Parade of Asses

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Once again Philadelphia has survived the annual Parade of Asses or as it is better known, the Philadelphia Naked Bike Ride, part of the World Naked Bike Ride. Don't worry if you missed it, the Philadelphia Inquirer will be flogging the pictures on the main page of their website for the next 364 days, just like they did with the 2010 ride.

Like Critical Mass the PNBR accomplishes nothing other than creating a parade and while this ride has grown exponentially around the world, in my opinion it has jumped the shark. The best example of this is when G4TV's Attack of the Show sent out one of their on air hosts to cover the ride in Portland, OR. Sarah Underwood, a Playboy centerfold, who reported on the ride by participating in it. It's this kind of investigative journalism that shows how seriously the WNBR is taken.

WARNING: Video is not office friendly.

Video Games - E3 2012 - AOTS Exclusive

As much as the PNBR has stated goals, the average person has a completely different reaction.

Why We Ride:

1.     We ride to PROMOTE CYCLING ADVOCACY.

2.     We ride to RAISE AWARENESS about FUEL CONSUMPTION and the environmental impact of car culture.

3.     We ride to PROMOTE POSITIVE BODY IMAGE.

4.     We ride to PROMOTE ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY as a way of life and a corporate responsibility.

Man on the street

1.     Look at all of the naked people riding bicycles!

2.     This is going up on YouTube.

3.     Most of these people need to put their clothes back on.

4.     What was that all about?

Participating in the PNBR is the same as clicking “Like” on the Facebook page of a non-for profit, you’re not doing anything to help that organization. The PNBR does not raise any money to help an advocacy group that meets the goals of the PNBR. Nor do the hundreds of riders that they attract actually do anything that benefits the community they live in. However unlike the recent column in Philebrity I would not call the people who participate in this “bad citizens”, not everyone can or wants to spend $50 to ride through Philadelphia to participate in the Bike Philly ride. Instead I would view them as a group of children in need of guidance, to harness the potential that exists.

So what would I do?

By all means since the PNBR is part of the core value of this group then the ride should remain intact. What about a voluntary donation of $1 per rider, at the start or the end of the ride, with the proceeds going to an advocacy group so the end of the ride something more than just an excuse for a party.

I would also recommend that the PNBR participate in the Philly Spring Cleanup, in past estimates the PNBR has had close to 2000 participants. Can you imagine what would be possible if 25% of the participants met at a central location and then bicycled out to local parks in need of help to pick up trash and clear brush?

Chinatown and Bicycle Lanes

There has been an outbreak of NIMBYism in Chinatown. It appears no matter what is done to make Chinatown more accessible and create positive change there is a vocal minority seeking to maintain a status-quo. Instead of making an effort to benefit from these changes for the community and business they would rather impede and obfuscate.

A temporary bicycle lane from North 13th Street and South 10th Street between Market and Vine Streets has been created for a period of 3 to 6 months. A test to see if this is a viable location. It didn't take long for the standard list of excuses to surface, supported by the usual list of players from the private and public sectors.

First is 1st District City Council candidate Mark Squilla who suggested to Wilson Wan to organize a petition against the bike lane. This isn't the first time someone who is on the city council or running for city council has tried to go after bicycle lanes. Instead of doing their own dirty work, like DiCiccio and Greenlee, the ploy is to make this look like it is motivated by local citizens.

Next was Chinatown Watch Chairman Joe Eastman who feels that this is about city government dictating policy without taking any input from the community. When in reality his true concern was about; "This is a commercial area. If we lose any of these parking spaces, people will go somewhere else.” A sentiment also stated by Wilson Wan.

Last up is Jong Chin, who has owned a restaurant on Race Street since 1965 and Executive Director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. He is concerned that the bike lanes will make the streets too narrow for fire trucks as well as buses that pass frequently en-route to New York City.

What everything boils down to is three motivations; politics, safety, and commerce.

Politics – Mark Squilla is exploiting local residents on an issue that will have little impact on community and has become a tactic used by current city council members to get their names in the paper. At the same time they avoid dealing with any of the real quality of life issues their constituents face like unsafe schools, crime and the no snitching mentality. Bike lanes are just low hanging fruit that require no real commitment or effort and gets their names in the paper.

Safety – A very common tactic is to claim that bicycle lanes will impede the ability for emergency vehicles to navigate through the street. As if somehow cyclists will not get out of the way of an emergency vehicle with it's lights and sirens running. If anything cyclist can get out of the way faster and leave more room than a car. This was the same excuse made when a bicycle lane was installed in front of Thomas Jefferson Hospital and yet no emergency vehicles have been delayed from accessing the hospital.

Commerce – This is what it really boils down to. Fear that a bicycle lane will lower the revenue of area businesses by reducing parking. In a city like Philadelphia where the majority of its residents get around using public transportation and an increasing number of cyclists. I seriously doubt that the loss of a small number of parking spaces is going to have any effect on a restaurant, more likely is a lack of imagination.

So what would I do?

If I were a restaurant I would have weekly cyclist special, it is much easier for a cyclist to pull over and lock their bike easier than a car. As a cyclist I would hold an organized ride to Chinatown where every rider would go into a restaurant in Chinatown along the bike lane and have lunch. Calling ahead and making reservations if possible.

Twits

In a day and age of instant gratification it never ceases to amaze me how quickly individuals will Tweet or post something to Facebook without thinking first. Worse yet is when an organization or business engages in reacting without thinking. They often fail to understand that by doing this they are giving their approval of the author of anything they repost.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia made a very egregious mistake on Wednesday, August 17, when they re-tweeted a post by Philebrity in which Philebrity posted a column about the recent objections of community leaders in Chinatown regarding the installation of bicycle lanes. They were referred to as Chu Bykofsky's. The membership of the BCGP held the the BCGP management team to task over a post that clearly had racial overtone's, that only inflamed the issue.

While the BCGP did put up a follow up post that apologized for tweeting without thinking, there was one sentence in it that still leaves me wondering if they still don't get it. “Again, we don't imply wholehearted agreement with everything we retweet.” If you don't agree with something you are re-tweeting than why do it? I can only hope that the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia takes a hard look at what they re-tweet to make sure that as an bicycling advocacy organization it represents what they are working towards. But some how I doubt it.

HONK!!!!

If there is one thing I can't is listening to someone complaining about how they honked their horn at a cyclist and the cyclist gave them the finger. Imagine you are walking around your neighborhood and a rock concert starts, 10 feet away from you, with no warning. A rock concert is 120 decibels; a car horn is 110 decibels.

Getting honked at by a car when your driving does not have the same effect, your car, especially with the windows up muffles a lot of the sound. For a cyclist there is no barrier, you get the full impact. You don’t know its coming and since horns are a warning device you can easily startle any cyclist and leave them thinking an accident is going to happen. Inevitability it turns out that you are trying to get us out of your way, which makes it even more frustrating in Philadelphia when we are riding at the same speed as the rest of the traffic.

So why do you inevitably end up getting the finger? Because we can’t honk back and you have scared and/or annoyed us.

So what can you do, especially when you are driving around Philadelphia?

DON'T HONK!

If a cyclist is completely in a traffic lane its because they are moving faster than cars in the slower lanes or changing lanes to make a turn. Also bicycles can legally ride in any traffic lane, not just a bicycle lane. You are not going to get where your going any faster, especially during rush hour. Be patient will be out of your way in a minute.

Philadelphia Bike Culture – A Glimmer in the Dark

There has been another step forward in creating a bicycle culture in Philadelphia, something beyond century rides. On June 25^th Volpe Cycles held a “Mac the Bike” ride, a tour of some of Philadelphia's eateries to sample some unique macaroni and cheese recipes.

I can only hope that this is not a one time only ride. Philadelphia is home to a wide range of food trucks and restaurants of all sizes that serve some very unique recipes. Volpe Cycles is also looking for ideas for other rides and I hope they find them. Because fun, social rides build a community.

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