It's Been One Week

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 137.4

1 week in already, and it has just flown by.

As expected, yesterday was an "off day." I mean, I did play a last minute gig at an anniversary party, cleaned the downstairs, cooked meals for the next couple days and did laundry, so we'll call it an adult day off. I'm glossing over a lot, as I'm writing this on break, but it was a much appreciated off day, and ya need those every now and then, right?

Oh, and I logged 4.2 miles, most of it during a beautiful evening ride:

Bikes, Blues & Broad Street

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 126

Knowing I had a full weekend to myself for the first time in what seems like forever, I knew I had to go on some sort of adventure this weekend. As I continue along with this journey, the adventures seem to find me.

Case in point, the other night I was told there might be a last-minute gig available. A friend in the musical circle was also contacted. Neither one of us got the gig, but we showed up to say hello anyway. It worked out for both of us, as the owner took down our info for future openings, and I made a brief guest spot at the end of the night.

I also started talking with my friend - I guess I can tell you his name is Shakey Lyman - about his schedule coming up. He mentioned he was playing in Manayunk today, and that's when I found my adventure. It's a 10-ish mile ride to Pretzel Park from my doorstep, which is a drop in the bucket considering what my friends and I did a few months ago...

I tried recruiting some folks to come along, but I think the hot, humid weather deterred them, as I'm sure the chance for thunderstorms did as well. I realized about a mile up the street from my house that I had forgotten my patch kit, but it turns out it was a smooth ride (and it only took an hour!), and a beautiful day for blues in the park:

We're gonna need some mustard

It's always great to see your friends playing and having a good time, too:

He doesn't need an amp, this guy

They played for about an hour and it was fun for every second of it. I thought about sticking around longer, but I kinda wanted to get back on the road. Something about the addiction of biking, or something. I figured since I was this far North, I should venture a little bit more up this way because I rarely come up here. First, to the Manayunk Wall, because when in Rome...

I like to think I'm in great shape (I'm pretty good, don't get me wrong), but even I had to go serpentine just to get up the steepest sections. It's about a half mile of roadway and a 226 foot climb. I did it in 5:26, averaging about 5.6 mph. To put it into perspective, my average speed overall today was 11.5 mph. So why do this? Because it's good to humble yourself every now and then, right?

So what next? I decided to head northeast through Germantown to ride Broad Street from top to bottom. Part of me wanted to check off the sections that I missed during the DNC Ride a couple weeks ago. I'm guessing it was a 5, 6 mile detour to get up there? Again, a drop in the bucket - ha! Broad Street starts rather unceremoniously at the intersection of Cheltenham Avenue, marked by a furniture store and a bunch of duplexes:

Doesn't look all that broad to me...

Like many Philadelphia streets, it's in really bad shape at some spots, but I did keep it on the road for the entire length. Broad Street, for all intents and purposes as a cyclist, should be avoided if at all possible, but hey, I wanted to scratch this one off the list, so I did. I went all the way down to the Navy Yard, which it turns out is a pretty cool place. I'm not a big military nerd, but sights like these are always neat:

I mean, my bike. Look at it!

The Navy Yard is undergoing a rehabilitation, which business-wise is not something I want to focus on here. I take more pleasure in riding around on the streets, feeling like I'm riding on a piece of history. Not everything is new - a good portion of it is preserved, as you can see by the remnants of railroad tracks that now serve as walkways:

Or bikeways in this case...

I was gonna take some more pictures, but by this time, I was ready to chill for a while. A quick stop for water and I decided to head home. One thing I really like about switching to an app to keep track of mileage is looking at the map afterward. Not sure why, I have always liked maps:

I also like the feeling of sitting down after all this

Nothing planned for tomorrow. Likely a short ride to the store and not much else. I think I've done enough for this weekend already, but we'll see what happens...enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!

Finding The Way

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 91.8

I somehow logged more than 12 miles on Thursday night after my last writing, including a Bicycle Coalition happy hour, seeing a friend's band and a last-minute date(!).

All of that aside, what I will remember most about Thursday was when I encountered two people on the street as I was leaving Win Win on Spring Garden Street. They were obviously lost.

I encounter lost tourists all the time, but usually they're only a few blocks from their destination. These folks were in North Philly and thought they were heading to somewhere far south...like Christian Street, easily an hour walk away. So, after calming them down when they realized they had walked a half hour in the wrong direction, I pointed them towards the subway and gave them detailed directions AND my phone number on my business card just in case. They didn't end up needing to call, thankfully.

This might sound weird, but I gave them the card partially so they would know they could trust what I said. I mean, strangers come up to people all the time in this city, asking for money, offering all manner of strange things, etc. How would they have known that I wasn't just giving them some spiel? I figured showing them I was a delivery cyclist would give me some cred. Hell...I still get lost sometimes.

All told, I logged somewhere close to 30 miles that day. Friday was rather tame by comparison, and yet, I still logged about 15 miles. Nothing big to write home about, hence the delayed post - first Friday, karaoke, that's about it. Today will be much more exciting: I'm going to ride to Manayunk to see my friend and blues extraordinaire Shakey Lyman at noon in Pretzel Park! This will also push me over 100 miles for the week. :D Pray that I make it back to South Philly before the rain moves in...

The Little Things

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 63.5

I'm doing this now because I may not have time later tonite. I'm going to a Bicycle Coalition happy hour in about...an hour...haha, and my friend is playing at the Fire, the bar I used to live above.  Of course, I'll be riding my bike.  So much for a restful evening!

I'll admit that my escapades of last night left me a tad hung over and a bit hazy, but somehow I logged nearly 16 miles already today, and I don't really feel like I did.  I mean, my commute round-trip is about 8 miles, so that would explain most of it.  The rest was on this worthy steed that I don't often get to employ:

And a reminder that Steve needs to buy a rack for his personal bike

You're used to seeing me move mountains of laundry, but I only had one client to pick up via bike today, in Fishtown.  I only service said client once every three weeks, but they're one of my favorite stops.  I'm not going to reveal names, but for starters, they're a huge Bernie Sanders supporter (interestingly enough, most of my clients are), and actually gave me a poster when I stopped to deliver a couple months ago.  For two, I really like riding around Fishtown and hanging out there when I'm not working.  Sometimes I kinda miss living in NoLibs, because I don't get up there as often as I used to.  Anyway...

Thirdly, in their doorway, there are these neat little origami cranes hanging in the window, and I always like to see them just chillin':

The colors!

It's the little things that brighten up your day sometimes.  Not that today needed brightening, it's been beautiful outside all day, but still, they're neat.

- - - - - - - - - -

For those of you who are in the city, I'm biking to Manayunk on Saturday to see another friend (a real authentic blues musician!) perform in Pretzel Park at Noon and you're welcome to join me.  Leave a comment/FB/call/text/email/smoke signal if interested.

4 days down (almost), 27 to go.  It gets easier every time...

Multi-tooling, Multi-talented, Fighting City Hall...

#31daysofbiking mileage counter: 47.8

A bit delayed on this one, but worth it.

Yesterday was very ho-hum for the most part. I had to do some routine maintenance on the fly (if that makes sense) just after leaving the office. I noticed earlier in the day that my shifters seemed to be facing much more towards me than normal. Turns out, my handlebars were loose. Always keep your multi-tool handy:

Or an allen wrench. We don't need these fancy names.

I nursed the bike about 1 mile from my office to the PPA office. I was going to contest a red light late fee, which I couldn't do because apparently I was at the wrong office. These guys are awesome, let me tell you. I don't know how anyone who works here doesn't kill themselves after a week:

Boringest place ever

It's also home to the world's worst bike rack. If you look above, you can see my wheel locked to it rather than the frame, and an abandoned lock lying next to it. It's literally impossible to lock your frame to this thing because of that ridiculous pipe:

Maybe I should write a review. Anywho, non-biking related awesomeness ensued afterward. Whilst eating dinner, I got wind of a potential last minute gig that ultimately didn't pan out, but I went there anyway to say "hi" and made a cameo appearance that may have won me a future spot. I'm glossing over a lot of details because I'm almost late for work, but last night was pretty fun. Tonight, rest. Now, to work...

You Say Graffiti, I Say Graphiti...

#31daysofbiking mileage counter: 33.8

Can I just state overtly that I'm so glad I decided to do this again? You know that normally I'm a "blow as much sunshine up your ass" kinda guy as possible, but before I got on my bike this afternoon, today was not my cup of tea.

After work, I had a couple small errands to run. After that, I decided on a whim to avoid all the household chores I had planned and instead crossed another item off my Philly biking bucket list (which doesn't actually exist - it's all in my head, just like a lot of things). On today's adventure agenda, Graffiti Pier:

Not that you can tell it's a pier from this view, but trust me

The article I linked above does a pretty good job describing the atmosphere, and those of you who know me know why I would truly enjoy a place like this. Basically, it's an abandoned coal pier, formerly owned by Conrail, that's been left to it's own demise for over 25 years. If you look above, you can see remnants of coal shards in the foreground. Still standing and constantly evolving with an abundance of what some might call vandalism, I find a lot of beauty in it:

I spent probably about an hour here, and could have done much more if I had planned ahead and packed a dinner. Guess I gotta come back, but I did take plenty more pictures... Places like this tell the story of the city's past as an industrial haven, and also its present as a city still struggling to find its identity in the 21st century. Constantly changing, a little rough around the edges, but still plenty to show for it. Alright, I'm off my soap box.

Of course, no adventure would be complete without a visit to a new bar or dining establishment (or both). Believe it or not, until today, I had yet to cross Saint Benjamin's Brewery off my Beer bucket list (again, doesn't exist except in my head). It was well worth the wait:

It's a jackfruit sandwich - recommended for flavor, not for your health, but no one ever said bar food was healthy

I met up with a couple friends in Fairmount after this, which was great, but it was quite the hike after all this...heh. I might have been motivated by the fact that one of them is moving to Europe and I'm not sure when I'll see her again. All in all a much better ending to the day than the beginning, and as I portended yesterday, a much better day than Monday.

Now, about those chores...

Music Monday

#31daysofbiking mileage total: 10.1

Unlike 30 Days of Biking, I'm not going to log auto mileage. That was way too much work. I'd like to focus on riding and writing this time around.

Unfortunately, not very much to write home about today other than my average commute. I had a bit of a snowball effect going on, as I stayed up far too late binge-watching old episodes of Dexter and was awakened by the cat knocking my roommate's plant off the mantle at 5:30 this morning. As such, I had a very exhausting Monday, spent mostly in a cargo van picking up soiled linen kits from last week's DNC. However, I did see this in South Philly:

It's the building for the Girard Academic Music Program, of which I know very little, but the logo struck me as I rode past on my way to pick up the cargo van. Actually, before today, I didn't know this place existed. That whole "not paying attention to my surroundings" thing proved true, because I ride past here probably once a week. It's kinda cool. At least my graphic design nerd-ness was satiated.

Tomorrow will be a better day for sure. For starters, it's not Monday. And hey, if this were #30daysofbiking, I wouldn't have even officially begun yet, so there's that..

Ride on.