In the theme of this blog and my disdain for job hunting I went on an overzealous bike ride today. I even started the bike ride by washing Loretta, my bike. Loretta is named such because she is old and the name reminds me of the 1970s, which is when she was made. So after a wash and some air in her tires we were off to explore the wonderful world of South Philadelphia. All in all, we biked for a while and since I got my digital camera to work I was more into exploring than I was into biking. The whole route ended up being the following:
Miles | Minutes | Speed | Calories Burned |
17.9 | 95 | 11.3 | 1,144 |
However, because I took over five dozen picture and visited so many new places I’m not about to blog about it all right now. So the following bright yellow route is what I’m going to blog about today, you can tell how crazy the bike ride was though:
All but 4 blocks from my house are these elevated train tracks, the 25th St. viaduct I suppose would be a more appropriate name. However they are not like the El in west or north Philly or even the Reading viaduct north of Chinatown. This is made out of concrete (which always worries me when I’m physically underneath them) and travels the ENTIRE length of 25th St. (approx 1.25 miles). However in the summer it makes a terrific shadeway and there is barely any traffic on 25th Street. Additionally the inner lanes (which are faster) are blocked by the ever present concrete columns holding the whole monolith up. I think it kinda screams bikeway.
I didn’t bike all the way down the 25th Street viaduct but instead headed west on Reed Street. After circling one of South Philly’s few block parks, Stinger Park, at 33rd and Reed I journeyed under I-76 and over the CSX tracks to check out the progress at the Grey’s Ferry Crescent. Although I don’t believe it’s technically open until later this month or next, I visited the Schuylkill. It is almost ready; the area is in dire need of grass. I’m not sure if they are going for a patchy grass look or what, but there are only patches of straw throughout the site. Judging from the south side of the site the project looks as if it’ll tie in tremendously well with the Schuylkill Banks we all know and love north of Locust. There are similar rocks and benches to sit on, trees and lighting lining the path. The hard edge has more of an industrial feel to it, similar to Pier 53 on the Delaware. One of the coolest parts is the large concrete supports that look like they’ve been deteriorating for decades. With the backdrop of the floating bridge in the river, I love it.
Subsequent to exploring the crescent and the pocket of houses that are along Reed Street I began a venture down Warfield Street. The street pretty much runs parallel to I-76. Many people see the industrial landscape on their way to the airport; I got a firsthand look at it. With a road that seemed barely travelled on I figured it was pretty safe to ride and take pictures. Additionally, there are some great stretches for seeing how fast one can go on a bike, and you’re not missing much scenery. In the meantime you have strings of power lines and never-ending rusty chain link fences.
There is a stretch of road that heads away from the freeway for a bit and you have to make a hard left before running into a gate for an oil storage field. As soon as a made that left there was a giant semi barreling for the gate and me. No regard for a little biker. Then came a trickier part, there must have been an exit ramp for industrial wasteland while I was away from the freeway because there were a mob of cars that acted as they were still on the freeway. Lucky for me the shoulder was very wide and fairly clear of debris. My new friends were not following the 25mph limit. I probably wouldn’t either.
As I sailed around a corner heading to Passyunk Ave., I discovered this pocket of civilization that had to be no more than 40 odd rowhouses, a corner bar, a pint size park and TOWERING empty oil tank. No really the oil tank was in these people’s backyards, I suppose they didn’t have the benefit of zoning when Sunoco or whoever built it. With the tank aside, it was quite the adorable little microcosm.
Crossing Passyunk Ave. (much wider when you’re this far south) by running a red light, I biked down the access road leading to Sunoco’s Philadelphia refinery. After snapping the following picture:
I was stopped by this car and a man rolled down his window yelling at me that I can’t be taking pictures.It wasn't even that good! However, seeing that he was in a car with several grungy men I hightailed it out of there and was greeted by this sign which I found amusing and an appropriate moral to end of my industrial tour:
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