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…