I left home around 9:30 a.m.. It was a gorgeous day today. So different from yesterday's gloom and rain. I was dreading the hill from 420 to Leamy Avenue so much that I forgot about the one from the blue route up to 320 which comes first. Turns out the first is much steeper and the second ended up being a breeze (relatively speaking). After that the only remaining hill of consequence was where Providence Road meets Lansdowne Ave. I ended up walking that one because I lost so much momentum that I was a danger to myself and the cars with my switchbacks. :( I've ridden all the way up that one before. I'm not sure what happened today. It's ok I wasn't trying to break any speed records. I was just out for a fun ride. And except for that short block and a brief stint on Baltimore Avenue across the city line it really was. On Baltimore Avenue I was really concerned about getting doored while trying to stay out of the way of the cars that were trying to stay out of the trolley. It was all good though.
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As I left West Philly, I saw a man carrying not one but two children on the back of his bike. One about 7 or 8 and the other a toddler. We turned different ways. As I turned on to Spring Garden Street we met up again. The older child waived and Dad said, "Hey you were just in West Philly." I rode behind them for a few blocks and we chatted. Turns out they were on their way to meet other parents and kids in similar contraptions for the Kinetic Sculpture Derby. I told them I would look for them. I lost them then at a red light that they chose to drive though. I stopped. The photo is them in the parade.
The bike ride was awesome. The weather had a lot to do with that. I've biked and walked the section through to 41st and Baltimore Avenue before and after that I was in new territory. It's amazing how everything connects and how much you miss speeding along the highway. I wish I had taken more photos but that would have meant stopping and fishing the phone out and I didn't feel like doing that at the time.
I arrived at Jimmy and Corinne's about an hour and 30 some minutes after I left home. After I got cleaned up and changed clothes in their bathroom the three of us walked to the start of the parade at Norris and Trenton Avenue. The parade was much shorter than we expected. I wonder if yesterday's weather scared a few away. Many of the bikes were highly decorated and unless you had an inside space to work yesterday it would have been difficult to get ready for this morning.
After the parade we walked the crafts festival area. It was really crowded being such a nice day after such a yukky one yesterday. The plan was to put my bike in the trunk of their car and ride back to Media for lunch at Pinnochios (you can take the kids out of Media but they always come back for Pinnochios) Unfortunately the bike didn't fit in their trunk even with both wheels off. I thought briefly about riding home. The ride in had been so pleasant but my bike clothes were rolled up in a ball in my backpack and the thought of unrolling them to put back on ..... (ugh) plus the kids really wanted to go to Pinnochios and I had offered to treat. So we drove to Media, had lunch and then I drove back for my bike.
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