Pennypack Creek, Huntingdon Valley

Serenity is going on a short bike ride along quiet roads, sitting by a rushing stream, picking wild raspberries, and somehow feeling like you’ve been transported out of a mad traffic culture. That was a week ago already.

Having a farmer’s market in Jenkintown is also a wonderful thing.

Today at the farmer’s market, I had a nice conversation with a maple syrup vendor from near Green Lane Reservoir.  We were talking about tapping trees for syrup, shale drilling, the Perkiomen Bike Trail, and the financial aspects of owning farm land three hours away from where you live.

I also talked with Judy, who with her Husband Ed and son Matt, drive wonderful produce from their farm (Herrcastle Farm) to Jenkintown from Southwestern Lancaster County on Wednesdays.  Today’s harvest was really great, and I bought several cartons of golden cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, plums, raspberries, fresh corn,  cantaloupe, etc.

My daughters really like raw milk for some reason… and cookies.  I guess you can’t beat this combination.  They also like the arts activities set up by the Abington Arts Center and the flute and violin music (especially the flute) of Erik and Jane Petersons.  I enjoyed their music too.

Farmers markets are a growing trend.  At the same time, I think there needs to be greater certainty that people will buy the great produce that the farmers spent all day harvesting and then another day selling.  I think it would be nice to help these farmers link up with my daughter’s daycare or with the Abington Friends School or with the Abington Hospital.  These are all places where people are going every day to work or pick up their kids, and if customers can order a bunch of produce online and pick it up someplace they are going anyway, the farmers wouldn’t be subjected to the weather fluctuations that affect sales.  If someone is driving three and a half hours round trip, and they are providing a great service to us, I hope they are selling what they’ve grown.

As much as I like our farmers market and bike rides, my focus is on my next bike map.  I’ve been researching and analyzing state bike maps, and I plan to present useful rough concepts for the New Jersey State Bike Map in a couple of weeks.  This will be a starting point for discussion that I think will lead to a useful, compelling map.

Thanks Phil. Sandi and I love the "Amazing Race"

I have so much to write about, and this is the really busy season for me.  Thanks are in order.

First, to Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz and Earl Blumenauer.  I’m excited to see my Congresswoman team up with the esteemed Congressman from Portland, Oregon.  Below is a link of me with Congressman Blumenauer after we talked about bicycling to Baltimore and his upcoming trip to Philadelphia (and Jenkintown, I hope)

Short Video of Steve and the Congressman

Next, is the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the League of American Bicyclists.  Sarah Clark-Stuart did a fantastic job coordinating things in DC.

Alex Doty, Breen Goodwin, and Hans Van Naerssen (the new League President)

Thank you to the Maryland State Bicycle Coodinator, Michael Jackson, for giving me a reason to bike 50 miles between DC and Baltimore.

En route from DC to Baltimore (a 4 1/2 hr ride)

Here is a link to the route I took:

Thank you to Pennsylvania’s First Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator, Dave Bachman. Brian Sanders is the new Bike/Ped Coordinator. State Representative Rick Geist, from Altoona, presented Dave with a citation. He didn’t read the whole thing, but it probably says, “Dave, you’re a cool dude, and you did a great job” (in official-speak, of course). Dave did bike across the US one summer.

Rep. Rick Geist with Dave Bachman

Thanks to google for coming out with google maps for bicycling. I find it really useful. And I look forward to incorporating this into my projects.

Google maps team member demonstrating the new bicycle routing.

Mugshots Coffeehouse, on Fairmount Ave.

Yesterday, John Branigan and I met at Mugshots, a great coffee shop in Fairmount (and Manyunk) with an extensive local foods buying club. John and I brain stormed, talked about what’s working and what’s not, talked about clients’ needs, and left with a list of problems to solve. Problem solving with the right people makes work fun.

To get to our 10:30 meeting, I left home at 9:40. The worst part of my ride always seems to be in Cheltenham. Washington Lane is far too wide and drivers treat it like an interstate. I’m not a fan of having cars come within 2 feet of me going 50 miles an hour. Once in Philadelphia, I feel much more comfortable.  The cars parked on a street like Washington Ave in Philadelphia cause traffic to move more slowly, and the roads are part of the neighborhoods, not just means of getting beyond them (as in Cheltenham).

My route took me through Germantown on bike lanes and then to Midvale Ave down to the river.  Rather than follow the trail along the Schuylkill, I biked on Ridge Avenue to Girard and zigzagged through Fairmount to the coffeehouse.

Mileage: 11.5 miles, Time: 51:18

Jenkintown to Mugshots in Fairmount

D&R Canal, Along the Millstone River

It’s January 14.  With temperatures in the 30′s it’s a bit warmer than it has been.  Some people would think 30′s is cold. I find that it’s perfect bicycling weather because I feel neither hot nor cold.  One of the reasons I’m self employed is so that I can give myself time to explore on beautiful days like this.

My trip can be summed up like this.  Wake-up, grab a 27 speed Dahon folding bike, tools and my iphone, and get to the SEPTA R3 West Trenton train by 7:40. Bicycle with Joe, who I met when departing the train, from Yardley along the Delaware Canal to Trenton.  Follow the car-free East Coast Greenway to New Brunswick.  Only there was a little hitch…

My wheel exploded and tore off part of the rim as I biked through the New Brunswick suburbs. It wasn’t a big deal.  I walked four miles to the New Brunswick train station and caught the 2:38 train back to Trenton, took a taxi to the West Trenton Station, and arrived back home in Jenkintown at 4:45.

People often ask me is: “Do you go to the places you map?”  I do, but often I work with planners who are doing the field research.  Mike Dannemiller, at the RBA Group, did the field work and planning for the East Coast Greenway New Jersey Route and Guide for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.   The guide worked really well.  I have to say though, that we spent way too much time perfecting the cue sheets. Using the maps, I didn’t even need the cue sheets.

I’d say the start of my ride was great. As we bicycled along the ice-covered canal in the morning sun,  Joe told me he bought his Brompton folding bike  from Trophy Bikes on Walnut Street in Philadelphia.  He had been inspired by my neighbor across the street, Elizabeth, who bikes from Yardley train station to her job in Trenton almost every day. I mentioned that I’d had a great experience when I bought my Tandem Bike Friday from Firehouse Bicycles in Yardley.

Having a busted wheel didn’t bother me all.  It gave me a chance to listen to an audiobook called Drive, by Daniel Pink, and to talk with people on the phone as I walked to the New Brunswick Train Station.  The next day, I took my bike to Jay’s Pedal Power on Girard Avenue to get it fixed.  I also wanted to buy a new folding bike, but that’s another story…

Jenkintown to Old City Coffee