The Only Constant is Change

I've written many times on this blog about the changes I see in my neighborhood(s) over time.  I noticed a couple more today.  Changes are not always positive, but usually I write about the ones that are. Interesting...

Today, I took a different route than I usually take to get back to our Thompson Street facility from Olde Kensington.  I'd been avoiding Master Street just west of Broad for quite a while due to construction and unfavorable road conditions.  For whatever reason, I decided to go that route today and saw this:

This is Ingersoll Commons Park.  I have no idea what it was previously (other than a construction site), but seeing this park completed and grass growing was a bright spot in an otherwise gray and gloomy morning.  In the midst of so many ugly cookie cutter condos being built seemingly on every other corner, it's always a pleasure to see some new green space.

After my route, I headed to the office at Broad & Locust.  We moved in here on or about May of last year, and I swear since the day we moved in, this old Schwinn has been left to die on the curb out front: 

It's the green one on the street side of the rack, missing a front tire and rusting away (a Rustcycle, if you will).  People would often lock to it, creating a somewhat messy sight:

And fittingly, a street artist left a rather appropriate commentary on the frame:

I wanted to claim this frame on repeated occasions, either to put it out of its misery, or to see if I could reclaim it.  I never got around to it, and somewhat sadly, today it was gone:

And my bike in its place.  It's a positive to see it removed no doubt, but for some reason I didn't mind seeing it every day.  It kind of became part of the identity of that block in my view.  Or maybe I'm just annoyed that I didn't get to it first.

But hey, onward and upward.

Remember When I Knew a Boxer, Baby

This weekend has been my first FULL weekend spent in the city in about 3 months, and I'm taking full advantage of it, mostly getting some mundane housekeeping tasks off my plate.  But that's not really why you're reading this blog, right?

Rather fortuitously, the weather has been near perfect for riding.  Yesterday in between chores, I crossed another Circuit Trail off my list, Boxer's Trail in Fairmount Park/Strawberry Mansion:

A brief back story: Boxer's Trail is where Joe Frazier (and many other boxers over the years) used to train back in the 60's.  Legend has it that Muhammad Ali one went to this trail to challenge Frazier to a fight before management intervened.  Back then, it was narrow and mostly overgrown.  Today, a restoration is in progress, but it's already decently passable:

My first thought from this view was about the bridge in the background, and whether or not I could venture there after I was finished.  Upon further investigation, it's the Columbia Railroad Bridge, not something that's really explore-able via bike.  Sigh...anyway, this is one of those places that, if not for the sounds of the Schuylkill Expressway off in the distance, you'd scarcely know you were in the city.  I detoured around much of this trail back in April, and once again, it's an area I'll go back to explore more another time.  Namely, a time when I bring a mountain bike:

A large section of the trail is gravel, which again, is passable, but much easier with knobby tires.  It's a moderately challenging ride with some serious hills no doubt, but that's what makes it fun.  The northwestern section is entirely paved.  At only 3.8 miles in length, it is one of the shorter trails on the circuit.  With the trail head being 5 miles from my house, I put in 14 miles yesterday, and I'm planning to head back out today at some point.  Ya know, after I cross some other boring stuff off my list...

Nice Rack: 21st & Ludlow

Two Nice Racks posts in a row?  Might be a sign...

At any rate, back in August, I mentioned some of my favorite bike racks in the city, which are actually old parking meter poles that have been repurposed.  Yesterday, I spotted another incarnation of the same ilk:

 

You can't really tell from that picture, but that's actually a bollard (ya know, the kind designed to keep cars from driving or parking on sidewalks) with a bike rack welded to it.  If I zoom out, you'll get the full picture (pun intended):

The poles are a bit more cumbersome, and as a result you can't really lock two bikes to one pole, but still, it works:

 

Philly is by far one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country, but we can always use more bike racks, so this is pretty awesome.  You wouldn't believe how often I ride to places and have nowhere to lock up.

Nice Rack: Water & Oregon

In a blast from the present, back in April I spotted a nice metal sculpture on the back of a flatbed trailer.  Last week, I spotted it again:

This is in front of the South Bowl bowling alley.  Pro tip: if you ride to the bowling alley and walk in with your helmet, your shoe rental is free.

Now to find out who made this thing...I'm assuming its point of origin was in Northern Liberties, because that's where I first spotted it.  If you have any info, let me know puh-lease.

Rustcycles: 11th & Chestnut

I stopped at the wine store on my way home from the office on Monday and spotted this poor fella:

Kinda unexpected.  This block of stores just opened in Center City (where security and surveillance are quite prevalent), and the bike rack is brand new, as you can see.  The rest of the bike's not in bad shape either.

The Road to Recovery

Sometimes you never know what you're going to ride into, for better or worse. This was for the better.

Continuing off my last post, I patched my tire on Wednesday, good enough that I could get it home to change the tube.  As luck would have it, I had a bad replacement tube, so I would have to go to a bike shop for the final fix.

I live in South Philly, but I still frequent the bike shop closest to where I work, Kayuh Bicycles all the way up on 19th & Girard, for a couple reasons:

1. I get a discount there for being a member of the Bicycle Coalition
2. The head tech, Izzy, is pretty awesome at what he does and always takes great care of my bike

So...I rode all the way up there yesterday evening.  I walked in and noticed there were chairs set up lecture style in the cafe. Izzy greeted me and said, "Hey great!  You made it!"

I asked, "Haha, alright...what did I make?"

Izzy told me his friend Nick was speaking about his organization, and of course he instructed me to stick around.  I asked if he could fix my bike, not knowing that in the last week or so, their hours had changed and the bike half of their shop had been closed for about a half hour.  He did me a favor and fixed it anyway, and since I had nothing but time, I owed it to him to stick around.  I'm glad I did.

Nick Basalyga was the featured speaker last nite (side note: Kayuh does events like these every week, and you should check them out if you're in the area), speaking about his newly-formed non-profit, In the Saddle:

Nick and Izzy

For starters, his non-profit focuses on cycling as a means to help individuals in recovery, be it from alcohol or any other substance abuse.  Nick himself is a recovering alcoholic and has been sober for 6 years.  I encounter more individuals like him the more I continue to ride.  It was inspiring to hear him talk about the positive impact that cycling has had on his life, and that's where the inspiration came to start his non-profit.  You can read much more about In the Saddle on his website (they're just getting started and could use some funding).

My favorite part of the evening was hearing his story of his fundraising bike ride across the country, leaving from San Francisco on July 29th and arriving in Philadelphia on October 1st:

Nick with his touring bike that made it across the country in about 2 months

As you may or may not be aware, Wash Cycle partners with organizations like Nick's to help individuals in recovery or re-entering the workforce (Including GearingUp, with whom I've ridden in support of several times), so I pledged my support.  I foresee working alongside them in the future...

All this because I needed to fix a flat.  Who knew?

Share This!

Yesterday was a tough day for many.  Overlooking the obvious (Election results, which I was going to be unhappy with no matter what as a Bernie Sanders supporter), I was greeted with a flat tire at 13th & Locust while I was on my way to work:

As you can see, it was also raining, a trend which continued throughout the entire day.  There might be some symbolism in that.  Already late and exhausted from staying up late to watch returns, I was thrown a small bit of fortune in the form of an Indego station just across the intersection from where I realized my tire went flat:

I was able to finish my morning commute via bicycle.  After work, I tackled fixing the tire.  I was not a fan of Indego at first (even though I liked the idea), but it's saved my ass on numerous occasions, and I'm glad it exists.  Excuse me as I mount my soapbox for a paragraph:

Projects like Indego don't come about by electing a President.  They come about by electing local officials and supporting efforts in your community to make the small world around you a better place.  Having a figurehead in your corner sure doesn't hurt, but the local game is really where this all begins.  I experience many of these small joys that remind me there's always hope, and I hope you'll all remember that too, as I remain optimistic that we can ride towards a better future...