Bike to School

Before I moved to Columbus, my girlfriend told me she was excited for me to explore the surrounding area, as I am wont to do pretty much everywhere I go. I was/am pretty excited about it too, and in addition to the exploration, I'm always excited to have others along for the ride, even if it is just around the corner.

After 3+ months here, I've explored quite a bit and I've pretty much figured out my immediate surroundings. I (we) have my routes to the grocery store, post office, work, and so on. On one of those routes, there was a path that my girlfriend and I thought led to an athletic club off in the distance, and nothing more. So, we never bothered to ride it.

One day, we had to go to the kid's school for some sort of event, and knowing that it's really not all that far from the house, of course I decided to see if there was a bike-able route. Via main roads, there is not, but there's an old saying that "Sometimes what you're looking for is right under your nose." I prefer to say "It's right there in front of you where you never would have seen it." I didn't end up biking to the school for said event, but I did eventually take that previously untraveled path and it happened to lead right to the school. Who knew?

So naturally, eventually someone (it may have been the child) suggested riding bikes to school instead of taking the bus or a car. Even though she's still pretty young, I was all for it. After a few practice runs over the last couple weeks, she and her Mom took the first ride to school this morning, and I showed up after school for "pickup":

For now, one of us adults will be accompanying her until she's fully ready to go it alone, but this is still pretty awesome stuff! Apparently they're going to install a bike rack at the school for good measure (They should have one already. Baby steps, I suppose).

When I had moved, my girlfriend had mentioned that she really wanted her to start riding a bike again. She already knew how, but it had been some time since she had done it and she needed a boost to remember (It's like riding a bike, you could say). Now, we've not only helped her remember how to ride a bike, but by biking to school, she's done something that neither one of us ever have. Excuse me while I live vicariously... I don't know about you, but if I were her classmates, I'd be pretty jealous that my friend got to ride a bike to school. Just me?

Basically, keep exploring. You never know what you might find, or whose life it might change (including yours).

Dare to Bare

96 days after vacating the City of Brotherly Love (not that I'm counting, or anything), I made a rather expected return for my very favorite day of the year. I'm referring of course to the Philly Naked Bike Ride. If you're new here, it's an annual celebration of positive body image, fuel consumption consciousness, and cycling advocacy. And yes, some of us are naked:

This year happened to be my fourth year participating, and of course every year is just a little bit different (even if the starting location has stayed the same for the last three). By equal parts accident and design, I kept up my tradition by using a fourth different bike:

"My Therapist" was also celebrating her first birthday this weekend, and after the completion of the ride, had also officially broken the 500 mile mark. Happy birthday, beautiful. What a celebration, right?

The weather, as you can probably see above, wasn't so beautiful in comparison to some of the past rides, but from what I saw, that didn't lower the turnout or deter people very much from getting into the spirit. New this year, my girlfriend decided to join me!

I mean, why wouldn't she? She's seen how much fun I've had in the last few years, and I dare say she had more fun than I did (we always remember our first time). She even came up with our body paint slogans. I usually come up with some sort of clever pun, but she's used this phrase before and it seemed quite appropriate. One thing's for certain, we both found out that we have excellent body painting "handwriting." So much so that several bystanders asked for our help with their messages.

Due to the weather being misty, I mostly kept my phone in my bike bag. I also didn't bring my camera along for the ride for the same reason, so my pictures from this year's installment are at a premium (a quick Google search can show you more, if you dare). I pulled it out from hiding at a few choice spots so you can get a sense of the size of the crowd, seen here on Broad Street:

There may have been a similar amount of nudity here on February 4th. Who knows for sure? At any rate, we hit most of the usual spots, including Rittenhouse Square, The Art Museum, and South Street:

And we finished at the newly redesigned Love Park just across from City Hall:

By this time, the rain had started to pick up, so what is normally a casual post-ride hangout (pun intended) was a little truncated as people scrambled to put their clothes back on for warmth. Still, everyone I saw enjoyed themselves, and one couple took advantage of the special occasion by getting married on the spot (no photos, sorry).

I happened upon a few old friends during the course of events, plus some new friends I'd never met, like this lady who took a picture of us and then selfie bombed us:

Photo credit: Dan Fernando

I didn't catch her name, but what's in a name anyway?

I feel like the cold quickened our pace this year, but we certainly weren't short-changed in the mileage department. 10 miles is typical:

Another PNBR in the books, and I already can't wait for next year. Neither can my girlfriend. Ha! Special thanks to the organizers for always providing a great experience from start to finish, my friend Dan Hoyles for hosting us this weekend, and all the participants and bystanders who appreciate what we're really all about. Until the next one...