Candy Cranks

Unfortunately the news from philly is less than positive. Here’s a brief update on the last couple of months of laws, events, etc (via Metro):

June: Mayor Nutter signed an executive order giving equal treatment to bikes on the road.

September: One of two traffic lanes on Spruce and Pine streets in Center City were designated for bicyclists.

October: Two Philadelphia residents died after cyclists hit them: 78-year-old Tom Archie in South Philadelphia and 40-year-old Andre Steed.

Nov. 19: Councilmen Frank DiCicco and Jim Kenney introduced legislation that would increase penalties for sidewalk riding, riding with headphones, riding bikes without a brake, and would mandate registration and bicycle license plates.

Nov. 21: Philadelphia Police announced a bicycle enforcement campaign focused on ticketing cyclists who break existing code, including running stop signs and red lights.

As of two weeks ago a mutual friend had already been ticketed $150 and given points on his license for riding through a red light.

Then the worst thing possible happened. A prominent bike messenger in the community suffered a horrendous hit-and-run. Her name is Rachel Fletcher and she is currently recovering from facial fractures, and a broken jaw.

Rachel Fletcher, a 30-year-old experienced and well-known Center City courier, was struck at 23rd and Locusts Streets early Thanksgiving morning and remained at Hahnemann Hospital until Saturday after surgery to repair her face and jaw.

Despite the severity of the crash, police did not take a report until 12 hours later Thursday, which some in the bicycling community said yesterday is part of a culture in Philadelphia that treats cyclists as less important on streets than cars. A sergeant at the Ninth District declined to comment on the incident last night, citing an ongoing investigation. (via Metro)

shortly after the accident

before

after

I am outraged that a human is capable of running a cyclist off the road and then leaving her there.

There will be a rally for Rachel tonight at LOVE park at 5:30 pm. If you’re in the city please stop by and show your support.

More on this at Road Rage at Philly Newspaper

1. Waterproof
2. Double Strap (Backpack)
3. Medium sized
4. It can be custom but it has to be fabricated already

Here is a list of what I have already looked at this week: Chrome, Reload, FabricHorse, SAG, Incase, Bailey Works.

My Hold Fast Straps arrived in the mail last week and I am in love with them. I left work early to stop by two by four on South Street in Philadelphia to pick up some Animal BMX pedals. The guys at the shop were gracious enough to let me borrow their pedal wrench to swap out my old cages. When I say borrow I mean … they did all of the work for me. Thanks two by four!

I can’t see myself going back to cages and straps any time soon. They really did their research and testing and made a great product. I highly recommend these. The best part is I can wear any shoes with them. Shoes that have a slim sole (flats) and sneakers with a little thicker sole are fine because I can adjust the straps in a matter of seconds. One note: make sure you tighten the fastening buckles down.

Like most of you, I check the weather every day to find out if I can bike, and what I can wear if I do. It’s my ritual, I wake up  and as I struggle to open my eyes I turn on my iphone and click on my Weather Channel app. If you don’t already have this - you should definitely check it out. It gives you so many different options to see the weather forecast and is way more accurate than the built-in app that is on the phone.

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I was up in NYC this weekend visiting some friends, checking out King Kog goldsprints (more on this later), and my friends bike shop in Park Slope. On Saturday we rode out to Coney Island from Brooklyn covering around 30 miles round trip and only getting caught in one downpour on the way.

On Sunday we were all over the place. From Brooklyn, to the LES, then to Chinatown, then back over the Manhattan bridge. We stopped by my friends Pete and Jessica’s new bike shop RIDE BROOKLYN. They have a really wide selection and a great repair shop. Pete’s such an awesome guy that he handed me a teeshirt and some water bottles on the way out! It poured rain while we were eating cheap dumplings but as soon as we were finished the sun came out again.

It was quite an adventure riding around in a new city. For the most part the drivers are pretty respectful of cyclists and bike lanes, but the roads were pretty terrible. Thanks for a great weekend NYC!

Over the weekend San Diego mourned the loss of their friend ATIP just one year ago on July 19th 2008. After recently reading the article in COG magazine (issue 6) that touched on his life and loss, I was sad to learn of the struggle to maintain his COG magazine (issue 6) that touched on his life and loss, I was sad to learn of the struggle to maintain his ghost bike. Last night while I was reading through some blogs I came across photos of the memorial by the always brilliant  Matt Lingo. I was really moved to see the gathering from his perspective (follow this link to see more photos on his site).

There are countless articles on the internet about ATIP’s life, his ghost bike, and the struggle to maintain his memorial.

RIP ATIP…

I want to share fashion highs and lows of riding in the City of Brotherly Love. I regularly “boy-it-up” when leaving the house on my bike. Long shorts or jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt are pretty much the uniform. I’ve been experiencing an underwhelming sense of being a female cyclist. This week it has been my goal to rock out some cuter clothes and footwear both for commuting to work and leisurely night rides. So far it’s working. Want to know what I’ve noticed? It’s a little more difficult to adjust your foot retention to peep-toe flats and to trackstand in a skirt/dress. I suppose if I was cruising around the city on a Dutch bike - complete with brakes things might be different. Riding fixed forces you to dress “athletically”.

What have you done to show off your girly side while riding? Any great bike clothing companies out there that you think I should know about? Any suggestions of cute outfits you’ve put together specifically for riding? I’m always looking for new gear… especially if it’s bike friendly!

This morning as I was unloading my flat kit* out of my hip pouch and into my messenger bag I realized how much easier things would be if it was consolidated into a small pouch. As I was sitting at my desk a package came for me from one of my oldest (not in age, but in duration) friends. She sent me an adorable cycle printed LeSportsac bag for my birthday (today)!

*my flat kit consists of: a spare tube, tire levers, a Surly Jethro Tule, an a CO2 inflator