Naked in the Rain

Perhaps the worst thing about 2020 from a leisure perspective was that just about any event you could think of...was canceled. This included my favourite event of every year, the Philly Naked Bike Ride. With a return this year, I was sure not to miss it even with much uncertainty still lingering in our society these days. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ride and what it means, it aims to raise awareness of body positivity, bicycling, and environmentalism. If you know me, you know I'm all about that. 

Things weren't looking promising at first. I encountered some delays getting on the road Friday afternoon, and didn't arrive in Philly until midnight. Saturday morning was very gray and it rained pretty heavily for a few hours prior to the ride. I'd attempted to paint my body in the morning prior to leaving my BnB in the morning, but most of it ended up being washed off by the time the ride rolled around.

Despite damp and dreary conditions, the ride did go on as scheduled (it is always billed as rain or shine). In addition to the weather, the vibe around this year was a bit different for a couple reasons. Masks were still recommended, and the pre-ride was shortened to a half hour (down from the usual 2 hours). As such, it was difficult to meet up with friends who I knew were attending, but I did manage to snag a rando to touch up my paint and get my traditional pre-ride picture:

If you've never been Zucked, just don't post anything mildly offensive on Facebook and you won't have to worry about it. ;) I also custom made the mask with the help of my girlfriend. It reads "Mask On Pants Off." Clever, I know. 

Regardless of the pre-ride conditions, the turn out was as big as ever. It's almost like everyone missed being able to do this last year:

I didn't bring my camera due to the threat of rain, so I didn't take nearly as many pics this year, but I did bump into friends along the way, including one who graciously let me use his bathroom near the end of the ride. I did put some shorts on before I went into his house, just FYI:

Once the ride was over, I met up with one of my college roommates and a few of our friends for some post-ride food and bevs:

This happened two years ago as well. It's Groundhog Day, really.

I feel like I'm not doing the ride justice with this write up, but I guess I really was thrown off a bit this weekend. I'm very glad I went, and I'm looking forward to next year, which will be my 7th consecutive (we're ignoring the canceled 2020 event, obviously). This year was the 12th year of PNBR, so that means I've participated in half of the rides that have actually occurred. Kinda impressive when you consider I haven't lived in Philly for three years, no? And so until next year, keep riding and be positive.

Steel City Cycling

I'm approaching my 500th consecutive day of riding a bike outdoors at least once a day. Through mostly unplanned happenstances, the milestones have tended to occur around unique circumstances (for example, day 100 was in NYC, Day 400 was in Philly). The family and I found ourselves in Pittsburgh a few days ahead of day 500, but we'll call it close enough:

That photo was taken on Sunday, the morning of day 498. As you can see, neither one of those are a bike owned by me. I owe a debt to bike share systems for allowing me to keep this streak alive. Off the top of my head, I think this past weekend was the third different bike share I've utilized on this journey. This particular incarnation is called Healthy Ride:

Side note: I had a chance to ride one of these more than 4 years ago but didn't. Anyway, it's pretty similar to most bike sharing systems. In this instance, you DO have to create an account and enter a credit/debit card before checking out a bike, which keeps the kiosk system much simpler (as you can see above). All of the data entry is on the rear of the bike:

You can use the app and QR code, but because I don't expect to be here very regularly, I chose to use my phone number and pin instead. The bikes are actually a little less unwieldy than most other bike share systems I've utilized, with a modest cargo space on the front:

If you happen to find one of the newer bikes, they actually have SEVEN speeds! Most only have three:

If you look closely above, you can see the cable lock. This method allows you to lock the bike anywhere if you need to stop at a store but don't want to lose your bike (similar to the Blue Bikes I rode in New Orleans). That can be pretty handy, but it can also lead to some pretty clumsy lock jobs when bikes are returned to their docks:

All in all, I really enjoyed using the system. It might even be my second favourite bike share out of all my travels.

Anywho, on Saturday morning I was flying solo. I wanted to head eastward from Downtown on the Great Allegheny Passage for a few miles before heading back through the south shore:

As you can see, it was a pretty great morning to be on the trail. The GAP has long been on my list of cycling destinations, and even though I was only on it for about 3 miles, I can say I was there. I still want to do the whole thing one day.

From there, I headed south over the Monongahela River via Hot Metal Bridge. I love the name, and it's actually got a pretty interesting history if you care to read the above link:

You know what? It even looks cool. It also provides a nice view of downtown if you cross it on a nice day, which I was fortunate enough to do:

Once on the southern shore, I decided to venture OFF the trail and through the neighborhoods because I'd read something about this thing called a "neighborway." It turns out that they're basically bike-friendly roadways with a few extra qualifications. I didn't mind it though. The area was quaint. Kinda reminded me of Near Northeast Philly a little:

This "detour" enabled me to find some neat bike rack art along the way:

And another nice view of downtown before I headed back to our apartment:

We spent Saturday sightseeing (not on bicycles) with Faith, my mom, and stepdad. It was a very good day, we saw and learned about many fantastic things, laughs were shared and good times were had, but there's still nothing like seeing a city on a bike. 

There's also nothing better than getting others to share in the joy. Sunday morning, I was able to convince Rae to go along for a ride with me. We decided to head the opposite direction, this time heading west on the Mon Wharf:

Overall a nice trail, especially because it wasn't flooded (ha!) but there were a couple narrow spots. Yikes:

Not so bad, tho. We stopped briefly at Point State Park:

Before heading across the Allegheny River via the Fort Pitt Bridge:

What awaited us on the other side was a chance to visit Mr. Rogers looking over his neighborhood:

This was an unexpectedly moving experience. The park completes the atmosphere by playing recordings of Fred Rogers singing and talking, just like most of you probably remember from your childhood. It was pretty damn special. I wish we'd had more time to stick around. I guess we'll have to come back. ;)

We headed back across the river via the Roberto Clemente Bridge, which features adorable bike lane paintings:

A notable aside, Roberto Clemente is one of my favourite baseball players of all-time. I highly recommend you read his story as well.

We headed back to our apartment to get ready to head out for the weekend, but not before taking in one more very fun sight in the afternoon:

Despite losing the first two games of the weekend series, my beloved Philadelphia Phillies were able to awaken their bats on Sunday and pull out a huge victory in one of the most beautiful stadiums I have ever had the pleasure to visit. 

It's so strange sitting here writing this because it's taken me an hour, and I feel like we saw so much this weekend, yet we barely scratched the surface of this charming old city. Like I said above, I guess we'll have to go back. ;)

Tomorrow will be my actual 500th day, but this weekend will count as the honorary celebration. Cheers to another ride, 500 more days of adventures, and hopefully many more.