Nice Rack: Broad & Locust

One of my main overarching themes on this blog has been to find bicycle-related art, some in the form of bike racks. One of my self-imposed challenges is to get pictures of these racks without any bikes actually attached to them. It's a difficult task at times, but the dead of Winter helps out on occasion.

For example, this bike rack that sits just a half block away from my office is usually loaded with bikes on an average day. With many fewer cyclists willing to brave the blistering cold temperatures, it's a rare occurrence to see it sitting bare:

This was part of the Bicycle Coalition's series of artistic bike racks installed in 2014:

Just blocks away from City Hall, it's almost eerie to see such a normally busy place sitting so empty:

I'm also writing this on MLK Jr. Day, which is a holiday for some. That could be a contributing factor to the emptiness.

Stone Cold Lock

You might say Christmas or my birthday came late (or early) for me this year, for a couple reasons.

I received a couple gift cards for BikeLine/Trek Bicycle for said occasions from my Aunt(s) just a few weeks ago, one of which I used to help purchase a long overdue replacement for my Kryptonite U-lock that had broken last April:

Quite obviously, that's the new lock, not the one that broke. I chose to get this particular model for two reasons: it came with the frame mount holder (that strange looking thing in the middle) and because I had great luck with my first Kryptolok. It lasted nearly 3 years. After my first one broke when the key got stuck in the lock, I picked up this Bell lock from Walmart in a pinch, because it was literally the only one available at the time:

As you can see, the key is still in the lock, and that's the reason I went lock shopping yesterday. For the second time in the last month (both during extreme cold), the key or lock didn't function properly. After the first occurrence, I sprayed WD-40 in the mechanism and it seemed to work fine for a few weeks. It literally froze up again on Saturday night.

Luckily I was able to get the key stuck in the "open" position and force the lock off with a hammer, but you know that old saying "Fool me once..." and so on. I made it home Saturday night and did eventually get the key out, but I decided I'm not messing around with this hunk of junk any more. Forgive the rant, but I've hated this lock from day one, simply because of its shape:

If you look at the Kryptolok, you can see the steel tube is round. The Bell lock is ovular, which they claim makes it more secure/tougher to cut/etc. The unfortunate side effect was that it made locking the wheel and frame to bike racks quite arduous at times because of the elongated shape. The little things can make the biggest differences sometimes. Additionally, it had a rain cover for the key hole that was supposed to prevent the mechanism from getting dirty or wet, which also didn't work (clearly). Good riddance. Fortunately, they have a lock program and a warranty, which I registered for and plan to take advantage of.

Anyway, all frustrations aside, I chose to use this experience as an opportunity to take a long ride to Manayunk, which is the closest Trek Bicycle location relative to my home:

I didn't get to ride to Manayunk on my birthday as I'd originally planned, so I'll consider this the belated fulfilling of my tradition. I didn't stop for lunch or beer though, as I had to get home to watch sportsball. I was also delayed by some fierce wind out of the northwest (I'm estimating 15MPH). As you can see, I rode right into the teeth of the beast yesterday on the way out. That's actually preferred, because the ride home was much easier. The silver lining is that there was not a cloud in sight:

I won't sugarcoat it though. The last few miles were still a bit rough just because of the earlier difficulty, and there were definitely icicles forming in my beard. Also ice forming inside that water bottle up there. Neat stuff. Overall not the worst ride I've ever taken, but I think I'm good on long rides for at least the next couple weeks, and hopefully my lock problems are gone for a long time...

Citi Cycling

After riding a bike every day in December (regardless of mileage, I did it!), January has been leaving me feeling deprived in the cycling department. Due in part to some harsh Winter weather and scheduling, I've already been forced to keep the bike inside 5 days so far this year. But, as has been the case so many times, when the time is right, the adventure finds me...

I had a day trip to New York City planned for yesterday to meet up with my girlfriend and daughter. It took a lot of coordination, but everything was set up so we'd get there right around the same time (I'd be taking the train, they'd be flying). Long story short, their flight was delayed and it was too late for me to re-schedule my train ticket, so I found myself in midtown Manhattan with about 2.5 hours to kill.

I'll be honest, I was feeling a bit anxious just being in New York. Even though I live in a city, it's a completely different energy level up there. To cure my anxiety, I decided to go for a bike ride (I realize that sounds counter-intuitive considering the surroundings, but also consider that it's me who's writing this - would you expect anything less?).

I bought a CitiBike daypass and set out for some pseudo-adventuring in the Big Apple:

CitiBike is NYC's bike share program, in case you can't tell from the picture above. This is (I think?) the 5th different bike sharing program I've used in the past year. They're all very similar. You swipe a credit card, answer a few questions, sign your life away, get a 5-digit code to enter at the dock, then pull out a bike:

These pics were taken in Central Park, which was actually the end of my first ride. The parameters of most of these systems require a bike to be returned to any station before 30 minutes elapse, otherwise additional charges of $4 per half hour apply. By the time I'd reached Central Park, I was at about 20 minutes and didn't want to risk going over my time. The nice thing about CitiBike is that there are eleventy billion stations (exact number - look it up) scattered throughout Manhattan, so they're never far away.

The day pass was only $12 (Philly's is $10), which allots for unlimited 30-minute rides, so even though I had to stop, I could just check out another bike from the same station without paying anything extra. You could actually go all day doing this and get wherever you need to go, as the pass is valid for 24 hours.

The bikes themselves are all very similar as well. They're a bit clunky, but those big handlebars serve another purpose beyond steering. I like that they provide a small rack for carrying items, as well as safe cycling and legal information for the lay person who may not be familiar with the rules of the road:

As for the rest of the bike, I have some mixed feelings. The first bike I rode had this strange "slick shift" which never seemed to catch into the next gear, but rather slid between lower and higher gears as you rotated the handle on the right handlebar:

I much preferred the second bike I grabbed, which had actual notches to let you "feel" when the gear switched:

As for the rides themselves, I had no major issues. I think that's partially because I'm an experienced urban cyclist. I won't lie to you though - New York cycling is a completely different animal than Philly cycling for a few reasons. One, more people than not seem to regularly ignore one of the major laws pertaining to cyclists: ride with the flow of traffic. Two, pedestrians in NYC are much more likely to cross against a red light. I don't know if this is the case simply because there are more people in NYC or if it's a culture thing or both, but whatever the case, I feel like an inexperienced cyclist might have had a rough time. And this also doesn't take into consideration the added difficulty of piloting those big, clunky bikes. Again, I had no major issues.

The cycling infrastructure was pretty solid from what I experienced. There are a lot of dedicated bike lanes in Midtown Manhattan, including this one on Broadway (not the best pic, but you get the idea):

Dig the green space to the left, too. In addition, some of these lanes include dedicated traffic signals for cyclists. I've seen these in other cities (DC comes to mind) but have yet to recall seeing one in Philly:

I had started at Madison Square Garden, rode up to Central Park (above), then turned around and headed south, stopping briefly in Times Square to be a little tourist-y:

I didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing otherwise. That's not really why I was there in the first place. I did, however, stop for lunch at a brewery in Chelsea:

Death Avenue Brewing, to be exact. Again, would you expect anything less from me at this point? It wasn't too far from MSG and my eventual base for the evening. At $11, the price per pint was a bit steep, but considering the location, it was to be expected. At least it was tasty:

After lunch, I rented another bike and headed East to finally meet up with my girlfriend. I biked across the island in about 20 minutes. Not too shabby! I also saw this unique signage beside the bike lane. I'm not sure who's trying to keep pigeons as pets, but nonetheless, there it is:

Due to my girlfriend's flight delays and my desire not to run myself ragged, I ended up changing my train reservation to this morning so I could stay overnight. Even a few extra hours was well worth the reservation change fees. Not pictured, I rented a bike to get back to Penn Station from the East Village this morning. Not surprisingly, the commute at 6AM was much more laid back and uneventful due to lack of traffic and pedestrians. I guess the city does occasionally sleep.

I'll admit that when the IndeGo bike share launched in Philly, I had some speculations, but in the last 2 years, I've found bike sharing to be quite crucial to getting the most out of my increasingly travel-oriented lifestyle. My galavants notwithstanding, I can't tell you how much money I saved in transportation costs by not having to take a taxi, train, or bus yesterday. A small adventure and functionality wrapped together, and that's true just about every time I put my foot on a pedal.

So now, the logical mission is to ride a bike share in as many cities as possible, right? Stay tuned...

Bikes, Beers, and Birthdays (Abridged Version)

Even though my birthday is tomorrow, today was supposed to be the second annual installment of my birthday bike ride (the first being last year). It's a tradition I actually got from my friend Todd, who rides his age in miles every year on or about his birthday.

See, the thing about planning a day to ride weeks in advance of the actual date is that Mother Nature doesn't care about your plans. Due to bitter cold temperatures and wind chills, I was forced to postpone my planned ride to Manayunk. I'll try to get one together for January on a day that's not as brutal.

My backup plan was to ride to the new Yards Brewery location, a place I'd not yet visited until today. From my house, it's only about 3.5 miles one way, much more palatable than the original 20+ miles I'd planned for today. I somehow still convinced my girlfriend to ride along with me. We did need to pause to get out of the elements a few times, and occasionally to admire the scenery:

That picture was taken in Franklin Square. I was pretty surprised to see the fountain still operational with temperatures in the teens. In any case, it made for a unique view.

We survived the trek to lower North Philly and made it to the tap room. There's not much bike parking outside (that will hopefully change in the near future), but when we arrived there was plenty of room inside:

In addition to the beer (obviously), the new space also features a food menu that caters to most anyone. Back in my day, ramen was never considered a gourmet restaurant choice. My how times have changed:

We bundled up again and headed for home. This ride was pretty tame compared to a lot of the crazy things I've done, but I'm actually really proud of my ride companion for toughing this out with me:

Nonetheless, I was ready for a hot shower and a nap by the time I got home. It's just not that pleasant to be outside today. Kudos to my co-workers who were out delivering laundry in this brutality, or really anyone who also toughed it out. I saw a few of you out there today.

I've got no major bicycling plans for the last couple days of December. I'm likely just going to do a couple laps around the block to keep my "ride a bike every day" pledge, and considering that I've somehow logged over 250 miles this month, that's definitely enough. Stay warm out there, friends.

#bikeyourbirthmonth

Advocacy: It's an All-Weather Affair

Exactly one month ago today, cyclist Emily Fredricks was killed in Center City Philadelphia while riding on her morning commute. There have been two other incidents since then, including a pedestrian fatality just last week. I can't believe I'm about to type this sentence, but these events have become so frequent, I almost can't keep up with them. If you read the Bicycle Coalition blog, it paints a rather grim picture of the state of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure in the greater Philadelphia area. Grim, but also accurate to those of us who utilize it on a daily basis.

If there is one positive out of all of this, it's rallied support among cycling and pedestrian safety advocates. The changes we want to see happen won't occur without some sort of a spark, some sort of notoriety. That's why we've continued to demonstrate in the streets, including braving temperatures in the teens to create our 3rd human protected bike lane this month:

Photo credit: Jameson Gitto

We are a little crazy, but it doesn't feel crazy to us. People have to get from point A to point B in any weather, and accidents can happen (and be prevented) in any weather just the same, so why should that deter us?

At the same time, we all recognize that standing in the street isn't enough. After all was said and done, the 30 or so of us that braved this morning's brutal cold and wind huddled together to remind ourselves of our next steps that never end: signing the petitions; calling the representatives; educating the community; and so on, and so forth. Standing in the cold is easy. It's all the other stuff and the bureaucracy and etc. that's tough, but when we win, it will be worth it.

I implore you, even if you're just a casual reader and even if you don't live in Philly, help us by spreading the message and getting involved with Vision Zero. Research your city or town and see if there's a similar grassroots cause that you can support. It's not about cyclists. It's not about pedestrians. It's about all of us working together to make sure we can all do the things we need to do safely. You never know whose life you could save...

Alright, enough soapboxing. Now it's time to brave the cold once again and ride home. Enjoy your evening.

#bikeyourbirthmonth

Merry Cycle-Mas

Yesterday wrapped up the 2017 Christmas season, and I hesitate to use the phrase "Thank God it's over." I'm not a hater of the season. In fact, I actually quite enjoy it. For whatever reason though, this Christmas season had seemed exceptionally hectic. Maybe it's partially due to this whole "trying to ride a bike every day in December" thing, but anyway...

It's day 26 and I'm still going strong. I'm looking forward to a birthday ride at the end of this week, and a new year of cycling beginning Monday. I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday!

Lite Therapy

After a couple somewhat frustrating days in the office where I literally spent all day solving computer-related problems (we don't need to go into any more detail than that), I decided at some point yesterday afternoon that I needed to spend some time with My Therapist.

The final push came from an email I received from GoPhillyGo, all about great Christmas lights displays. Their email included links to plan a trip to various display locations (including some that I'd visited a week ago on the Holiday Lights Ride). GoPhillyGo is a pretty neat little tool, allowing for trip planning across multiple modes of transportation (or multi-modal, if you want to sound cool). Though they inspired my destination choice, I chose to go solely by bike yesterday evening, approximately 10 miles all the way up to the great Northeast, Greeby Street to be exact.

Last nite was near perfect for riding, with temps in the 50's and very little wind. That doesn't mean the ride was without challenges. For one, I knew going out that I'd be forced to take two of my most hated roads in the city, Columbus Blvd. and Aramingo Ave. Both are 4 or 6 lane roads with unprotected bike lanes (which I've been talking about a lot lately) and also not buffered, so you're literally riding next to traffic that's going 35 MPH or more. Even with experience, proper lights, reflectors AND a bright orange bike, the whole experience was a little nerve wracking as it always tends to be. As you can imagine, I didn't stop to take pictures.

To make matters more challenging, litter and broken glass are common in areas where the industrial fallout has led to abandonment and dumping. There's an abundance of these along last night's route. I was regularly running over debris hoping that the popping sounds I heard were just rocks and etc. squirting out from under my tires. I had my tool kit handy of course, but this really wasn't an area I'd prefer to have to stop to fix a flat (I'm not sure I prefer to fix a flat anywhere, to be honest). Thankfully I escaped unscathed.

I've been everywhere in this city including the Northeast multiple times, but I'd never rode up there at night. Every place always looks and feels different under cover of darkness, and you're going to run over things and hit bumps even if you know where you're going. I'm not going to lie, it was a little scary, and I most likely won't do this route again unless I'm in broad daylight.

All this aside, once I made the final left onto Greeby Street, I was rewarded with an absolutely breathtaking sight, well worth the time and energy spent:

Literally every house on the block was decorated. The only blank spot you'll see is a tree obscuring a house on the far left:

Talk about Griswoldian light displays. This spans the entire block on both sides. Makes you wonder about their electric bills... Some came complete with holiday music. I should have taken a video. I can only imagine what this looked like under snow cover. I guess I'll have to come back (more on that later).

Of course, for almost every trip out, there needs to be a trip back (what goes up must come down or something). The ride back was a little less stressful. I opted to take Frankford Ave. against the advice of GoogleMaps, simply to lower the amount of turns I'd need to make, but also because I knew the terrain a little better.

Again, that doesn't mean it was easy. I had been out for about an hour and a half at this point and the wind had started to pick up. By the time I got back to Fishtown, I had this strange feeling like I was almost home. The reality is that I'd still only traveled 4 miles or so, with another 6 to go. Being that it was around 8:45 by now, I was understandably feeling a little gassed.

I took a brief pause to visit/pay homage to my former favorite bar at 3rd & Girard (I randomly popped up there a couple months ago too), which is currently being demolished. A sad sight for sure, but there's a metaphor here somewhere:

I'm sort of glad I moved out of this neighborhood when I did, even if I do miss the good old days. Anyway, I made it home safe and sound. The therapy session was quite successful, I'd say:

I found out AFTER I got home that there's another large light display not too far from where I was last night. I guess I'll have to go back soon if I can find some time...