30 Sense

30 Days Mileage Counter

Bike: 572.6

Car: 490

Train: 8

And so we've reached day 30 of #30daysofbiking. I hardly knew ye. As of 8:30AM today, I completed the challenge:

You know, technically a photo of my bike locked up doesn't mean I rode it...

Just as on Day 1, Day 30 included a trip to the Strengthening Health Institute. My culinary talents were called into action today:

Despite popular wisdom, helmets are not knife-proof

Those of you who know me know that I love to cook. If this were a food blog, I'd have several good stories to share. Since it's not, I won't, but you can trust me when I say it was awesome. I did take some great food pics which will eventually see the light of day on the SHI social media accounts...

So, I spent most of my time inside today, but I snuck in a ride to Center City during a break to pick up some supplies for the school:

Again, I could have strapped my bike to the back of a car and just placed it here - the grand illusion

Grand total for today was 10.4 miles, which means I came up just 27.4 miles short of 600 for the month. I out-rode my car by over 80 miles (another goal met). Not too shabby, eh?

#30daysofbiking has just flown by. I owe an extreme thanks to Todd for telling me about it. I was leery this whole thing would become like work, but the opposite has been true. I've looked forward to each day in this adventure. It's been so much damn fun, and I've been realizing that a lot of you have been enjoying it too, even if you're not participating. I've been floored by how many random friends have mentioned to me that they've been following along, including three more today - one of whom I literally just met today.

It wasn't always all sunshine and rainbows (in fact, it rained quite a bit), but the good moments were extremely good. Here are a few of my favorites:

• April 10: Bike-Apella - Meeting up with family in Glenside to see Straight No Chaser
• April 13 & 14: Flower Power Part 1 & Part 2 - Delivering flowers to Wash Cycle Laundry customers
• April 16: 300 - A trip to Valley Forge pushes me over 300 miles for the month!
• April 24: Takin' it to the Street Art - Finding the graffiti mecca of Philadelphia
• April 26: I Just Biked 500 Miles - Self-explanatory, plus moving 225 pounds on a trike

Many other moments that didn't make the cut were still awesome. Obligatory attempt at social engagement: did I miss anything you enjoyed reading about?

To give you a further sense of what I did this month:

• PA is 283 miles wide, east to west. I rode more than twice that distance.
• That distance would have required nearly 2 tanks (or 32 gallons) of gas in my car at 20 mpg, costing approximately $70.
• The SEPTA TransPass I used every day during the Winter costs $91/month. I took the train to work every day from November-March. This month, I took it once.
• I wrote 33 blog posts, as many as my previous 7 months combined.
• I have no idea how many photos I took - it's a lot.
• And just because, I did all of this on a plant-based diet - grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, beer, and coffee.

I'm gonna take some time in the next couple days to look through some more things my friends did, because I know I missed a few things here and there. There are a lot of amazing stories that came out of this, and I know I'm not alone in that.

A friend at SHI asked me today, "What am I gonna do without a daily blog to read?" I didn't know what to say. I was flattered, of course... I told her that I had actually decided about a week or so ago to keep this going as long as I can. #365daysofbiking actually began on March 28th for me. Who's up for some more riding?!?!?!?

I'm not going to guarantee a blog post every day. This thing is a lot of work some days. I'm not going to guarantee success, either, but it's worth a shot right?

Thanks 30 Days of Biking. It's been more than I could have possibly imagined. Cheers to many more.

Tour de Tour

30 Days Mileage Counter

Bike: 562.2

Car: 490

Train: 8

I'm so close to 600, I can taste it. In the last 2 days, I've made purposeful detours just to get a couple more miles in. I'm still facing an uphill battle with my busy schedule this weekend, but here's hoping it wasn't all in vain (it wasn't...duh).

After my morning route and a few hours at the office, I detoured to West South Philly, namely FDR Park. It's a decent enough ride for the most part, but despite what GoogleMaps says, the expansive intersection at 20th & Moyamensing is not the most bike-friendly place. This just looks odd:

At least there aren't any trolley tracks...

There's no left turn arrow, but when traffic from Moyamensing gets the green, they only allow one direction to go at a time. It's still a little unnerving, and crossing through the intersection felt like it took 5 minutes. It was also raining.

Nevertheless, I reached the park, the place where we used to park for free during Flyers games (that's a good story if you care to hear one day):

That new tire looks nice, eh?

I did a quick loop and headed home. All told, I added over 5 miles with that little detour. Not much else to say about FDR Park unless you're going there to play softball, picnic, or skateboard, but a couple extra miles never hurt anyone.

I'm off to SHI for a weekend seminar, then karaoke at SouthHouse tonight. One more day, #30daysofbiking. Let's finish out strong.

Take the Long Way Home

30 Days Mileage Counter

Bike: 546.6

Car: 490

Train: 8

For me, it appears #30daysofbiking will be ending very similar to how it began: with cold weather and a busy schedule that won't allow me to ride very much. Thankfully, I got out a decent amount yesterday.

This weather sucks. At least wearing gloves makes me more visible, I guess...

I did my usual Thursday route up to Temple University and down into Northern Liberties. I paused briefly to warm up at Front Street Cafe:

You've gotten used to seeing this by now

I ended up running into my friend Ashley, who I haven't seen in months. She now works for Philly Bread. I didn't know they existed, but it turns out they're pretty cool, working directly with farmers to source their ingredients and providing quality product to businesses. Neat stuff, and of course it's always good to catch up.

Onward to Northern Liberties, where I saw this at my next stop:

Don't remove me, bro!

Tell me exactly how you remove graffiti. Seems to me, anyone with a roller and a few cans of paint could do this. Unless you're getting into sand-blasting...in any case, an interesting idea. Not sure I'd buy it though.

Finally, on my way back to the laundromat, I noticed these new signs on the Divine Lorraine:

I'd rather live in the Statue of Liberty like Grandpa from the Simpsons

I'm disappointed that I never got to see the inside of this place before the remodel, but I'd love to see it once it's finished. So, if any of you know someone who knows someone with a lot of money that's going to rent here, let me know.

I'm not huge into horoscopes, but I read mine yesterday for some reason, and it said I should "take a different route to the same old places." I don't need any convincing to do that, but a reminder always helps. Fortunately I had some free time on lunch and decided to explore Brewerytown and beyond:

I originally intended to do Boxer's Trail, which is out that way, but that will have to wait for another day. I did happen upon Mount Pleasant:

Not just for DC any more!

This is actually a very neat little area of Fairmount Park up by Strawberry Mansion (just steer clear of the neighborhood to the East after dark) that I'll definitely come back to explore more in-depth one day. On the southwest side of this hill, I dropped out onto the Schuylkill River Trail and took that back to Center City. Keeping with the theme of taking different routes, I decided to pull off at Race Street because I never do. I got stuck inside the gates crossing the train tracks:

Just like back home, eh?

I actually pulled a quarter out and stuck it on the tracks waiting for the train to go by (don't tell me you don't love doing that!), but it stopped for some reason. I wasn't about to stand there forever, so I moved on:

A weird sign, and that building above 30th St Station I've seen every day in this city but still have no idea what it is...

I stopped to get some lunch at Le Pain Quotidien in Center City:

I dropped a few bucks there too. Hopefully that helps...

Here's hoping! It's always all about food, right?

I stopped by the office briefly to eat, then made my way home. I did some work here before heading out to a mixer at DiBruno Brothers on Chestnut Street. It was sponsored by ZipCar, who's partners with Wash Cycle. Unfortunately, I picked up some sort of sharp object in the rear tube I had just repaired last week and had to detour to Frankinstien Bike Worx for another repair. I have all the supplies to do this myself, but I left them at home. Lotta good they're gonna do me there, right?

The bad news is I spent 50 bucks. The good news is I got a new tube and a new tire (and I now have a spare), both of which are much thicker and hopefully more durable. The ride is surprisingly much better on this tire, too. I think I'll upgrade my front tire next paycheck...

After that side track, I did make it to the event on time thanks to the speedy service, and I ran into some people I met when I was delivering flowers a few weeks ago:

We didn't say cheese, but there was plenty to eat...

They're from United By Blue, who also does a lot of really cool stuff - neighborhood cleanups, outdoor apparel, equal exchange coffee, all good stuff. Give them a look too.

24.4 miles and lots of random experiences in between. I'm not sure I'll be able to get 53 miles in between now and tomorrow, but I'll try my damndest!

Guten Nacht

It's 11:30PM. Yous guys know I rode a bike today.

Full deets and mileage tomorrow. For now, sleep.

Strike Out

30 Days Mileage Counter

Bike: 522.2

Car: 490

Train: 8

Today wasn't great for biking. I was scheduled to move about a ton of laundry from our East Falls plant to Swarthmore. Long story short, due to a change in the order, I ended up moving none.

Well, not entirely true...I drove a mostly empty cargo van out to Swarthmore only to find out there had been a change, so I had to take the few bags I had in my van all the way back to Philly. All told, I logged 54 miles in a car, I moved almost 100 pounds of laundry, but it didn't technically go anywhere. Not the best start to a day...

It wasn't the best day weather-wise either, a stark change from the last week or so. I ran some supplies in the trike, but nothing noteworthy. I snapped this on Callowhill Street on my ride home because it seemed appropriate, and I didn't have any other visuals to share today:

When the weather is bleak, anything colorful and bike-related will do

If I was up for writing a puff piece, I could do something on New Belgium, but that's not what this blog is about.

The day ended on a much better note, spending time with some co-workers, bowling (and having) a few rounds at South Bowl. I'm a big fan of this artwork they have hanging next to the back lanes, an 8-bit homage to Jesus from The Big Lebowski:

8-year-olds, dude

I forgot to take a pic, but I beat my average twice, so that's a good thing. Another good thing, apparently they may start offering free shoes during happy hour if you ride your bike to the alley! Jury's still out on that, but that would be a nice perk.

Somehow, I managed to sneak in over 18 miles today, so again, it's not all bad. Tomorrow looks to be similar weather-wise, but at least I'll be back to doing all bike-related deliveries tomorrow!

Can't win 'em all, #30daysofbiking, but let's make these last 3 count, eh?

I Just Biked 500 Miles...

30 Days Mileage Counter

Bike: 503.6

Car: 436

Train: 8

...and I could bike 500 more. Time will tell.

There have been just a couple days during #30daysofbiking where I've gone "down to the wire," nearly missing my daily ride. Today, however, will likely be the earliest ride of the month.

I woke at 4:30AM and was on my bike by 4:45. Why? To canvass the neighborhood with Bernie Sanders door hangers before work, of course!

Shit. It's so ass early that even headquarters is closed...

As luck would have it, they canceled the 5-8 canvassing shift before I got there, which I found out as I was standing out front. I could have used the extra couple hours of sleep, but whatever. After a brief nap, I still did some work in the 'hood, just not as much:

Railings will suffice too, I suppose.

In case you're wondering, I voted absentee again this election, as my polling place still hasn't been changed to Philadelphia. Details...I finished up the neighborhood rounds at about 8 and headed to "the office." Yesterday's haul was certainly impressive, but when you pick up 22 bags of dirty laundry, eventually you have to return 22 bags of clean laundry, so here we are:

10 in the bin, and one to go on the handlebars. Laundry bag Tetris.

Add to that the "doing this on 5 hours sleep" factor and it was slightly ridiculous. Not pictured: the trike taking a tumble after getting stuck in a drainage ditch in Fairmount Park. Also not pictured: me having to re-stack the bags that had fallen onto the pathway.

And that was basically today, but that was plenty. Between going to and from work and to and from Outward Bound twice, I racked up another 16.8 miles and went over 500 for the month!

4 more days, #30daysofbiking. Think I can hit 600?

Metal of Achievement

30 Days Mileage Counter:

Bike: 486.8

Car: 436

Train: 8

Happy freakin' Monday night, y'all! Today was super busy. Let's get right to it.

I had a brief moment of rest during my morning route when I spotted this old-timey bike sculpture on the back of a trailer, made entirely of forged cast iron:

I don't think that wheel is true...

This was somewhere in Northern Liberties behind the Piazza, but I was moving pretty fast this morning, so I didn't have much time to figure out details. It just looked cool, so I stopped. It had a New York plate on it, so I'm not sure if this is going up there or what, but pretty neat nonetheless Onward...

I set a personal record with the trike this morning. 425 pounds moved in 2 trips. If you think it might look a tad ridiculous, you're right:

I mean, I'm totally used to seeing a rickshaw pulling 11 bags on the daily

I'm so happy that Outward Bound is back on my schedule for the Summer. It's great exercise, they're great people, and it always gives me great social media material. A win/win/win.

The 2nd trip was even more ridiculous, as I had to carry a bag between my handlebars, AND the electric assist battery died. Try hauling this uphill:

Didn't even break a sweat...taking the picture

I'm surprised every time I do this and don't blow a tire. Kevlar belts FTW. Two trips there and back netted well over 6 miles. Total mileage after I got back from the office was over 23, and again, I wish I had a way to "weight" my Wash Cycle miles.

BUT, I wasn't done for today. We had a game tonite at the North Field at 5th & Master, so I chugged up there:

It's really tough to lock your bike to a fence sometimes

I'm super pissed because we lost 13-12 to one of the best teams in the league, and in the last inning, I hit lead-off when we were tied. I was 2-2, but of course I grounded out and we never recovered. Blame me, I guess.

I'm always hungry after games, so I'm always looking for something to do. Randomly, I spotted the Independence Beer Garden on 6th St. (I never take this route home) and stopped in. Behold the alien beer:

And my bike faintly in the background

It was a Yard's Wheat Ale. I've had better. The hummus and pita were decent tho.

Add another 32.5 miles on from today and I'm officially out-gaining my car mileage by over 50, AND it looks like 500 cycling miles for the month could happen tomorrow!

So what up, #30daysofbiking? We only have 5 more days, and I'm already going to miss you...