Beer Biker

I had a Saturday with no plans for the first time in what seemed like forever. Bet you'll never guess what I did...

There happened to be a Bikes and Beers ride sponsored by the Bicycle Coalition (or maybe in support of, either way), but I decided not to participate for a few reasons:

1. I don't particularly like paying $50 to participate in a ride, especially since only a portion of that revenue would go to the Coalition, who I already donate directly to on a regular basis.
2. They start these rides at 9:30AM, and on my usual Saturday, I'm not even out of my PJs by that time. I get why the organizers do this. They don't want people out too late in the heat of the day, but hydration's rarely been a problem for me.
3. I've already been to Flying Fish Brewery, so it wouldn't have been much of an adventure.
4. None of my friends were participating (that I knew of), and I wasn't in the mood for socializing with new people.

Plus, I prefer to get purposefully lost from time to time, which is not encouraged on a group ride, especially if you pay to participate. Anyway, so I decided to do a solo bikes and beers ride. As I mentioned, it was a beautiful day:

The destination (or halfway point I guess) I chose was Chestnut Hill Brewing, which had just opened in April of this year. Apparently Mt. Airy/Chestnut Hill is becoming a microbrewery hotbed:

The beer was awesome and as you can see, it's a cozy little place, nestled in a grocery store and behind a hotel. It's actually very close to Iron Hill Brewery and Earth Bread & Brewery, both of which I visited last year, so the route I took to get there yesterday was very similar. I did decide to take a few detours through North Philly instead of just taking the Schuylkill River Trail. I did take it on the way home, and decided to be a tad touristy:

The dark picture may have been foreshadowing, as I noticed I had a tire going flat soon after I hopped back on the bike. I had enough air to make it to the grocery store further on the way home:

I was going to patch it up, but realized there were actually TWO holes in the tube. Not worth it, especially considering I had already patched it once. I decided to take the bus home from there. Still, I got a 25 mile ride in before this happened, not too shabby:

Nearly 25. Who's counting, though? I replaced the tube and tire this morning. The more I think about it, I need to upgrade the front tire to a reinforced tube/tire like the rear, which hasn't seen a flat in more than a year.

Today has been a day of rest, as I'm back on the Wash Cycle for a day tomorrow...