The Bare Necessity

My favorite day of the year has come and gone, but not soon to be forgotten. Some scenes from the Philly Naked Bike Ride on Saturday:

In addition to the Wildfire paint, some (myself included) chose to go the more "traditional" route, if there is such a thing:

And this is my message, sort of in the same vein as the guy above:

These jerks showed up at the starting point to yell at us for being friends with gay people. They also said that because we were friends with them, we have sex with chickens, we're more likely to get into traffic accidents, and all other manner of gibberish. Haters gonna hate, I guess. Anyway...

This guy was a total badass. I don't know how he didn't fall with the crowded nature of the ride. Starting off, it actually didn't look that full:

But as we rounded the Eakins Oval, I could see this was bigger than last year's crowd:

And hey, I ran into some friends! Blues musician Shakey Lyman among them:

Seriously floored by the turnout each time. It's so crazy, even the street performers stop to take pics of us:

And then there's this woman, total badass on a unicycle:

Wow. I think she made it a pretty good distance. I was back and forth, trying to see who else I could see along the way, so I lost track of her.

 We covered a lot of the major landmarks in greater center city, and I think this year's route was longer than last year's. 12 miles in total:

Yet another fantastic day of positivity that pictures cannot begin to describe. Until next year, cycle on, you crazy riders.

Will Bike for Beer. And Bread.

Last weekend, I had originally planned to go to the beach for the majority of said weekend until Hermine blew away most of those plans. See what I did there?

Rather than skulk away a free Sunday, I decided to seize the opportunity to "explore" one of the few neighborhoods I haven't explored in the City of Brotherly Love, Mt. Airy:

You've all seen trolley tracks before. Nothing to see here.

By explore, I mean I rode my bike 13 miles up the hill(s) and stopped at a local brewpub, as is typical of my adventures on this blog:

Because "Dirt Bread & Brewery" doesn't sound all that appetizing

Interestingly enough, the Drumpf was my favorite beer. I find their choice of beer names interesting, considering the drivel just across the street:

I'm referring, of course, to the American flag flying backwards...

Yech. Anywho, the town itself is quaint. I say the town because it's yet another one of those areas of the city that doesn't feel like it's part of the city (looking at you, Manayunk). In any case, I'll go back some day to see what else is going on. Chestnut Hill is right up the road too, and I haven't been there yet...

So back to the brewpub, those who know me know that I love beer, veg(etari)an food, and local/sustainable businesses, and any time I can find all three in the same place, I'll make the journey. No exception here. Earth Bread and Brewery sources locally almost exclusively, and with a small menu, there's little room for error. I don't normally do baked food, but this spicy veggie pizza was pretty bomb:

All killer, no filler

And, they didn't even use any of that strange fake cheese - all real ingredients. I didn't feel the least bit guilty about staying for 2 hours and finishing the whole thing myself, and I felt more than capable of biking home. This place alone would definitely be worth a ride out again.

As for Monday, I did end up going to the beach, and it was awesome. This week, I've been taking it kinda easy on the bike since my challenge ended, but I haven't missed a day. Next up: Philly Naked Bike Ride 2016 on Saturday! See (all of) me there.

Cat Nap

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 523.3

So hey, I did it again! Alas, a month of consecutive biking has left me spent, so I'm taking a cue from Sebastian for a few days. See you on the road, and thanks for riding along with me (again)!

You Know I'd Bike a Thousand Miles...

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 508.3

I awoke today knowing that barring a catastrophe, I would go over 500 miles on a bike in a month for the second time this year (at least, as far as I know). However, this one required a bit of a detour:

To the tune of 5 miles outside Center City

Not quite a catastrophe, but my expected schedule was turned upside down, details of which I don't care to go into here. I finally finished up the first half of my day at around 1:30 in West Philly and decided it was time for a lengthy detour over lunch break. I headed up to Fairmount Park, which was part of my original plan for this morning. It was only about 2 miles away at this point. I did some zig-zagging on the trails that traverse the area near the Mann Center and the Please Touch Museum. My handlebars came loose again (it's time for a tuneup), so I paused briefly to fix 'em. Seemed like a good chance for a photo op:

It doesn't matter what you put behind that bike. It looks good.

That's the Cedar Grove house (in case you didn't read the sign), one of the Art Museum's two historic houses. In a seemingly expected full circle turn of events, I happened upon the other back during #30daysofbiking. After a brief water break, I dropped down on to MLK Drive and rode past Boathouse Row. LOOK AT ALL THE POLLEN IN THE SCHUYLKILL:

Or green algae. Either way, life is finding a way

I had absolutely no issues with allergies today. I wish I could say the same when I go home to visit up North...

I popped up onto the Ben Franklin Parkway just to see how it looked in preparations for the shit show that is sure to be the Made in America Festival this weekend. Place looks like a mess. I'm sure lots of people will enjoy it, but I'm more than happy to be far away from it. I'm past the "music festival" part of my life.

Anywho, this little detour was over 11 miles, but I probably would have made it to 500 without it, because I snuck in another 6 miles after dinner tonite. In any case, detours are always fun.

It was a beautiful day/nite for riding, and tomorrow looks to be a nice one too. Unlike the last challenge, I'll be able to get a full day of riding in on the last day! That is, if work cooperates...

Out With the New, In With the Old

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 485.5

Mondays are...Mondays. It was a nice morning to ride yesterday, but when I got to our Thompson St. facility, I noticed a foul stench in the air, something like silicon or other synthetic building material. Sure enough, this is going on behind the facility:

New town homes, coming to gouge your credit soon!

It reminded me of living in Northern Liberties, where a new set of condos seemed to go up every day. The naturist in me can't stand the smell of new construction, but I guess it's a sign this neighborhood is finally turning around, so that's something.

Nothing major happened on my route and I laid low for the better part of yesterday mid-day, mostly because of excessive humidity. Later in the evening, things had turned much more pleasant, so I rode to dinner at one of my favorite spots in the city, Radicchio Cafe. The restaurant itself is an usually excellent Italian cafe, but I also like this relic across the street:

It may be neat, but cobblestones aren't the best for riding

The cafe sits at 4th & Wood Streets, which was the southern terminus of Old York Road many years ago. Parts of the original road have been paved over and still exist in the far northern section of the city. This city is constantly changing, but there are literally hundreds of little historical tidbits like this throughout the city that most of us don't bother to notice, myself included. Someone suggested taking a bus tour, and I think after this challenge is over, I may just do that.

And by the way, the food was great:

Presentation is everything.

I love carbs. 15ish miles on a hot, steamy Monday is not too shabby. I'm going to crack 500 miles today (day 30) if all goes according to plan!

Takin' it Easy

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 470

I had a pretty packed weekend which didn't include a whole lot of cycling, but it was certainly productive.

I'll be honest with you: if not for this little challenge deal, I might have otherwise taken today off. For real. Between work, a gig, volunteering and everything else, I was exhausted by the end of today, but I got 6 city miles in despite that fact. And a nap. Oh how I loved that nap.

So yes, I took it a little easy today but still held up my own bargain. 28 days in the books, 3 more to go, and hopefully a strong finish.

Also, happy 8/28 for those in the know. ;)

Small Town Cycling

#31daysofbiking Mileage Counter: 463.4

I took the opportunity to ride a bit whilst staying in Palmerton this weekend:

We're clearly not in Philly anymore...

Growing up there, I did my fair share of walking and biking around town, but it had been awhile. The town is relatively flat through the downtown area, but there are plenty of hills to the north. I tackled a few, the most challenging being the sled hill we appropriately called "Suicide Hill." Of course, I forgot to take a picture, but you all know what a hill looks like. I zig-zagged my way through the town and eventually reached the top of Delaware Avenue, which overlooks the entire town:

Did I mention it was a beautiful day?

I'd only gotten about 3 miles in at this point, which wasn't enough to satisfy me even with all the hills I did, so I took a detour to a road whose name I can't remember. It runs along the Aquashicola Creek:

Also known as the river of Zinc. Not really, but it could be.

Not really much to see back there except trees and unfortunate litter piles, so I headed back into town. I did a couple laps in the Borough Park:

Which way should I go?

I headed back home after this. All told, I logged 6 miles, most of which were hills, so it was a good 6 miles. Quality over quantity, or something. I actually could have gone much further, but I had a gig with Beer Money in the afternoon, so rest seemed prudent at that juncture.

Back in Philly today and a full day of volunteering at SHI. I'll sneak in a few rides somewhere ;)