Onward and Outward (Bound)

Of course I spoke too soon on Tuesday when I said that I wouldn't be on a Wash Cycle route for quite a while... I was called into duty again this week, and yesterday was our first pick up of the season from Outward Bound, one of my favorite seasonal clients.

If I never told you about these guys before, or even if I have and you just forgot, they're a non-profit school that takes kids and adults on outdoor adventures. Kind of right up my alley right?

The route was fairly uneventful otherwise. This getting called into front line duty thing is routine anymore, which isn't a bad thing. I have enough stress to deal with. Ha...

Speaking of adventures, tomorrow begins 30 Days of Biking, which means I'm also going to attempt to do 30 posts in 30 days again! Who's ready to ride?

Fo Fo Fo

One of the best parts of living in the city (at least for me) is that on random occasions, you can just decide on a whim to go to a sporting event. It's even better when your friend offers a free ticket, which happened upon my existence some time Wednesday afternoon.

The ticket was for the Sixers game, a team I hadn't previously seen live in about 7 years. I went to the game basically straight from the office with a quick stop at home, so it only made sense to ride the rest of the way there. It was also fairly decent weather-wise that day, and again, any excuse to...ah, you already know the rest.

I actually mentioned in this post at the end of 2016 that I had yet to ride my bike to a Sixers game. Cross that one off the non-existent "to-do" list. Even though I've been here before, I'm still thrilled that they have bike racks outside the arena. I'm not so thrilled by the layout:

Trust me - my rear mount rack isn't touching my tire. Optical illusion.

This might not look so bad, but consider that there's a whole rack there and only two bikes attached to it, both on the ends. Also consider that there's a U-lock mysteriously floating in the middle there. This bike rack is designed to hold the front or back tire in place, which you lock to the rack, meaning anyone can simply take off the wheel and jack the rest of your bike. These racks were commonplace when bicycle theft wasn't as prevalent. Unfortunately, humans are awesome creatures that steal things and there are many more of them now, so we've had to adapt. The more modern way to lock your bike to one of these outdated racks is as follows:

Sort of.

As you can see, I've had to face this problem with this rack before, back in April 2016. The green bike in the foreground isn't really locked completely if you look closely. Ideally, the front tire would fit over the rack, enabling the lock to fit around the tire and the frame. Moving the rack even 6 inches away from the wall would solve the problem.

But enough ranting about the bike rack. There was apparently a basketball game that night, and our seats were in the club level, which was completely new to me:

I made zero jokes about being in the club. I swear.

Not a bad view, right? I've been all over this arena, but this was a first. The seats included a small sectioned off seating area, a dining area (with servers) and a private bar, which was all pretty cool, but honestly I still prefer being out with the "commoners." For one, my brief adventure "outside the box" revealed this oddity:

Who the hell makes a 19.2 oz. can?

For only $10 at a sporting event in Philly, that's unheard of, and it was much cheaper than the beers in the club box. This also happens to be one of my favorite beers. All in all it sucked that we lost, but I can't complain about a random good time with friends, including the ride to and from the game. And I'd surely go into more depth about said game or the beer if this weren't a cycling blog, but as such...

A Sustainable Career

I attended Green Philly Blog's Sustainable Careers Forum last night. I post this here mainly because I rode my bike to the event itself, and also because my current career path very much involves sustainability in the form of bicycles and other initiatives. I'm honestly at a loss for words right now (I know it doesn't happen often. Try not to fall off your chair. Mayhaps Green Philly will do a more extensive write-up). There were a lot of answers, but I left with a lot of questions. Still, it was mostly an affirmation that I'm in the right place, which is something I couldn't have said 5 years ago, and maybe that's why I can't quite explain it.

One thing I can say is that I noticed something common among all 4 panelists and myself: they all found their way with sustainability partly by accident and frustration, just like me. Truth be told, I didn't know I loved bikes or blogging or doing the kind of work that I do until I got fed up with the TV and video industry. I was ultimately pushed to make a change and my current work just sort of...found me, because something resonated deeply inside me that made me feel good beyond just getting a paycheck. In a roundabout way, we all decided at some point to do something different and fell in love with it, and that is the real essence of having a truly "sustainable" career: doing what you love:

Slogan courtesy: WeWork (a Wash Cycle client)

Cameo Canceled

Last night, I made what will likely be my last appearance on a bike with Wash Cycle for a little while. If you've been reading, I've been filling in on Monday evenings due to a shortage of residential cyclists. Bittersweet-ly, that situation has been rectified.

It's been fun getting back to my roots, for sure. I mean anytime you give me an excuse to ride 15 miles on a bike, I'll take it. I have also gotten very lucky with the weather. The biggest snowstorm of our winter season was sandwiched in between the last two times I helped out, and yesterday actually started out very gloomy and rainy before turning beautiful:

Photo courtesy: me, via thewashcyclist Instagram

If you don't like the weather in Philly, just wait 10 minutes. Actually, it was downright balmy at times, but I didn't mind one bit. This qualifies as my once a week workout. Last night was busier than the previous few times I helped out, but overall nothing too crazy happened other than logging nearly 16 miles.

We always try to make our routes as efficient as possible. That said, it still looks ridiculous when you see it on a map. I love it:

And you all wonder why I love carbs...

Today is back to normal, sort of. It's currently pouring and lightning outside. Hoping this clears up before too long because I'm attending a careers in sustainability forum this evening and I'd really like to ride my bike there...

Nice Rack: My Bike

Customization is part of the fun of owning a bike. If you've read this blog regularly, you may remember me mentioning a certain item that I sorely needed (that is the right word) for many months. Look what I finally did this weekend:

I took a picture of my bike! Lookit!

If you didn't notice it right away, there are not one, but THREE new accessories I added, most notably the back rack:

As seen from the front

I kept my u-lock holder on there just in case I have a full cargo load on the back and am unable to store both on the rack, but primarily it's there as a backup plan. You'll also notice the green water bottle holder, which was number 2 on the accessories list priorities. Number 3 was a bell (not pictured - you all know what a bell looks like, right?). This is turning into a regular ol' commuter bike, eh?

Beyond functionality, they add a nice visual element to the bike, at least I think so. It's also kind of annoying, because these are the sorts of things I feel should be included as stock items on a bike that's designed for city riding. It's not surprising, though. My stepdad once bought a car that didn't include floor mats, my SUV didn't come with splash guards, and so on. Whatever manufacturers can do to squeeze some extra cash out of you...

In any case, I'm looking forward to not having to strap groceries to my front handlebars or overloading my back pack any more. More importantly, having these accessories to install finally gave me the impetus to give the guy a deep cleaning he sorely needed after a somewhat long Winter. Just like a car, salt and slush can wreak havoc on a bike. I don't know about you, but I can tell the difference in that picture above. Cleaned up just in time to venture out in the rain today. Maybe I should have bought a matching set of fenders...

Rustcycles: Frankford & Girard

As the weather has turned sharply colder for what is hopefully the final time this early Spring, there haven't been many riding adventures for the latter part of this week. No worries for my blog brain though, as my little saunter up to Fishtown the other day provided me with some bonus writing fodder.

While walking into the Garage, I spotted this tire still locked to the bike rack out front:

It's a Continental Tour Ride, which is a pretty solid tire, and it's still full of air. I have a friend who swears by these tires, so much so that I'm going to buy them for my next set (whenever that may be, likely soon). The wheel is still in pretty good shape to boot, so like I've said several times before...may want to go get the bolt cutters for this one. Haha. Like many stranded bikes or tires, people continue to lock around it, making for some bizarre sights:

Yet another lesson to lock by more than just your rim...not sure if I'm noticing more Rustcycles lately because of the snow melt and they're more visible, or if they've just started becoming more frequent. I could probably conduct a study if I really felt like it.

Nice Rack: Montgomery & Girard

Right around the corner from Kraftwork, I latched my bike to this neat little guy a couple days ago:

It's reminiscent of some sort of plant, also fitting because it's less than a half block from Flora St. I also love the fact that there are so many spaces. We need more of these, or more racks like these.

Happy "Anniversary"

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic lately. This week marks 3 years since I moved to Philly, so you can understand why. I have this loose tradition during this week of revisiting one of the first bars I visited when I moved here. Owing to a frustrating day at the office, yesterday seemed like the perfect day to ride 6ish miles up to Fishtown, both for the experience of "riding it out" and also to go to said bar, Kraftwork:

Because 3rd & Girard closed down...

I got there at just the right time. Since I don't frequent the neighborhood anymore, I forgot that flights are only $7 from 4-6PM on weekdays - truly a steal! Some apps are also $7, but I chose to go with one of my favorite "out of bounds" standby foods, pierogies:

Drunk or sober, these are some of the best I've ever had

I bike all over this city and always try to explore new cuisines whenever possible, but there's something to be said about a place that's consistently kicking ass with a simple menu. I've had these pierogies at least once a year for 3 consecutive years, and every time, they are amazing. Not healthy in the least, and that's exactly what I needed last night.

So, after a flight and some comfort food, I was feeling much better. I decided to venture a little bit, since I don't get up that way very much any more. I used to frequent Penn Treaty Park, so that seemed like a logical ride, less than a half mile away:

The park is behind me. That's the Delaware River, duh...

Some time around this time (huh?), I decided to text my first Philly friend Max to see what he was up to, as he still lives up that way. He said he would be around later, so I decided to kill some time relaxing in the park, and then headed over to the Garage on Frankford & Girard to check it out and play some skee ball. No seriously.

Other than skee ball, not much to write home about besides a vast beer selection, but I wasn't really there to drink. This pseudo sunset was a nice treat as I left the bar an hour or so later:

Minus that not-so-golden set of arches...

I met up with Max across the street. We had another while catching up, and then I headed for home, much happier at the end of the evening than at the beginning. I'll call it a happy anniversary. The timing was absolutely perfect, too, because it's windy as hell out there today and I'm not going anywhere I don't have to!

Rustcycles: Broad & Walnut

Taking a walk on lunch has quickly become one of my favorite things, and on beautiful days, especially so.

There's a large section of bike racks across Broad St. on a diagonal to my office building:

Normally I feature bike racks in a separate column

As I walked past on my brief saunter up to City Hall and back this afternoon, I spotted this abandoned Raleigh frame that's in beautiful condition in the midst of about 30 "healthy" bikes:

I mean, other than the whole "no tires" problem...

The chain is the only thing that's rusty, so this is obviously a very recent addition to the Rustcycle community, most likely from this weekend. Time to get the bolt cutters, eh?

Cyclist in Residencial

I got called into cycling duty again tonite due to extenuating circumstances. You may recall a similar situation I wrote about from last Monday.

Two (or technically one) big differences: today also happened to be the first day of Spring, and the weather was GORGEOUS! I was wearing a hoodie and jeans this afternoon when I showed up in the sunshine to get on the road:

Not pictured, me in a hoodie and jeans

It wasn't completely sunny, but with no rain, very little wind, and temperatures in the 50's, the conditions were absolutely perfect for an evening of deliveries. Today's route was completely different than last week's (part of why I used to enjoy residential deliveries sometimes). It was kinda weird being back on the bike in some of the areas I used to frequent on a daily basis. I saw a couple clients tonite that were with us back when I started in 2014, and though they don't remember me, I do remember them. Funny how that works. I paused for a minute in the Gayborhood because this looks quaint:

Not pictured: the client, because that would be illegal

That was when the evening was at its cloudiest. I finished my 4-6 appointments earlier than I thought I would, enough so that I had time to pause in my old stomping grounds in Queen Village:

Still not sure WHICH queen this village is named after...

Double bonus, I picked up dinner in the form of a falafel sandwich from Alyan's, one of my go-to spots for middle-eastern cuisine. Triple bonus, I had enough time to grab some macrobiotic groceries at Essene Market. Kinda made me miss living near this area just a little bit...

Things picked up during the last hour to the tune of 5 appointments, which was a very good thing because the temperatures were starting to drop. Ya know, that tends to happen when the sun goes down. A bit of a longer route this time around, 15 miles according to Strava:

That trek up Columbus Blvd. (on the far east side of the map) wasn't very much fun because some of the bike lanes still have snow piles in them, but all in all it was a great evening to be on a bike. I don't mind occasionally being called into action one bit, but I hope this doesn't become a regular thing...there's an opportunity for someone else here. Speaking of, if you're interested in a part time cycling position, let me know.

And with that, Spring cycling season is underway. Happy trails, everyone.

List-erical

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I have a love/hate relationship with lists. I love to make them, I hate to read them. Hate is a bit of a strong word, but a semi-case in point is this article I stumbled upon the other day about the five best traffic-free Philly bike routes. Their list is as follows (with links to the ones I've already explored):

1. Boxer's Trail
2. West River Drive
3. Forbidden Drive
4. Penn Park
5. Schuylkill River Trail

I'll counter with my own top five:

1. Pennypack Park
2. Forbidden Drive
3. Tacony Creek Park
4. Cobbs Creek Parkway
5. Boxer's Trail

I guess part of the fun of lists is comparing them to your own. No list is going to be perfect for anyone but the person who made it, and that's a fact. They did make a good point, however: biking season is just on the horizon, and there's one trail on their list I haven't explored, so there's at least one adventure to look forward to during 30 Days of Biking. By the way, that's less than 2 weeks away.

It's much nicer outside today than yesterday, so I may just venture out there today...

Rustcycles: Broad & Locust

I was on a walk right across the street from my office yesterday when I saw this. I'm sure this old bike frame is rusty, even though I can't see the whole thing...

Kind of fitting that it's rusting away across the street from the old Perch Pub. Sad, too, because I used to love going to that place right after work, and the story behind its demise isn't pretty, either.

This Time, It's Personal

Daylight Savings Time began on Sunday, and the week following has been nothing short of odd.

One of the reasons I really grew to love my job at Wash Cycle Laundry was that I got to be outside and be active every day (and get paid for it, of course). In recent months as I've been transitioning into the office, it's been a little tough to let go of that. So, even in the face of near-freezing temperatures, you can imagine I was a bit excited to return to the cycling side of things on Monday afternoon, filling in as a personal customer cyclist:

The calm before the storm, or something

Having been on the commercial delivery side of our business in North Philly for the last 2 years, delivering in Center City/South Philly was a nice trip down memory lane. It was weird not to know exactly who I was going to see or what kind of personality I would encounter with each appointment, because I've grown so used to the longstanding relationships I had with my customers. It was also a much smoother ride than I'm used to, as my terrain in the North is much more hilly and plagued with other obstacles (broken glass, etc). All told, my route that day was only 11 miles, but considering most of it was with a considerable amount of laundry in tow, it was still a solid 11-mile workout:

Personal appointments are also spread further apart, so it tends to make for a much more zig-zaggy route. Looks neat, eh? I'm even happier I got more than 15 miles in on Monday (including commutes) because I logged absolutely ZERO on Tuesday, and not much more on Wednesday and Thursday:

Bike Ice

I was in workforce training most of Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't get much of anything done otherwise on the work spectrum, but all things considered, I didn't mind being inside. Getting to and from the office was treacherous at best. There's rain in the forecast for this weekend, which could be a positive as long as it doesn't lead to flooding...I'm just hoping it will clear out the ice so I can get back to a normal commute and my normal weekend adventures.

By the way, 30 Days of Biking is coming...

Parallel Universe

I got to the office the other day and noticed a bike that looked just like mine. Because it is:

Well, aside from the color

I'm not gonna lie, I accidentally tried to unlock their bike instead of mine. I kinda wish I could have. Theirs is newer. :P

I've been in the office with some regularity for the last 2 weeks. Tonite, I'll be called into action as a residential delivery cyclist for the first time in more than 2 years. The joys of upper management - whatever is needed, whenever it's needed. Hopefully tonite isn't a storm before the storm...

The Water Cycle

This is a garbage post, but trust me, it's a worthwhile garbage post.

I've encountered my fair share of interesting folks and businesses since I started working at Wash Cycle 2+ years ago, and the list keeps growing, which of course lends itself to more new experiences.  Through them, I met the folks at United by Blue, who are not only clients, but also really awesome people.  More on them later.

Yesterday, I signed up to volunteer on a clean up they had organized.  They conduct these on the first Tuesday of every month.  This month's Philly edition was held at Bartram's Garden, which gave me an excuse to ride 5 miles out to Southwest Philly:

I was singing Octopus' Garden the whole ride there for some reason...

The ride was a bit scary at times.  I took Vare Ave. for part of the ride, which parallels the Schuylkill Expressway, leading people to exceed the 35 MPH speed limit quite often.  Even on a 3-lane wide avenue, it's still scary.  Shortly thereafter, I turned onto the Grays Ferry Bridge, which sits right next to a trash transfer station (I told you this was a garbage post).  After successfully dodging all manner of debris on the bridge, I found myself in the urban wasteland of abandoned row homes and delinquent factories that plague the Southwest.  Not the prettiest ride, hence the lack of pictures.

Bartram's Garden, on the other hand, is a beautiful place that's been preserved and operated (in varying capacities) since 1893, and is one of the oldest in the country.  It's also terribly fallen victim to littering and drifting garbage over the years, which is probably why UBB decides to hold a clean up here every late Winter.  From despair comes inspiration, though, as about 100 people showed up to help.  Believe it or not, I was the only person who rode a bike:

Maybe it's because there's not much bike parking there...

Exciting stuff, though.  OK, picking up trash is not really anyone's idea of exciting, but doing it for the best of causes and meeting some great people in the process makes it seem more like a party than a chore.  It also helps when the organizers provide free stuff like Clif Bars (one of my favorite guilty pleasures):

Where are the Steve bars?

Inspired Brews' kombucha on tap (if that's your thing):

I prefer beer

And local/organic fruit cups from Honeygrow:

Those who arrived late still got fruit cup

United by Blue is an outdoor apparel company that organizes these cleanups because their co-mission (in addition to profit) is to remove one pound of trash from the oceans for every item that they sell in their stores or online.  Basically, water connects everything, everything is united by blue.  Cue the hippy picture where I tell you why it's important not to litter:

Bonus preservation tip: don't be an idiot that throws trash out your window on the expressway

After the intro to what we were doing and why we were here, it was time to get to work.  Groups of about 15 scattered throughout the gardens and picked up and sorted trash and recyclables for about 2 hours.  I paused briefly to admire this view, which will probably be gorgeous once the trees bloom:

It already looks better with less trash

This is another place I'll come back to explore once the weather turns nicer and I have a free day.  Big picture-wise, the Gardens are eventually going to be connected to Center City and beyond via the Schuylkill Banks trail.  So basically, you'll be able to ride from Southwest Philly up to Manayunk and further without ever having to get on a major road.  Righteous, no?

After cleanup, we lugged our trash & recycling bags back to the meetup point.  Blue is for recycling, white is for trash:

My bike is going to be re-cycled. See what I did there?

Our group got back at about 5:45, and some groups that were further down the river didn't get back until closer to 6, so that's just a small portion of what we collected.  Amazingly, we collected over 1,900 pounds of discarded items, and about 70% of that will be able to be recycled.  UBB also provided us gloves to use during cleanup, and guess who's going to be washing them:

Well, obviously someone that's not me...

In case you didn't notice, that's a Wash Cycle Laundry bag.  :D  UBB awarded 2 people after all had returned: the person who guessed closest to how many pounds we picked up, and the person who found the weirdest item.  I wasn't one of them.  Meh.  I still had fun, and so did everyone else:

Photo Courtesy: Honeygrow

The rain held off just long enough for me to ride there, help with the cleanup, and ride home before dinner.

All in all, picking up trash yesterday was pretty flippin' awesome.  It would be even better if we didn't have to do it at all though...