STOP THE VIOLATORS!

I regularly ride by quite a few newspaper stands on a daily basis. I stopped the other day to grab a few of my favorite free weeklies, when I saw this sticker on top of several newspaper boxes:

And here, the "offending" boxes:

Really? This is what we're concerned with? Your tax dollars at work.

So, graffiti, stickers and containing trash violates city code, and apparently the newspaper companies are responsible, even though the vandalism was not of their doing. Such is the paradox of living in the cradle of liberty... Remember this next time someone tags your house, puts a sticker on your front door or throws trash on your lawn. The city is coming for YOU! :P

One more note: it's highly amusing that the city uses stickers to notify offenders about stickers.

The Century Mark

Nothing too eventful happened today, and I'm thankful for those kinds of days sometimes. It was your average beautiful Summer day in the city of Philadelphia, as seen from the Girard Avenue Bridge this morning:

It was tough to get a pic through the holes in the fence, but you get the idea. Inadvertently, this puts this entry into perspective (no pun intended).

When I posted yesterday, I happened to notice that it was my 99th post on this blog (which, if you're keeping track, makes this post the 100th). Of course, I didn't hesitate to pat myself on the back today, and why not? I know there are people that blog for a living, but since I do this for fun, 100 posts feels like a big accomplishment, and a good time to reflect. When I started this blog back in January, I had very open-ended goals with this whole thing. I did that on purpose: because no matter what happened, I couldn't possibly fail! Ha...

All kidding aside, I'm in love with how this blog has gone so far. It hasn't been perfect, nor was it intended to be. It was just supposed to be whatever it became, and it has. Alright, that's enough ambiguity.

If you can believe it, I've got a lot of crazy stuff that goes through my head every day, and expressing even one tenth of it as some sort of creative medium is therapeutic. I haven't been trying to gain an audience other than my friends, but I know I have, and that feels good too - to know that people appreciate your writing. I've also learned way more than I could have imagined (for example, why "sharrows" are placed where they are), and I know I've taught said audience a few things along the way. I'll pat myself on the back again.

So, cheers on this Friday evening to 100 posts and hundreds more. Let's ride some more...

Thank You for Signaling

I've been on a bit of a brief hiatus, and this return post will be short, but it will be sweet.

In light of my recent posts about aggressive motorists, I was pleasantly surprised by a nice one today.

I was rounding Logan Square (yes, confusing, I know) and had to cross four lanes to get in position to make a right onto 17th Street. I put my right hand out (as a good cyclist should) to let everyone know.

When I got to the next stop sign at Race Street, a woman in a tan sedan (hey, it rhymes!) politely called out to me "Thanks for signaling!" I waved and went about my day.

Thank YOU for appreciating. We need more people like you.

This isn't in Logan Square. It is, however, a confusing signal at Moyamensing & Reed. I think it works in this context.

Sea Cycling

I was in need of a few days outside of my comfort zone - come to think of it, I'm not sure I have a comfort zone...maybe my "comfort zone" is to be constantly in a state of flux, finding new adventures, seeing new places and the like - whatever the case, I needed to be out of Philly for a few days. It happens. As luck would have it, my Mom, Stepdad and Aunt graciously whisked me away to Ocean City, MD for a long weekend of beachiness last weekend. Thanks to them and also my friends Fawn & Doug for making their condo available.

I ride for work almost every day, but even on a brief vacation, I just HAD to take my bike. Gotta keep those cycling legs healthy, unlike the last time, and I really hate driving my car these days unless I'm traveling great distances (I didn't use my car for the 3 days I was down there). Plus, it's always nice to bike in a completely different setting, especially a beach:

That was from the first night, about 7 miles south of our condo. I did ride on the boardwalk for a little while, but after the sun went down, it got really crowded, so I decided to head back.

The ride back was surprisingly challenging, with a fierce sea breeze blowing directly at me the entire time, but rewarding nonetheless. Ocean City, like many beach towns, is very bike-friendly. The right lane on both sides of the Coastal Highway is reserved for bikes and busses only, and considering how wide the road is to begin with, it's an absolute pleasure cruise compared to the often narrow streets of Philly. 14 miles on the first day of vacation is my kind of relaxing. :P

I also noticed something odd on the way back. Every so often, there were black squares in the bike lane, all the same size, in the same locations, just before or after intersections:

It's tough to see, but if you look closely, you can see that there were bike share arrows (or sharrows) painted underneath the black squares, which were used to cover them up. Why? Maybe they had some left over black paint...

At any rate, I did my fair share of riding up and down OCMD that weekend, mostly without incident. There were a couple of crazy kids who rented motorized three-wheelers and thought they owned the bike lane, and occasionally some joggers clogged it up as well (neither are supposed to be in the bike lane), but no crashes, so yay.

Biggest difference between the shore and Philly, I wasn't afraid to leave my bike out overnight (still locked, of course):

It looks rather nice with those beach chairs attached. :P

I was hoping to bike up the coast to Bethany and/or Rehoboth, but for various reasons, it didn't happen. I mean, when the beach looks like this first thing in the morning, why would you want to go anywhere else?

All in all, a gorgeous time down by the seaside. I don't need to go into much more detail. Reality isn't all that bad, but it's nice to escape for a bit every now and then...

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Several times a week, I come across the intersection of 16th St, Arch St. and the Ben Franklin Parkway, on the northwest corner of Love Park. It's a strange configuration which I don't really care to describe in great detail, but the traffic signals have an equally strange pattern.

Traffic heading west on Arch Street has a green light while everyone else has to wait. I always get a bit of a sarcastic smile when I'm stopped here, because there are usually at least half a dozen pedestrians who walk out onto the street (in the cross walk) to wait for their turn to cross:

...as if that's safe, or necessary. You'd never see this on the West Coast. People are much more laid back and/or patient. I'd love to do a time lapse of this intersection, or maybe if I felt like creeping out one of them, following them to their destination to ask "Really? You were in a hurry for this?" Ha...

A Few Friendly Reminders...

I don't intend for this blog to become political (as I've said before), but from time to time I will go slightly in that direction. This is one of those times.

A couple weeks ago, I was up north for a wedding, which involved driving on country roads near where I grew up. As such, I knew what to expect for the most part, so when I encountered a strange delay on my trip home Sunday afternoon, I wasn't sure why.

I didn't get a picture of it, but some yahoo was riding his bike, wearing fluorescent construction colours and brandishing a sign on his back that read:

<- 4 FEET

PA LAW

Even though I thought he was being a bit of a dick by purposely riding a little slower than normal, I get why he was doing it, I think...at the very least, he made me curious about the law, which I looked up. It's true.

So now, my mission is to come up with something catchy to yell back to the large angry woman in her dark green Buick that feels the need to yell at me to "MOOOOVE OVA!" on a near-daily basis in Francisville. Extra O's added for effect. Also, if you happen to be in that area, watch your back. She's angry...

Actually, my mission is just to continue to do everything I can to stay safe out there and hope that everyone else does the same. Getting tagged last month has made me a little more defensive as a cyclist, and also a little more vocal on the subject. It might be a little easier for people to know things like the 4 feet law if there were more signs like these, spotted on a random excursion to New Hope this weekend:

As you can see, it's not that large, but it's a step in the right direction.

There also needs to be a change of thinking among cyclists, as a patch on my friend's bag seems to suggest:

If we want to be treated as equals, we have to act like equals, but first we have to defend ourselves by just being smart. A cycling attorney that spoke at my friend's coffee bar a few weeks ago said as much. He also said that motorists are angry at us for a variety of reasons, which brings me back to that yahoo in the Lehigh Valley with the sign on his bike that I really shouldn't have been angry about. It's up to us as cyclists and motorists to remember that everyone is entitled to their share of the road, and not to be upset in either position. Lives depend on it.

I hope you enjoyed the vent, I hope you learned something, and most of all, I wish you safe cycling out there!

Guest Blog: Left Turn, Girard

I wrote an entry on my other blog for the first time in 8ish months! I mention my bike once...

Read if you want to be inspired to play softball or do other things outside of your normal routine.

And as always, Happy Monday.