Philadelphia Social Rides - 2018

With spring and the return of warm temperatures not that far off, people

will be dusting off their bicycles from there long winters hibernation.

For those of you looking for rides that are shorter, leisurely, and about

socializing this is the current list of social rides in Philadelphia.

Social rides in Philadelphia are often 10 to 15 miles long, with no drops,

often involve a final destination where you can eat, drink and

make new friends. Some of the rides listed are monthly,

while others are seasonal/annual.

Monthly

Philly Full Moon Bike Ride  https://www.facebook.com/groups/156618137847919/

The Philly Full Moon Ride has been going strong since 2013. Each ride is

held on the full moon of every month, 12 months a year. This ride departs

from the Art Museum stairs and is a night ride.

Philly Bike Party - https://www.facebook.com/philliebikeparte/

This is the second iteration of the Philly Bike Party. The organizers have

been very consistent about holding monthly rides and usually work with

some kind of theme. Most of the rides depart from the Art Museum stairs

with occasional departures from The Porch at 30th St. Station and

Love Park. It is a night ride.

Taco Tuesday Ride PHL - https://www.facebook.com/tacoridephl/

Taco Tuesday is the newest ride to Philadelphia. A group of cyclists

attempted to revive the Midnight Pretzel Ride only to find that the

bakery had changed its hours. So they created the Taco Tuesday ride.

Held monthly the Taco Tuesday Ride goes to various restaurants to

eat tacos. This ride departs from the Art Museum stairs and is a night ride.

Night Cycle Philadelphia - https://www.facebook.com/phillybikeride/

A night ride that departs from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and final

stop at a local bar.

PMA Bike Ride - https://www.facebook.com/pmabikeride/  

The PMA Bike Ride delivers pizza to those in need who may be

living on the streets.

Annual

Cycle Scene PHL - https://www.facebook.com/groups/cyclescenephl/

Cycle Scene PHL has brought many of the local rides together

to create a singular resource. It is also where you can find mass

rides planned by Alexandria Schnieder. Past rides organized by

Ms. Schnieder have included; The PopeRide, RideDNC, and

Cycle en Color. All of these rides have drawn over 1000 cyclists per ride.

Philly Tweed Ride - https://www.facebook.com/phillytweedride/

Attracting an average of 100 participants, the Philly Tweed Ride is a time

machine back to 1900’s in England. Tweed and vintage bikes abound,

along with modern takes on a period look. A ride through Philadelphia

with a stop for a picnic and post ride drinks and awards that include,

best dressed, best mustache, and best bike. Held in the fall,

this is a leisurely ride.

Philly Seersucker Vintage Ride & Social - https://www.facebook.com/PhillyDandQ/

The Seersucker Social is a springtime ride with a 1920’s American vibe.

Just like the Tweed Ride this a very well dressed crowd wearing vintage

and vintage looking clothing.

2014 - A year in review

Social Rides

The social ride scene in Philadelphia still mystifies me. There are several rides now with consistent schedules; Take Your Time Bike Rides, Philly Bike Party, and the Philly Full Moon Bike Ride. The question seems to be whether the ridership is going to grow? Take the Baltimore Bike Party; its first ride had 50 riders and within a few months it had grown to hundreds and in some cases thousands of riders. While this many riders creates its own specific challenges, it still leaves me wondering why Philadelphia residents and college students seem to be uninterested in any type of social ride.

Velodrome - Just another 6000 seat stadium

One announcement that drew some attention was the intent to build a velodrome in Philadelphia. A world class indoor  facility that could be used by Olympic athletes. There are two slight problems. First the developers behind this project have to raise 100 million dollars and they have pledged to do this with any government funding. Second, they will make it a profitable business.

As much as I would love to have an all weather velodrome in the heart Philadelphia. Lets face it a velodrome is never going to be profitable. Fortunately the developers have a back up plan. The velodrome will also be able to function as a 6000 seat concert venue. So is this really a group of altruistic developers who want to build a world class velodrome? Or this this just an attempt to open another 6000 seat arena? I’m not betting on altruism.

Mayors Bicycle Advocacy Board - All racing all the time

Mayor Nutter in attempt make Philadelphia bicycle friendly city created a Bicycle Advisory Board. The BAB team’s job is to find ways to promote cycling within Philadelphia to residents and businesses. While promoting cycling to the residents and business owners of Philadelphia all very well and good, the backgrounds members of the board say other wise and is more focused on the other goal; Their other goal is “to create, market, and promote national and international cycling races in Philadelphia to attract the finest and most highly-rated bicycle riders to compete in our City, including supporting and raising funds for the annual Philly Bicycling Classic.”

Eleven of the board members of are involved in racing and three in advocacy. The final BAB member is the most questionable of the group, Lisa Nutter, Mayor Nutter’s wife. It appears nepotism abounds in forming the BAB team. 

Given the high ratio of BAB members involved with racing and the utter lack of people representing the average cyclist in Philadelphia its is clear that the BAB’s primary mission will be promoting racing. Anything beyond racing I’ll wait to see how effective they really will be.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia scores a trifecta
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has had a year to be thankful for. The Safe Streets bill has become an albatross around their neck equal to the story of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This year the BCGP scored a trifecta.

1. Bicycle Lanes vs Bill Greenlee
Remember when the BCGP thought that giving the Philadelphia City Council final decision making authority for the installation of new bike lanes would not cause any problems? So did we. (http://tinyurl.com/o3q5ce2) It didn’t take long for Councilman At Large Bill Greenlee to decide that that would be no bike lane would be installed along 6 blocks of 22nd St. Why? Because he said so. And there is nothing that can be done to change this thanks to the BCGP’s agreement with the Philadelphia City Council.

2. #Unblockbikelanes = #QuestionableResults
Then there is the #unblockbikelanes. The idea was that people could tweet the Philadelphia Parking Authority cars that were parked in bike lanes. In return the PPA would step up ticketing of these vehicles. Unfortunately that has not be  en the case.

In the first quarter (http://tinyurl.com/njbns95) the PPA wrote close to same number of tickets on 2013 as in 2014. So the BCGP leaped into action and talked to the PPA and the number of tickets issued by 96% over 2013 in the second quarter (http://tinyurl.com/prddy25). Fortunately the PPA counterbalanced this offset by issuing 20% fewer tickets (http://tinyurl.com/qjrrywz) in the third quarter of 2014 compared to 2013. I expect the fourth quarter numbers to be equally dismal.

Some have even joked that the #unblockbikelanes is some sort of bizarre drinking game. This is yet another example the BCGP negotiating a deal that lacks any protection if either party fails to uphold the agreement.

3. Getting less bang for the buck 
The final element of the trifecta was the $100,000 (http://tinyurl.com/kkp6xa5) spent to create ten artistic bike racks of questionable value. Lets hope that in 2015 the BCGP will be willing to raise half that for ordinary bikes racks of real benefit.