Bicentennial Man

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 247.3

It was quite a monumental weekend. Record-breaking heat notwithstanding, I checked off a lot of things on my non-existent to-do list. Before I get to that, something else of interest: One year ago today, I posted my 100th entry on this blog. Today, I'm posting my 200th, and coincidentally, I crossed 200 miles for this month yesterday. It's strange how timing works, eh? In commemoration, I'm going to write a 200-page blog post! Not literally, but it will be lengthy...

Saturday, August 13th, 2016

As I mentioned on Friday, the weather this weekend was going to be far too hot/humid to attempt my planned 50-mile ride to a friend's Summer party, so I improvised this weekend. I went back to that non-existent to-do list and decided Saturday would be a good morning to knock at least one off of there. My friend Todd (who you may remember from April) told me to check out Pennypack Park in Northeast Philly after he saw my post about Tacony Park, and I did on Saturday (sorry for all the links).

I wanted to go start to finish from my house, but that would have added an additional 15 miles to the ride, and the goal was NOT to suffer heat exhaustion. Instead, I took the El to Frankford:

There's no one here on weekends

The last time I took the El to Frankford, I think I was on my way to a job interview way back in April 2014. I think. I also got lost in the neighborhood after I got off the train. This time, I fared much better. It didn't take long for me to get hot enough to shed my t-shirt. I paused at Cottman Avenue, the hub of sports victory celebrations in the Northeast:

It's an ordinary street corner any other day

The Northeast is...weird to say the least. There's a lot of poverty in some areas, and just as many "nice" neighborhoods. There are also confusing street layouts, as in most cases, the roads follow the terrain and not your standard grid-work. Even more confusing, a double street:

I dunno...looks like one to me

I live in South Philly, and we have a Jackson Street too. We also have a Morris Street, and there's another Morris Street in the Northwest. I guess after awhile, they ran out of names. Anywho...I continued on to Torresdale Avenue, made a left (through some neighborhood called Holmesburg) and was almost to the entrance of the park when I saw this across the street:

A STONE BUILDING! HOLY CRAP!

That happens to be Holmesburg Prison, which looks very much like the Eastern State Penitentiary from the outside. It turns out, they also look very similar on the inside, too. Learn something new everyday, right?

Finally on to the park. Pennypack is approximately 9 miles of trails, most of which are paved:

Look Ma! No hands!

After being in the sun and getting very sweaty, it was nice to get into the shade for awhile. There are many clearings along the way, and other recreational opportunities:

Crap. I gotta Google this guy now

My goal was to bike the whole trail from start to finish, and I woulda if I coulda:

Closed for no apparent reason other than to be jerks...

So, I detoured back out to one of the many trail heads and picked back up as soon as I could. I didn't miss much of the trail. These guide signs were helpful:

I know where I'm going but I don't know where I am

I started at Torresdale Avenue and ended just past Verree Road. Long ride for sure, but in the shade it's easy to log miles and forget about the 97° heat. It's also easy to forget that you're within city limits:

I mean, other than being able to hear cars off in the distance...

I stopped a couple times along the way for water, but no more pictures after this. I zoned out. With all do respect to Forbidden Drive, I think this may be my new favorite Philly trail. There's a mixture of hills and flatland, it's just challenging enough to let you know you're working, and the ride is much smoother. Plus, there was basically no one there for most of the ride, so I was free to do my own thing.

After emerging from the forest, I didn't want to jump back on the El right away, and instead decided to see how far I could make it. I happened upon a street fair in Kensington:

Boxing? Nah...I'd rather just ride my bike.

Best part about this fair, the oasis!

Definitely ran through there a couple times

By the way, the row of homes in the background are featured in the original Rocky movies. I kept riding until I got to Fishtown, at which point hunger took over. I stopped at Front Street Cafe for some tofu tacos and I was entertaining the idea of riding home, but sitting for 20 minutes took the wind out of my sails, so I took the train instead. Still, logging 25 miles in this heat is not too shabby.

Sunday, August 14th, 2016

I went to a party last night. Unsure how I would feel today, I didn't make any plans. As I was driving home, I started to get the itch to do...something. But what? Back to the list, I suppose.

I read this article a long time ago about Philly's Best Bike Trails and have a loose goal of completing all of them. One such trail is in Cobbs Creek Park, which I tackled today.

I don't care how damn hot it is outside, because this is beautiful:

I mean, if you like Philly, that is...

It was a bit windier today than yesterday, which helped with the heat a little. This time, I rode start to finish. No El necessary, though you can see it in the background of this trail head marker:

6-3 reprazent!

As you can see, I rode all the way out to 63rd & Market Streets. Last time I did that, I got a flat tire. Cheers to double-walled tires and reinforced tubes! The north end of the trail starts by paralleling the Cobbs Creek Parkway (63rd Street):

Also known as a sidewalk

At 61st Street, I saw this kinda confusing sign:

It suggests that the bike path continues straight, but the recreation path actually continues to the right:

I went right, deeper in to the park. This trail was much shorter than yesterday's, only a few miles, but it was very similar in terrain and difficulty. A couple serious hills, everything paved, it was nice. At the end, I was greeted with this at 70th Street:

THE BIKEWAY AGAIN!

I had no plans on how to get home, so I decided to follow that East Coast Greenway sign you see up there. Seemed logical, right? I made a left onto Woodland Avenue because it has a bike lane, but I will caution anyone to avoid it if at all possible. Unfortunately, it also has trolley tracks, and plenty of debris in the roadway, not to mention all the people who live there oblivious to the existence of bikes. It was kinda nerve-racking after such a nice experience in the park.

Nonetheless, I survived. I stopped at Local 44 for a quick pint and a bite before heading home.

Two weeks down, over 200 miles logged, and plenty more to come. How ya feelin', everybody?

Delayed Response

I marked off two major achievements today, Pennypack Park and my 1000th mile on my "new" bike!

But, I have a party to go to. Full recap tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend!

The Vanimal

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 197.1

I've reached the end of this absolutely hellacious work week in which my team processed more laundry than I think I've ever seen in my life...combined. You've seen this guy before:

My spatial awareness game was on point. Why the hell they put bollards that tight on a loading dock, I don't know...

I rode my bike to pick up this worthy ZipVan today, at about 7:30AM, when it was already Florida hot at 82°F. It rose to close to 100°F not counting the heat index, and I was more than thankful for this beast while moving nearly 500 pounds of sleeping bags for Outward Bound and over 1,000 pounds of pillows for Temple. Of course, I only snapped this pic out of all this madness, but in this heat, I think you can understand:

Fluff off, heat wave.

I can deal with heat. It's actually been the humidity that has bothered me the most, as I'm sure most of you will agree. On days like today, sometimes I'll soak a hat or bandanna that I wear under my helmet to keep me cool. Other times, I'll just use my shirt and go total ridiculous, because why the hell not? I mean, I was off the clock at this point:

I am likely one of the many half-naked people you saw in North Philly today...

Somehow I've logged close to 200 miles in this heat, and really, it's not so bad while you're in motion with the wind, the breeze and the adrenaline to numb the other senses. Once stopped, it's apparent that this struggle is real...

I had grand delusions of riding to Red Hill for a Summer celebration tomorrow, but that's not going to happen. I do place value on my own life, contrary to popular belief. However, I'm gonna try to sneak in an early morning ride of semi-equal adventure. Let's see how it goes. Happy weekend, everyone. Drink (water) up!

Red Alert

#31daysofbiking Mileage Tracker: 188.7

So in case you don't live around here or you're immune to feeling anything, IT'S FUCKING HOT OUTSIDE.

In an ironic twist to this week, I'm thankful that I had to use a ZipCar to take care of most of my Wash Cycle appointments today. Moving 300 pounds of laundry on a trailer in 95° heat is asking a bit much, even for a psycho like myself. It's actually easier in the Winter, when that activity keeps you warm...

As such, most of today's riding was done in the early morning and late evening. I couldn't help but feel like this pic was straight out of a bizarro re-make of "2001: A Space Odyssey":

"I'm sorry, Steve. I'm afraid you can't do that."

Well I somehow did almost 15 miles today and I survived...for now. I don't recommend going outside for an extended period of time unless you're a) crazy, b) well-conditioned, or c) both. Apparently we're in this muck until Sunday. Stay hydrated, friends, and stay along for the ride! I'm not going to let the heat stop me this weekend.

The Softball's Over

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 178.9

I can't believe I'm already 1/3 of the way through this month...

It's strange how things seem to be coming full circle the second time around doing this monthly biking challenge deal. Back in April, softball season began. Last night, it came to an end, at least for my team:

The royal "my"

Things have changed dramatically since then. For starters, it's Summer, not Spring (obviously). Also, the original team I joined had to forfeit the season due to injuries. Still wanting to play, I joined the North Bowl team for the last 2 games of the regular season and stuck with it into the playoffs. We were 3-0 since I joined, but last night we just couldn't get it going offensively and fell 6-1, albeit against one of the best teams in the league. Still, it was fun, and at the very least, it gave me an excuse to log an additional 9 miles...haha.

I wrote last year that barring anything crazy, I'll be back again next year. We'll see what happens...

Day 11 of my challenge will be a bit daunting, as it's raining pretty heavily outside right now. You know by now that's not going to stop me. Happy Thursday!

I'd Rather Be Biking

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 163.2

Day 9 was a long one, the second of 2 days in a row that began at 5:30AM, and not in a "Let's go ride a bike all day" fashion. No, rather a "Let's get in a cargo van and drive all day" fashion. I posted something on Facebook earlier today about the longer-term ramifications of large scale events, namely the Olympics.

The same holds true for events like the DNC, which visited Philadelphia nearly two weeks ago. Due to operational setbacks on both sides, we're still recovering mentally, financially, and physically. It's been exhausting. I finished what should be my last pickups of this godforsaken order today:

I'm going to have nightmares about red laundry bags

Between the last 2 days alone, I've personally moved almost 8,000 pounds of cargo, nearly 3,000 sheets, 1,500 pillows and more all via van. The volume alone is staggering for one person to move, and I'm going to owe my laundry team a round of drinks for washing all this stuff. On top of that, I don't want to tell you some of the things some of these supposed "adults" did to their linen kits, but I will tell you that it starts and ends with trash. I've hated every second of this experience other than that feeling of accomplishment when you're dripping in sweat.

But it probably wouldn't have been so bad if I were using a bike. Long story short, when I can't be on a bike, I'm not happy. I decided to take an uneventful 10-mile ride tonight for no reason other than to keep my sanity. I've worked 20ish hours this week, none of it on bike. I'll change that on Thursday (finally). If I'm dripping in sweat while riding a bike, most everything still feels fine. When I'm dripping in sweat and then I get into a car, not quite the same. I can deal with unruly clients and brash personalities all day as long as I can "ride it out" in the most literal sense of the phrase. When I'm robbed of that, things don't feel so good.

I guess today wasn't all bad. At the very least, I was able to air my grievances and enjoy some fantastic vegan lasagna and a couple of pints with a friend this evening:

Courtesy of the Triangle Tavern

So, forgive the sour grapes. Even as I re-read my typing I realize I sound crazy, but I just...would rather be biking, and I'm glad the DNC is finally out of my hair. Onward and upward to Wednesday and Day 10. 

Nice Rack: 2nd & Poplar

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 151.8

It's been a bit since I posted one of these, and this one is timely. Back story: my softball team had to fold mid-season due to injuries, so I defected to the North Bowl team for the remainder of the season. Last night, we won our first playoff game (!) and headed to the bar to celebrate. There's a pretty rad bike rack out front:

Also useful in case you want to torture your bike slaughterhouse style

It doesn't look all that different from that view, but if I zoom out...

And also change the angle...

...you can see it's a double-decker. Ya know, in case you want to make locking your bike up just that much more difficult. :P Actually, it's a great space saver at a place like 2nd street, which is a heavily frequented bar/restaurant/music venue corridor (in case you don't live here...haha).

8 days down already, and the 9th has already begun. My schedule has been pretty hectic the last 2 days, hence the lack of blog-ness, but things should settle in for the rest of this week. Anyone still riding along?