Everyday when I commute to work on my giant orange bike, American cultural values are on full display. There in the bike lane, a UPS truck has come to a halt. An Uber driver is looking at their cell phone, waiting for a passenger. A moving truck is slowly filling up with a lifetime’s worth
MoreWhen Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf shut down “all non-life-sustaining” businesses as a public safety precaution in March, Philadelphia created its own list of businesses it deemed essential, which included bike shops. Such was the beginning of a national bike boom throughout the country. As many businesses, like gyms and fitness studios, were forced to shut
MoreEager to put the last four years in America’s rear view, President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team have published their first batch of plans for their time in the White House, some of which include exciting news for bicycling, public transit and walking. Pledging to allot federal funding for alternative transportation modes, the Biden
MoreIt was just after midnight on June 30, 2018, and Ag Manta and his brother, Vin, were riding their bicycles home from Main Street in Manayunk toward the path along Kelly Drive. Manta remembers the driver of a gray Scion taunting them from behind, using homophobic slurs. Then things escalated. Manta remembers hearing screeching tires
MoreWhen folks go to the polls or fill out their mail-in ballots next month, they will likely have key issues on their minds—be it the environment, foreign policy, corruption, the economy, fighting against white supremacy or saving American democracy as we know it. You know, basic voting stuff. What will be on fewer peoples’ minds
MoreDesperate times call for desperate measures—and the times, they are a-desperate. But with a little bit of planning, and a lot of nudging, desperation can bring out the best in people—and cities. Such was the case when Martin Luther King Jr. Drive was closed to motor vehicles and opened to people in late March 2020.
MoreFor years, bicycle-advocacy organizations across the country and the world have supported a policy called Vision Zero as a push for safer streets for everyone. Emphasizing the five E’s of planning—engineering, education, encouragement, evaluation and enforcement—the Sweden-born safety policy has proven effective where implemented. Utilizing police departments for the enforcement part of Vision Zero has
MoreBy Alex MulcahyThis morning’s commute would have been much more difficult without my Yuba Sweet Curry bike. For reasons too tedious to share, my son didn’t have his bike, his regular means of getting to and from school. But thanks to our bright orange cargo bike, I was able to haul both him and his
MoreBy Alex MulcahyIt takes 5 minutes and 19 seconds for my seven-year-old son and I to bike to his school. At least that’s how long it took the other day when we timed it. I suspect it was a little faster than past rides because we rode on the street.
MoreBy Julie Lorch
On one of the hottest days of summer, a friend and I embarked on a two-day bike trip to Perkiomenville. Every Monday, over 300 vendors gather at the corner of Route 29 and the Perkiomen Trail for what is widely considered one of the best flea markets around. We had our saddlebags ready