"It Could Have Been Any One of Us"

I got to the office this morning and had just taken off my helmet when my co-worker walked in. He did the same, and we began chatting as we usually do. He asked me if I'd seen the human-made "protected bike lane" on Spruce Street:

As you can see from the pictures above, I'd not only seen it, but I participated and rode in it. The event was organized by our former co-worker, good friend and cycling advocate, who I briefly chatted with while I was on Spruce Street. She had helped to coordinate this gathering of about 100 cyclists and cycling supporters.

So why were we all there, standing in a bike lane buffer zone at 7:30 on a Wednesday morning? In solidarity and support of a fellow cyclist killed in an incident with a motor vehicle, the third such in Philadelphia this year. As sobering of an occasion as this was, there was a sense of comfort to see so many people coming out in support. The line stretched approximately 3 city blocks (not counting side streets):

11th and Spruce Streets, scene of the fatal crash on Tuesday morning

My co-worker and I continued chatting, about what we knew about the incident, about what we'd like to see happen in its wake, and then as we realized this had happened during the time we're usually commuting, he said something that really struck me.

"It could have been any one of us."

It could have been, and that's really why we were all out there today. There's been a lot of emotionally-charged speak from both sides of the argument, but no matter who's right or wrong, the fact is that a woman lost her life yesterday and it could have been avoided. The reality is that for all the love myself and many others pour into riding a bike every day, we're still risking our lives every single time we do it, and it doesn't have to be this way. It shouldn't be this way.

I'm not going to lie to all of you. What you see on this blog and in my social feeds may paint the picture that I'm a fearless cyclist and that everything I do with my friends and family that involves biking is all well and good. The hard truth is that I fear incidents like this every single day. Every cyclist does, and if they say they don't, they're lying. And I don't just fear them for myself; I fear that these incidents will happen to anyone.

In the coming days and weeks, I'm sure we'll find out exactly what happened at 11th & Spruce on that fateful Tuesday morning. Regardless of that, the point is still clear to me. We all have different places to go and we all have different ways of getting there, so we have to figure out a way to do it safely.

We (cyclists) need to continue to be vigilant in safe riding practices and advocating for infrastructure that helps us co-exist with our transportation brethren. My fellow motorists (yes, I also drive a car from time to time) need to continue to be mindful of their surroundings and also just as diligent in safe driving practices.

Because like my co-worker said this morning, it could have been any one of us.

Black Friday in C-Bus

I took a road trip to Columbus, OH to visit my girlfriend and celebrate Thanksgiving with her family last week. Among other things, I convinced her to take a rather lengthy (well, lengthy for her anyway) ride on Black Friday.

Columbus is a relatively bike-friendly city, but my girlfriend lives in this strange cycling black hole of sorts, whereby every bike route near her house is rated as "moderate" or "poor" (denoted by yellow or red lines on the previous link). Despite this, I convinced her to ride with me to a much more friendly area along the Olentangy River, the trail that bears its name. As in, we actually rode our bikes to the trail rather than trying to jam them in the car and driving there. I maintain that doing the latter would have taken us just as much time as the former. It might have been safer, but it certainly wouldn't have been as much fun. In any case, we survived:

If the foliage looks a little out of place, it's because that pic is actually from September, the previous time I was in Columbus. I didn't pause to take any pics on the actual trail this time around, but you can see from that pic and the link above that it's a really nice, easy-going trail. It's a rail trail that bears a striking resemblance to a lot of the trails I'm accustomed to back home, including the D&L Trail. Despite temps in the lower 40's, we'd dressed warmly enough to make it a relatively pleasant ride on an otherwise beautiful late Autumn day:

Our bikes are both made by Specialized. How cute. What's really awesome though is that I got my girlfriend to ride more than 10 miles on a random Friday morning:

Of course, this was only a very short portion of the trail. The Greater Columbus Area (and Ohio in general) are flush with rail trails due to the region's industrial heritage, one that I look forward to exploring more and more as we ride on...

Rustcycles: Broad & Walnut

I happened upon this little guy on my lunch break the other day, as I was walking near the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets:

Kinda neat actually. Someone removed the shock absorber that connects to the rear seat stays, so the frame looks incredibly disfigured even though it's really only missing one part (here's what the bike should look like). Additionally, if you look closely, you'll see that there's a stray wheel locked to the same bike rack:

Yeesh. Someone did a number on that lock trying to crack it. I'm surprised the wheel is in as good a shape as it is. No way to tell if these were from the same bike, but I highly doubt it. Even though this is a fairly busy intersection, with (likely) 2 separate dismembered bikes on one rack, I DON'T RECOMMEND PARKING HERE!

Nice Rack: Kelly & Ferry

Whoa! 2 Nice Rack posts in a row!

I had to take a trek out to East Falls on Tuesday for work. Our plant in this area lies about 8 miles northwest of my house, approximately 4 times further away than my usual morning commute. Of course, I very easily could have taken a car, but you know me better than that by now...

Despite abundant sunshine, it wasn't the most pleasant day for riding in the early morning hours. I was forced to dress for temperatures in the low-40's Fahrenheit, unaware of just how windy conditions were outside at the time. I guess I should have assumed as much, as I'd be biking along the river for a good portion of the ride. It's always windy there. Always.

With this being the case, a little over halfway to my destination, I was already soaked in sweat from having to pedal aggressively against said wind. As I came up Kelly Drive and made a left in the final mile to head towards our plant, I paused to catch my breath and shed a layer of clothes. I knew I was close, but it had seriously gotten that bad that I couldn't stand it.

It just so happens that the bike-friendly restaurant In Riva sits at this corner, a place I'd stopped at awhile back. They were closed, but it was still a good place to stop for some bike-related scenery, including this neat looking (and highly functional) bike rack:

Wonder how many you could fit there...the decor also features several permanent Rustcycles. You can see one just behind the red rack:

Two for one. A look across the street also provides a nice view of the river and (at this time of the year) some colorful foliage:

Not a bad place to stop, and after shedding my overcoat, the last mile wasn't so bad. The ride home was also really nice with the wind at my back. No pain, no gain, right?

Nice Rack: 15th & South

I've been writing about a lot of abandoned bicycles of late, so it's time to balance it out with something more pleasant.

Not too far down the street from our Wash Cycle Laundry laundromat, there's a neat little slice of bicycle heaven, beginning with this musically-themed bike rack:

I feel like I've written about one of these before (there are several at musically-prone places throughout the city) but just in case I didn't, there it is. The music nerd in me is slightly bothered - the sculpture clearly shows two notes tied together, but they appear to be a hybrid of 16th and half notes. Violation.

The bike nerd in me absolutely loves it. It's not only functional, but it looks neat too (even despite the musical discrepancies). It also happens to be at the end of a row of Sheffield style bike racks, which are some of my favorites to lock to. These racks are immediately adjacent to a small outdoor seating area and an Indego bike share station:

The naysayers will point out that this takes up 3 parking spots, but in those spots you can park more than a dozen bikes (including bike share). I don't use Indego very often, but it's nice to know it's there, and I hope spaces like these begin to appear more often. As a sign of how far things have come, Indego didn't even exist when I began this blog nearly 3 years ago...

Prudente 3,000

As the old saying goes, better late than never...

I was at home last night around 7:30 and had just finished eating dinner when I received a call from our (Wash Cycle's) cyclist manager Jon. At this time of night, I knew it wasn't just to say "hello."

Turns out, my good friend Todd was still on the road and had a flat tire - he had already fixed it, but didn't have a pump to inflate the tube. Jon lives much further away from where the incident occurred, so he asked me if I could help. Sure. Anything to avoid doing dishes...

So I put my shoes on and layered up (it was pretty chilly last night) to head up to 2nd & Walnut Streets. This isn't the first time I've had to help out a friend in need, but definitely one of the strangest as far as timing goes. After all was said and done, he was going to be late for his last couple appointments, but on the road safely nonetheless:

Hey, we've all been there, and I'd hope if I ended up in the same situation, someone would do the same for me. Just goes to show how important it is to keep a complete tool kit handy when riding through an urban environment. I know that Todd knows this - he simply forgot one small detail. We're all human, right?

A side note: look how damn bright my reflective tire stripes/bumper stickers/bike bag straps appear to the flash of a camera! If you're a car and you don't see me (or the lights I have blinking in addition), you must truly be blind. I still want to add more, as it's now darker much earlier in the evenings...

Somewhere along the road yesterday, I also crossed over 3,000 miles for the year for at least the second year in a row:

It might be my third year in a row, but I didn't use Strava until 2016, so I don't really know. In any case, it still seems surreal to think I've been on a bike for that many miles in a year, no matter how many times I do it.

And no, I'm not going to try to get to 4,000. I may try another challenge in December to finish off the year, because I was a little too busy to make the most of the "Love to Ride" challenge last month. Like I said, better late than never...

Rustcycles: 16th & South

Just down the street from the Wash Cycle Laundry center city laundromat, I found this unassuming yet extremely intriguing Rustcycle:

So what's the big deal? It's a rusty bike. But look closely, and you can see that it's got two different tires, one of which is definitely not suitable for this sort of frame. The lock is attached to the rear tire and one of the seat stays, but not both, and I'm not sure how (or why) you would do such a thing when locking up. And finally, check out the green pole back and to the right of the bike:

That's an old cable style bike lock that was PAINTED OVER quite some time ago. Not that anyone is really going around with a set of bolt cutters removing old locks, but still...it made me ask, "Really?"

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

Rustcycles: 17th & South

The other day, I was across the street and not too far down the block from our Wash Cycle Laundry laundromat, near 17th & South Streets, when I spotted this somewhat bright Rustcycle hanging off a bike rack:

Literally, hanging. Overall, the frame isn't in bad shape. It just needs everything else.