The More Things Stay the Same...

The more they don't change?

Four years ago this week, I moved to Philadelphia and settled temporarily in the Northern Liberties. When I moved there, I didn't know much about the neighborhood, but I'll always remember this sign at the corner of 3rd & Spring Garden that I saw on the day I moved here:

It's still there today, as you can tell. It was a welcoming thing to see on my first full day living in this town, and still is as I ride past here quite frequently of late on my delivery route. Northern Liberties has been undergoing a dearth of redevelopment in the last decade (part of the reason I moved out, actually), so it's actually refreshing to see that some things haven't changed, for better or worse.

The worse, is that this sign sits at the end of a row of shuttered businesses, most notably Finnigan's Wake Bar. If you look closely at the 15th anniversary sign below, you can see that's outdated by nearly 6 years:

I never frequented the place, but it's a nice old building and I hope they keep it intact if and when they decide to redevelop it. For now, I'll appreciate it in its relic-like state as I pass by nearly daily. For the love of whatever, don't tear it down.

Anyway, one other thing that hasn't changed:

I don't keep a record book, but the soiled weight of all that stuff was more than 400 pounds, which I moved in one trip. The weight nearly toppled the trike backwards a couple times when I was loading it. Whilst riding, thankfully my weight kept it balanced up front. Thank the maker for e-bike assist. Riding uphill would have been near impossible (but not impossible) without it.

It's been about a month since I put myself back on the bike, and now that I'm back into the full rhythm, it really does feel the same as it ever was. That's a little comforting, but...

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Since I'm talking a lot about change here, I need to talk about a big change that did occur this week. My former colleague and supervisor left the company after 7 years. He'd been the only supervisor I'd ever known as a commercial delivery cyclist. He put a great amount of effort into helping me grow my portion of the business, and also to grow within the company into roles in sales & marketing. Through all the transformations I have seen in my 3 years, 4 months and 24 days (trust me, I looked it up) with Wash Cycle, he was one of the anchors, which we all need. I have no idea where I'd be without his help.

He became an even better friend on and off work hours. He was the first person from work to call me after I busted my face in 2015, and that's just one of many examples of how solid a dude he is. It's become common for us to run into each other at events or just casually riding through the neighborhood. It doesn't hurt that we're also both pretty big sports fans and cycling enthusiasts. I'm sure even though he's moving on work-wise, these sorts of things will continue happening.

I'd gotten used to seeing his bike every time I pulled up to the office. Before he left on Thursday, I made sure to lock up next to it one more time:

Gone, but certainly won't be forgotten. See ya around, Joel. Thanks for everything and good luck. Most of all, don't change.

The Pinch Hitter

A couple weeks ago, I thought my seasonal side job doing live TV productions was finished after an extremely random last minute work opportunity. As luck would have it, I got a request to fill in for someone yesterday. This is a tale of pinch hitters.

The game I was to help produce was scheduled in Northeast Philly, which is rare for our production crew (we're usually far outside the greater Philadelphia area). I'd purposely not scheduled myself as available, as I'd planned to be in Philly all weekend. Sometimes the breaks go your way.

And sometimes they don't. Due to an unfortunate incident after the latest Winter storm to plague the region, my bike had to go in to the shop for repairs. I wasn't about to drive to work this game. Even though it was only 10 miles from my house, parking in South Philly would have been nearly impossible by the time I was scheduled to return.

So, I called in my own pinch hitter. The "She Beast" was called into action for the first time since last December. I bought her last Summer so my girlfriend would have a bike to ride when she came to visit me, and she's turned out to be more than worth the investment:

Due to time constraints, I once again rode to a train station to aid my commute:

That's the 2nd Street Station of the Market Frankford Line (or the "El"), located in Olde City. Apparently adding the "E" at the end is a point of contention among SEPTA:

I don't know why that needed to be blacked out, but I guess you gotta spend your budget dollars somewhere...

Anyway, I've done this ride (or very similar rides) multiple times before. I've also said multiple times before that it's hard to believe that the Northeast is still part of the same city. It's like a completely different world. There are row homes, but they also have front yards due to more ample space. And as such, there are many more wide avenues and bike lanes. On my way to the game, I happened upon a place I'd been meaning to ride for more than a year, Philly's first two-way parking-protected bike lane on Ryan Avenue:

I'm not going to lie, I'd completely forgotten about this when I mapped out my route in the morning. I mean, how often do I venture to the Northeast? Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise near the end of a rather taxing ride up some pretty serious hills and into a headwind. Also, bonus points to whoever plowed the bike lane after the storm.

A short 3ish miles after getting off the train, I'd arrived at my destination, Abraham Lincoln High School:

And even though the snow wasn't cleared from their general area, they did have ample bike parking out front:

I was actually late arriving. Thankfully (or not), so was our crew. It was a bit helter skelter getting set up for the broadcast, but we pulled it off. I was operating graphics this time around:

The game went off without a hitch, as did my ride home. This morning brought a return to normalcy (of sorts), as I picked up my boy from the shop with a brand new rear wheel. I took him for a short test ride to two of my favorite views of the city. This one from the Spring Garden St. Bridge:

And this one from the top of the Art Museum steps:

There's a small shifting issue happening (I expected it) so I'm going to have to make some adjustments to the rear derailleur for sure, but I'm happy to say he's back in working order. Somewhat sadly, this means the She Beast goes back into hiding for now, but it's good to know she's got my back.

Rider on the Storm

In case you've been living in a cave, we've experienced some crazy weather in and around the city of Philadelphia the last week or so. I personally made it through just fine, but I did suffer a bit of misfortune after the fact.

After a brutal windy, rainy and snowy Friday last week, we were pelted with several inches of thick, wet snow a few days ago on Wednesday. It actually forced me to use a car for my Wash Cycle Laundry route. Of course, I had to get to and from the car somehow, and the train wasn't really a viable option due to walking distance, so my bike was called into brief action that day:

I think the round trip was less than two miles, much lower than what I'm used to. They were an arduous windy, rainy, and snowy two miles. My bike worked just fine, so in hindsight, that day wasn't that bad though...

Things in the weather department settled down rather quickly, and we were greeted with a gorgeous day on Thursday:

That doesn't mean it was all peaches and cream. After storms, there's salty water and slush everywhere, which makes quite a mess:

It also creates unnoticeable hazards. I was riding to work that morning and hit a rather deep pot hole at nearly full speed. I couldn't see it because it was filled with slush that appeared to be just a small pile of snow I'd normally plow right through. The impact jarred me off my seat, forcing me to quickly dismount and reset my balance. I discovered after the fact that it also damaged several components of my rear wheel. Not the best visual, but you can see the wheel is very far off kilter:

I actually rode it home, assuming the wheel had been simply knocked out of true. As I was loosening the rear axle to work on it, I could see by the wobble that this wasn't the case. Realizing I didn't have the tools to fix it myself, I dropped it off at Bicycle Therapy yesterday. The verdict? I've broken a spoke and a rear axle, which is going to require a whole new rear wheel. Fun times.

It's a good thing I have my girlfriend's bike for backup. I've gotta get to work today. The moral of the story is, just because you survived the height of the storm doesn't mean its effects are through. Be aware out there, everyone.

Today Didn't Suck

But it did blow...and rain. Quite hard. For every 5 or 10 glorious days, there's usually a crappy day thrown in. Today should be worth about a month of sunny and 70 degree days. I knew even before I woke up today that the weather was not going to be enjoyable by any stretch of the imagination, but even I wasn't prepared for what I experienced.

After dressing (for what I thought was) appropriately, I poked my head out my front door and opted not to ride to work today, instead choosing to take the train. On the whole it resulted in about one less hour on the bike (round trip), an extremely grateful hour in hindsight. By the time I did get to the plant this morning to begin my Wash Cycle route, I could feel the wind burn on my face. It wouldn't get any better.

I've often said that wind is by far a cyclist's greatest weather enemy, worse than snow or rain. The inherent dangers from excess moisture are obvious: lack of traction, compromised visibility, and so on. Wind is much more unpredictable.

After loading up my trike, I rounded the corner a mere 3 blocks from the plant and had to stop to replace the rain cover, which had blown off due to a sudden (estimated) 25 MPH gust. It happened again about a mile down the road. I eventually got myself into a rhythm: when I'd feel a gust coming, I'd reach one hand back to keep the cover in place (one of the benefits of the trike, despite its reduced carrying capacity):

There were a few other wind-related episodes, some humorous, some terrifying. For starters, taking one hand off the handlebars means only having access to one brake, and with a full trike it usually requires two to stop in rainy conditions. Don't try this at home kids: we're professionals (I think I can safely call myself a professional cyclist even though I'm not an athlete).

Needless to say, the going was slow, sometimes by design and sometimes by nature. You know it's bad when you're traveling down a hill and the wind is actually stopping your tricycle that's loaded with 100+ pounds of laundry and a 140 pound person, not to mention that the trike also weighs about 70 pounds empty. Pedaling was so rough at some points that I had to use the electric assist on flat land just to keep myself moving forward. I usually only use the assist to go up hills, and on a normal day I can get one e-bike battery to last my entire route (about 3-4 hours or 15 miles). Today, I burned through a battery in about half that time and distance, and my legs are still sore from the effort.

At my second-to-last stop today, I encountered a gust so severe that it nearly toppled the trike when I dismounted. I looked to my left and noticed my clients' entrance door was swung open. A worker quickly pulled it shut. I entered shortly thereafter to a greeting of "Well, I've never seen this before." I responded "Me neither." I got back on the trike to head to my final stop. This time, the wind was at my back. I actually started to gain speed on a flat surface without pedaling. That was pretty scary, even though I'd tested and repaired the brakes just a couple days prior.

The ride back to the plant was uphill right into the teeth of the beast. At this point, it had really picked up speed and the light drizzle had turned to steady rain, which eventually turned to snow:

I don't apologize for not taking more pictures during all of these escapades. Early on, I'd stowed my phone away safely in an umbrella bag, due to rain getting in the pockets of my water resistant pants because it was blowing in from the side. I'd used another couple umbrella bags to fashion some crude spats to keep rain out of my waterproof shoes for the same reason - they only work when the water is coming from below, not above or the side.

My phone survived, as you can probably tell. The spats worked up until my final approach, when due to the near blizzard-like conditions and rain/snow blowing in all directions, I still ended up soaked from head to toe:

I zipped off the bottom of my pants and threw them in the dryer, along with my shoes, socks, and gloves:

A bit tough to see, but you can make out a faint outline where my slicker had protected the upper portion of my pants. I chose not to wear the rubber pants because I genuinely hate riding in them, so this is the price I paid. I still wouldn't have minded it so much if it hadn't been so damn windy. I can deal with rain and snow. Wind, I cannot.

I can honestly say this was the toughest 11 miles of cycling I've ever experienced, and among the top 5 worst days of cycling work I've ever endured:

Sadly, I'm not sure I could have prepared better other than maybe wearing my boots, which I also loathe to ride in. I hesitate to say this was the worst day, because as I sit here typing this, I'm actually quite thankful. I made it out unscathed, all my clients were happy, and I still got a lot of activity in today under the worst of conditions (including 30 minutes of walking between home, trains, work, and vice versa).

So today ultimately didn't suck, but I've had better for sure...