Laying Low

I've been devoid of much activity on this here blog, and maybe that's because these days I'm not doing all that much biking, relatively speaking.  I've not moved my car in more than three weeks, and my bike has clearly seen more miles.  It's a strange month to be a cyclist, where things can range from sunny to rainy to snowy all within a couple days, and usually it's cold to boot.  I bike in any weather, but the pleasure biking definitely takes a bit of a hiatus this time of year.  That said, I have sneaked in some fun rides every now and then:

This was from about 2 weeks ago, when I joined for a small portion of the monthly Full Moon Ride.  I branched off and headed towards home while listening to the Flyers on the radio.  They went to a shootout and actually won (!), at which point I was passing by the arena and could hear the goal horn from well over a quarter mile away.  Some have told me they can hear it from their houses that are actually much further away.  Still pretty neat.

A little more than a week later, I joined my first Night Cycle ride.  Also pretty damn fun, especially the campfire at the midpoint:

Again, I had to leave a little early, but I got in a solid 14 miles on a Friday night nonetheless.  The next day, I was supposed to cat-sit for a friend all the way out in West Philly.  This prophecy appeared to me on her fridge:

That day happened to be a historic day across the globe, as hundreds of millions of people joined the Women's March. Philly was no exception, and I joined for the early part of the day, via bicycle of course on my ride home:

You can see from the above that the weather was threatening.  That continued through Sunday and it broke on Monday, so much so that I was forced to take the train home from the office.  I don't like it any more than you:

Though less than ideal, I'm always glad I got out and did something, even if it's just biking a mile down the street.  I get really bad cabin fever.  Apparently it's rubbing off on the cats, too:

Tomorrow promises to be much better, so we'll see what happens.  January is a strange month for another reason.  Even though I bike every day, I'm just not that motivated to write about it.  You might call it a holiday/birthday hangover, or something.  At any rate, it's already almost over.  Can you believe it?

A Tale of Two Weeks

For the most part, this January has very much looked like January.  In fact, it's been downright brutal at times.  It was so cold earlier this week that my pipes in my kitchen froze, which isn't an irregular occurrence in Winter, but nonetheless...

It's been pretty cool (pun intended) to see just how many people are still willing to brave the cold and ride every day, myself included.  OK, I'm not gonna lie.  I took this weekend off.  I literally had no reason to ride other than for pleasure, and when it's 20 degrees outside with 3 inches of snow on the ground, there's very little pleasure to be had, even for a cycling enthusiast.

One awesome thing about this though, when I was forced (yes, forced) to ride to work on Friday, I finally popped my baby's snow cherry:

Hard to believe since we've logged well over 2,500 miles together in less than a year, but last Winter, I kept her in the stable until we had some more palatable weather.  Now, she's been around the block more than enough that I'm not so paranoid about her getting a little dirty.  I gotta say, she did very well.  Wouldn't recommend doing it every day tho...

In any case, the weather broke sometime between last night and today, and we were greeted with beautiful sunshine for most of the day, with temps near the 50s.  Hard to believe, really.  At times, I'm totally alright with global warming (not literally of course).

It was perfect riding weather, so I made the most of it.  Besides commuting and other less-than-exciting errands, I had to make a detour to a friend's house in West Philly and took a few extra detours on the way home.  Most notably I paused at Drexel Park, which was the launch point for the Naked Bike Ride 2 years ago, and also features a gorgeous view of the Philly skyline:

My crappy phone camera really doesn't do it justice.  What a town, I tell ya.  Without a doubt my most enjoyable ride of 2017 thus far.  Not like it has much competition, but you get the point.  All good things must come to an end, and as I re-entered South Philly, it started to rain.  I made it home just in time to avoid getting soaked.  There's another positive though.  With a forecast in the 60's tomorrow, I'm anticipating a lot of riding...and if nothing crazy happens, the full moon bike ride.

33 on the 33rd

I sneaked in one final adventure in 2016, and it just so happened to occur on my birthday.

Back during 30 Days of Biking, I was inspired by my friend Todd, who told me he always rides the distance of his age in miles on his birthday.  Oddly enough, he's also the guy that inspired me to do 30 Days of Biking.  We rode together with several people from Wash Cycle Laundry on April 16th, and I decided that day that I wanted to do the same on my birthday.

Weather permitting, of course, it was a great idea.  I don't know if you're aware, but December is historically much cooler than April.  My birthday last Friday was no exception, but despite the chilly temps (I think at ride start, air temp was 40F) and high gusting winds, it was a beautiful day for a ride:

I didn't expect everyone who rode along with me to log 33 miles (yes, that's how old I am), so I set the meeting point at the Philadelphia Art Museum.  From my house to there it's about 5 miles, and I added a detour or coffee in the early morning in hopes of ensuring a 33-mile total.  The destination, you ask?  Iron Hill Brewery in Chestnut Hill.  You knew I had to pick a brewery as my waypoint:

I hide my exhaustion well under a Winter jacket and 3 layers.  The ride there was awesome at times, arduous at others, mostly due to the wind.  I didn't even mind the hills.  But that wind...I kid you not that I was literally dripping in sweat by the time we got there.  Give credit to the garment makers - my Winter gear did its job a little too well, but later on, I would be glad to have it...

Anyway, FOUR of us survived the trek up the hills of Northwest Philly.  Our reward, some excellent bar junk food (Hey, it's my birthday. Birthdays are for stepping out of bounds.) and local craft beer:

It was definitely worth it for that and one other reason; some members of my immediate family joined myself and friends for lunch as well:

Couldn't have asked for a better experience, and it wasn't but halfway over.  Remember, I still had to ride back home.  One of the best parts of riding up a large hill is that you eventually get to ride back down.  On blistering cold days, a downhill can be a blessing and a curse, especially if you're not dressed properly.  That Winter gear came in handy when we dropped downhill at nearly 18MPH...

I branched off some time after we got back to the Art Museum and headed back for South Philly for an almost exact 33 mile round trip.  You might think I had planned it:

Some said it was pretty crazy.  I just think it's crazy that I biked this distance without leaving the city limits.  This place seems so small to me at times, but this reminded me how sprawling it can be.  It also was yet another reminder how lucky I am to live here and keep the company I keep.

And thus starts a new tradition, with many thanks to all who joined, whether in practice or in spirit.  I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's celebration.  Here's to another fantastic year of biking.  Who wants to be crazy enough to join me for this ride later this year?!?!?!?