least, not this time. Between the crowd of "bros" that frequent the draft and the hoity-toity folk that attend the Penn Relays (also in town this weekend) combined with your average obnoxious pedestrians, I had my fair share of close calls with humans today (and some yelling), more than I care to write about here. I'd take the Pope-ocalypse any day over this.

Anyway, I got outside as much as I could today in spite of all the obstacles, putting in a lot of miles going to and back from West Philly a couple more times and...well let's just leave it at that. I'd rather not start a rant. Friday and day 28 are next, and a big weekend finish to #30daysofbiking...3 more days, y'all!

Wednesday Night Flight

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 524.1

I've been doing a lot of traveling this month, in case you haven't been paying attention (and some of it hasn't been via bike, believe it or not). I don't know how I survived as long as I did without a rear-mount rack on my bike. More accurately, I don't know how my shoulders and arms survived carrying everything I have carried while riding this fella:

No pain, no gain

That pack on the back is also a recent addition, an interesting gift from my Dad who re-gifted it from someone who cleaned out a house of someone who saved up enough Marlboro Miles to buy a promotional duffel bag they never used. Follow all that?

Aside from being a conversation starter when people notice what it says on the side, it happens to fit perfectly on my back rack. Also perfectly sized to pack for an overnight trip, including the multiple cat-sitting trips to and back from West Philly I've made the last couple nights. All this considered, I think my next investment is going to be in a nice set of panniers so I can seriously think about an extended weekend tour...or more. And maybe a set of fenders to avoid getting soaked like I have been the past couple days.

Anyway, today was actually much nicer than yesterday. I did another couple rides out to West Philly, and the milder conditions reminded me that I'm still in love with this view from Drexel Park:

I've got biking on a cloudy day

Today's cycling was kinda uneventful otherwise, which again, I appreciate occasionally. I did have some conversations about biking adventures with my trainee which kinda got that whole pannier thought started. I also decided on a couple other trails to explore in the area, but that's for another day. ;)

I finished up by biking back to South Philly for dinner at Brigantessa, a restaurant that specializes in Southern Italian cuisine and also features Italian beer on draft. Gotta try 'em all:

Hit the one in the middle. Then the right. Then the left. Or any order really as long as you hit them all.

Those aren't full size glasses, just so you're aware. If I could write more than a sentence about a beer, I really could start another blog.

At any rate, we are down to FOUR days. Can you believe it? #30daysofbiking really does get easier every time. Let's do this weekend right.

500 Degrees of Inner Turbulence

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 508.2

Major props if you get the reference in the title.

For the second consecutive day, Philadelphia was mired in gray, overcast conditions, today's being much more water-logged than yesterday's. Today was challenging. The ride in wasn't so terrible, just cloudy. I stopped by the United By Blue coffee shop near our West Philly plant, where I picked up this card with my coffee and perhaps a bit of foreshadowing:

Foreshadowing a trip to the ER if you try to look up while riding

The card itself is pretty neat if you're into constellations and stargazing (which I am). The message at the bottom, I'd need to help me through the day. UBB's mission is to preserve waterways because we are "united by blue," blue being water. Get it? We had plenty of water today...

Today happened to be a training day, in which I showed a new cyclist some of the commercial deliveries we do for Wash Cycle in North Philly. You could say it wasn't the best day for this kind of exercise, with an all-day rain and sometimes near gale-force winds battering us. You could also say it was the best day for this, because if you can survive this kind of training, well, you can survive anything:

It doesn't look that bad when you take a picture before your cell phone camera has a chance to fog up

I actually enjoy training days in most cases. It's a great chance to ride along with someone else on the job for a change, and also a chance to get to know a co-worker. You really learn a lot about a person when you spend a few hours riding around with them, and if things go well (weather notwithstanding), you learn a lot about yourself in the process. We were on the road for a solid 10+ miles in this mess today, no cakewalk for sure, but let me assure you that both of us can survive anything. It wasn't easy, but that was a positive I'll surely take from today.

I returned to the office and had a bazillion tasks to take care of, on top of a whole bunch of chores at home that I've been putting off, and by the way, I'm still cat-sitting for my friend in West Philly so I had to venture all the way out there again today too (hey, you can't predict the weather when you agree to do these things three weeks in advance). So you can imagine that when I pulled my bike into my house tonite and realized I'd picked up a flat, I was a little deflated, no pun intended...

But whatever. I got as much done as I felt I possibly could. I fixed the tire. I even put in another 4 miles in the rain after the fact, and didn't even realize until I got back to my computer that today was my 500-mile day, one day earlier than last year. So hey, remember to look up more. 500 miles in a month for the 3rd time is pretty awesome, rain or shine.

'Sup, #30daysofbiking? We're not through yet...

Earth Gray

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 485.1

I returned to reality this morning, reality being work and/or Philadelphia. I had a great night's sleep, but due to traveling and the associated preparations, I was pretty beat when I got up this morning. A gray, overcast sky didn't help much, but hey, we ride on anyway.

After a short, uneventful trip out to Swarthmore and back, I got on the Wash Cycle to table at Jefferson University's belated Earth Day Fair. If this sounds familiar, it's because I did the same thing last year. Due to the aforementioned gray skies and threatening showers, we hurriedly moved our tables from the lawn to some cover underneath one of the buildings on campus. Not pictured, the spectacle of me loading our table onto the back of the trailer:

I mean, we move heavy objects every day...

If you look at the left side of the table, you'll notice the "Boxed Water" they give out at this event every year. I can't tell you how many people thought that's what I was selling. Surprisingly, I still ran out of materials by 12:30, about a half hour earlier than the conclusion of the event. Perhaps going under cover made that possible, because I'm not sure anyone would have stopped by even with the showers being light and random in nature. Even when not exposed to the drizzle, the temperature was still in the low 50's, too chilly for my liking this time of year. The mere notion that I was wishing I'd brought a beanie with me in mid-April was kinda annoying, but again, we survived.

I returned to base camp and got back home unscathed. After a brief rest, I ran some errands, not the least of which included another trip out to West Philly to feed my friend's cats again. I'll always love this view from Drexel Park and will take any excuse I get to view it:

I was once standing naked in this park. Thankfully not on a day like today.

How I put in 23.4 miles today is beyond me. I guess it just sort of happens at this point. Day 24 is in the books and day 25 looks like it could be nasty. Let's see what we can do, #30daysofbiking...only 6 more to go!

Everywhere Man

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 461.7

I was up before 6 and off the bike by 7:30 as I wrote in my very brief post yesterday morning (more on this later). That post seems like forever ago. I was sitting in the Pittsburgh airport at the time, waiting to be picked up to go to my girlfriend's sister's wedding, which was last night. Today, my girlfriend and I were fortunate enough to have some time to explore the Steel City. I feel like I've been everywhere this month.

It's been pretty cool to see bike shares in other cities in person, because it feels more "real" to me than simply reading that they exist. Pittsburgh has one too, and they're pretty similar to most bike shares in the US:

Except they look boring and dinky

Due to over-exertion last night, we weren't really feeling up for riding today. That, and she told me several horror stories involving cyclists in Pittsburgh. I'm sure I could have handled it, but potential injury or death to her was really not on my to-do list today. We did walk around the city for a few hours, and I saw many more bike racks than I thought I would. I can't quite explain why there's a set of three that spell "S@D," but nonetheless, I appreciate the metal work:

The failing bike racks, it's sad.

These are just some of many, and I didn't feel like pulling my phone out every 5 seconds, so that's all I got on that. One walk led us to one of the most unique breweries I have ever experienced, The Church Brew Works:

Sunday Mass consumption

Since this isn't a beer blog (though you might think it is at times), I won't go into explicit detail, but I gotta show you this pic:

My friends and I used to routinely have a reverend bless our kegs - same difference

We did a whole bunch of other touristy stuff before I was begrudgingly forced to hop on a plane back to Philly. I hate saying goodbyes, but the consolation is the awesome view over Central PA:

I think I can see a cyclist

Perhaps an even better view though, returning to find my bike still locked where I'd left it about 36 hours prior:

And with all accessories attached!

I was honestly worried about theft even with proper locking and security. My early and only ride yesterday was a much more pleasant reprise ride to the Philadelphia airport. I encountered some unpleasantries at the actual gate to get into the airport, but I won't go into detail about that.

My flight home was also delayed and I was actually getting worried that I might not get to ride today, but it all worked out in the end. I agreed to cat-sit for a friend in West Philly, so my first stop "on the way" home was up there, then finally back to my house for the evening. All told I clicked off 13.1 miles, which is not a bad way to end a fantastic weekend. I'm beat but it was totally worth it.

Now for some rest and dreams of what's in store for the final week of #30daysofbiking. I've got a strong finish planned, so keep riding with me!

Bike-age Claim

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 448ish

Day 22 was over before most days begin for me. I was on the bike at 6:45, 8 miles later at 7:30, I was off, with a full day of other activities planned. Mayyybe I'll update later.

Enjoy your weekend!

Forever 21

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 440.2

Day 21 of #30daysofbiking started out kinda awful but ended much better.

On what should be my last day covering the North Philly/Suburbs route full-time, the ride to work today was absolutely brutal. Driving rain and wind made my 3-mile trek to Center City quite arduous. Thankfully, the first portion of the route is the suburb portion, so I was able to dry off in a ZipCar for an hour or so.

By the time I got back to West Philly, the rain and wind had subsided enough to make riding somewhat pleasant, actually. It was just the right temperature that the average ride between laundry plants didn't cause me to break a sweat. Soon after, that would change, as I hiked all the way up to Wissahickon Ave. for one drop-off, then back down to Temple for another:

Apparently Temple is up, not down, according to this sign. Whatever.

The ride didn't end there, as I finished off with a leg eastward to Northern Liberties. While there, I noticed a familiar, beautiful smell emanating from somewhere in the Schmidt Commons. I used to live a few blocks from here and generally abhor the kind of crowd that frequents this area, but following the scent and seeing this made me excited:

Too bad this blog doesn't have smell-o-vision

The scent was hops and/or malt, in case you didn't guess by the picture. That's the site of the future Urban Village Brewing Company, one of more than 12 breweries or distilleries opening in Philly in 2017. I should invest in craft beer. I think it might take off or something.

One final spur up in Francisville and the route was complete, leaving only a ride home with a brief stop at the office for my planned biking adventures today. Ordinarily, getting off the bike permanently for the day by 12:30 would be blasphemous to me, but I had other things to do, namely a return to my bi-monthly gig at Blue Lizard Vineyard:

The music is actually real. The guitarist is fake

Believe me, I tried to figure out a way that I could ride a bike to this thing, but with more than 100 pounds of sensitive electronic gear in tow and some rough terrain, there was just no way with the time restrictions. 20ish miles would have to suffice for today, but that's nothing to sniff at.

Side note/shameless plug: you can book me to play at your venue, birthday party, bar mitzvah, briss, or more. Click here!

21 down and sadly only 9 more to go. I've got a busy non-biking weekend in store, but you can bet I'll be on the road. Ride on!

420 on 420. Sort of.

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 419.1

Almost made it to 420 miles on 4/20. Got a mile?

I've set goals for myself this month which I won't divulge, but that wasn't one of them. If it had been, I probably would have gone back out tonite to log one more mile just for the hell of it. Since I'm not competing (other than with myself), nah. More on that later.

First thing this morning, I spied a Wash Cycle on the way to...Wash Cycle:

Oh hey buddy

I really like seeing my co-workers killing it. It was kinda chilly and gray this morning, as you can see, but today was one of those typical Spring days in PA where you start the morning with the heat turned on and feel like you may need the A/C by mid-day. It's a shame I didn't stop to take more pictures but...I was busy!

Between covering the route and various commutes, I put in well over 25 miles today, which put me over 400 for the month. I've recently mentioned that I like how easy Strava makes it for me to keep track of all this, but this evening, they kinda irked me with this e-mail:

Wanya bet?

So...I don't even know what a KOM is, or why I got this e-mail, or why I should care that Wanya beat my segment time that I didn't even know existed, but I immediately unsubscribed. I'd never seen one of these before, so I assumed this is a new thing. However, a quick Google search resulted in finding this article about reckless cycling that may or may not have resulted from Strava challenges from 5ish years ago.

Yea. You can have your "KOM." As I mentioned above, my biking challenges are personal. I'm more about collecting experiences than accolades, and 400 miles worth of those experiences in less than 3 weeks is enough of a pat on the back for me.

#30daysofbiking has once again provided more wealth of fun, exhaustion and every emotion in between, and there are still 10 more days to go, believe it or not. We're on the home stretch...

The View(s)

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 389.6

Weatherwise, today wasn't the prettiest day, and as such I really don't have much to write about from day 19 of #30daysofbiking. I'd like to take a brief aside based off this article from GoPhillyGo that I stumbled upon a week or so ago. It's about the best views in Philly:

This one's actually not on the list

If you've read this blog regularly, you know how I feel about lists and how they're subjective and blah blah blah. I actually like this list, because I've visited a lot of these places multiple times and I tend to agree with most of their choices:

1. John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum
2. Belmont Plateau
3. Philadelphia Museum of Art
4. Bartram's Garden
5. South Street Bridge
6. Central Delaware Trail
7. Camden, NJ Waterfront - the only one I haven't visited (yet)

Those aren't necessarily the best views I've seen from these places, but rather the first posts that came to mind when I thought of them. I agree with this list so much so that the only one I think I'd add off the top of my head is Drexel Park in West Philly (sandwiched somewhere in that post). That's not to say there aren't dozens of other places to see a great view in this city.

I did attend a rather interesting panel discussion on climate change and green jobs hosted by Defend our Future PA, so there's also that. Most of the discussion wasn't bike-centric but very green oriented nonetheless. I'm glad to see more of these types of events popping up (it does seem to be an almost bi-weekly occurrence of late). Of course if you are interested in learning more about tonight, just ask. There was a lot of quality discussion.

Oh, and I logged nearly 13 miles today, all commutes. If this is considered an "off" day, I'd say it's not a bad day in the least. I can't believe we're already 19 days into this jawn...

An "Average" Day

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 376.7

Average, if you consider nearly 30 miles average...

As I stepped outside this morning in short sleeves and a t-shirt, I felt a slight breeze and knew it would be kinda chilly riding in, also meaning today would be a GORGEOUS day for cycling. I paused briefly on my commute this morning to take in some fresh air in Rittenhouse Square (that might be a rhyme?):

This could be considered a selfie if you look closely at the bell

After an early morning delivery in the suburbs via ZipCar, I trekked up to North Philly for more Wash Cycle deliveries:

Shitter's Trailer's full

That was actually for one client (Outward Bound). I think the total trailer pull was about 200 pounds. I had a few other stops after that, but not nearly as full of a load. Needless to say, I unknowingly logged 8 miles in doing so (that little Strava app is pretty handy).

Not pictured from today:

• Our maintenance person installed a new gear in the trike and asked me to test it. 5 miles and 200 pounds of towel inventory later, it more than passed the test.
• About 10 miles of commuting.
• A ride to and from dinner at 2nd Story Brewing in Old City, totaling about 6 miles

An average day? Sure. 18 down, 12 to go. It gets easier every time, #30daysofbiking...

South by South Test

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 347.4

My adventures on this blog are largely random, only occasionally planned. This one sorta falls under both categories.

I'm at the Philadelphia International Airport about once a month these days, and as such, biking there has been on my mind. The airport website actually has a whole page dedicated to bike routes and parking, and it was only a matter of time before I tried it myself. I decided NOT to attempt it for the first time on a day when I had a flight scheduled, because I'd hate to miss a flight because I didn't know where I was going or something stupid like that. So...

If you click on that page above, you'll notice there are 4 recommended routes. Unfortunately, 3 of them are useless to me.

• The Platt Bridge sidewalk is closed (has been for some time) and motorists regularly double the 35 MPH speed limit. You won't get me anywhere near that bridge on a bike, night or day.
• The Cobbs Creek Bikeway in Southwest Philly is the best route, but it's so far out of my way it wouldn't be worth it.
• Tinicum Township is southwest of the airport; Philly is northeast.

So my only real option is Passyunk Ave, which isn't a terrible route in and of itself, but there's debris everywhere once you cross over the Schuylkill River (it's an industrial zone) and the scenery is just blah - car dealerships, industrial operations, and so on. Drivers also speed through that area, so even being in the bike lane is risky at night (Side note: I wanted to do this earlier in the day but I had to cook dinner. No really. I had to. Trust me.)

I made it to the airport safe and sound, but missed the turn for the bicycle parking areas (good thing this was just a test). I eventually found them after some searching, and then headed home, missing another turn on the way out that resulted in 2 extra miles of riding. It looks a little ridiculous:

Almost looks like a heron, or some sort of bird...

For what it's worth, the ride home was far less treacherous, especially considering the fact that there's a buffered bike lane on the way out:

And rabbits. Lots of rabbits.

That's not to say it's all peaches and cream, though, as for a brief stretch, you get dangerously close to the I-95 on-ramp:

It's up there trust me

The ride home was also marred by a brutal headwind mashing me in the face the entire way, so much so that I actually have chapped lips. I've had better. The silver lining was a beautiful view of the Philly skyline from the Passyunk Ave bridge, of which I didn't stop to take a picture because at that point, I just wanted to get home. Oh, and now I know where all the bike racks are at the airport, so there's that, too.

Overall, the Philly airport is not the least bike-able place I've been to, but it needs some work. Same goes for you, #30daysofbiking. We still have 13 more days together.

...and on the 16th Day, He Biked

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 316.1

Day 16, mileage includes a 16, 316 on Easter Sunday, there's probably a correlation somewhere. Anywho...

I awoke knowing that a full afternoon and evening of family affairs awaited me, which would be enjoyable in their own right, but wouldn't leave much time for biking. Nevertheless, I made the most of it.

I jokingly told my Mom that her bike looked lonely the last time I saw it (who actually knows when that was), so I hijacked it this morning and rode around Palmerton in search of coffee:

I had coffee stains in the most literal sense of the term...

I found it in the local grocery store, where I ran into my old buddy Scott. His first question was "You didn't bike here, did you?" To which I responded "Not from Philly, haha." I had a couple similar exchanges when I biked to Easter Brunch at the country club just 2 miles from my Mom's house:

I think this is the most action Mom's bike has seen in 2 years

The ride there was literally all uphill, but I gave myself plenty of time because I knew that beforehand. In total Strava said it was a 390-foot elevation change. Not bad, eh? The weather was actually quite nice, with a cooperative breeze keeping me cool enough to avoid sweating like a pig upon arrival.

Unfortunately, clouds started to roll in as we finished brunch, so I had to leave in a hurry. I just made it back to Mom's before the rain came. Other than a brief ride from my car back to my house in South Philly, that was it for today. Back to "normal" tomorrow, and a few exciting things on tap for this week. It's mostly downhill from here, #30daysofbiking.

Maintaining Course

30 Days of Biking Mileage Total: 308.8

If you've been following along, you may notice that mileage total didn't move very much since last night. Today was a planned maintenance day on multiple levels:

IDK it looks like one level to me...

You probably wouldn't believe it from reading this blog, but I also own a car, and it needed some love today. I spent the better part of this afternoon in my Dad's garage helping him with work on my front brakes and a couple other routine items.

Somewhere in there, I also gave my bike some love by adjusting the brakes and doing a half-ass truing job on both rims. The guy still needs a visit to a bike shop in the near future for a full tune up, but this will do for now.

All this necessary work was a good opportunity to rest my legs (and my butt) after averaging more than 20 miles a day so far this month. Worth noting that I did take a relaxing 40-minute walk this evening, and of course I sneaked in a quick ride along the Lehigh Canal today. Remember, every ride counts no matter the length:

That's what she said

We're halfway there, #30daysofbiking. Can you believe it? You still with me?!?

300 Miles of Biking

30 Days of Biking Mileage Counter: 307.5

I had quite the crazy morning today, amounting to more than 20 miles between covering the WCL route and my commutes. So crazy, in fact, that I forgot to take any pictures. I'm thankful for Strava, because even I couldn't keep track of myself today, until much later.

After dinner, I decided to venture to the Northwest to a destination to be named later. GoogleMaps wanted me to take the SRT all the way up. I decided to take the Ben Franklin Parkway to see what this NFL Draft fracas coming to Philly is all about. On the way, I noticed that the city has added some shiny new bike boxes. Green is great, don'tcha think?

I still prefer orange

My instinct tells me that they did this partially to show off to the anticipated crowds. Case in point, check out the freshly painted lanes near the Art Museum:

And the freshly made cones to go with it

If you can't see the Art Museum in that picture, trust me it's there...behind the ridiculously oversized stage they've erected on the front steps. I'm a sports fan, but we have a sports complex for these sorts of things. It's built to accommodate more than 120,000 people at a time, so why not hold it there? At least we're not Pope-fencing this thing... For a much more detailed idea of what's going on cycling-wise around this event, go to the Bicycle Coalition Blog.

Anywho, I did pick the perfect time of day and the perfect day to do this adventure. I mean, look at this view just around sunset:

You can just as easily Google this view, too

The destination in question? Yet another brewery, of course. Wissahickon Brewing Co. just opened this week:

It's fun to say.

All told, it was nearly 9 miles from home and included a brutal hill at the end, but it was worth the ride. I also had to lock to a telephone pole for the first time ever. Sort of:

They also regularly feature food trucks (as you can see), as there's no kitchen on-site. The ride home was less than pleasant, mostly because atrophy started to set in right around the Art Museum, but hey, I made it! So, onward to Tax Day Day 15...

And by the way, I surpassed 300 miles for the month on said ride home. Day 15 is also going to include a short rest. I'm definitely half-assing this blog post, but I'm seriously ready for a slightly off day. Enjoy your weekend, everybody!