Girl On The Go: Urban Cycling

My husband and I are avid bikers. As many bike paths have been open during the pandemic, we have hopped on ours and set out to explore some fav Philadelphia spots, and uncover some hidden secrets.

If you want to fall in love with Philadelphia, all you need is a safe bike. Mine is a 30-year-old Schwinn Super sport I bought in 2002 on my first day back to Philly from my 4-year stint in Chicago, at a swap meet in Fairmount.  I keep it in good working order by visiting my friends at Firth & Willson Transport Cycles regularly. Go there and get everything you need like a u-lock, a water bottle, a butt cushion for your seat, cell phone holder for your handle bars, and a bell. 

Next, plan your route. This isn’t so simple, even with all the resources available online. It’s easy to find out where bike paths are, but not so much how to connect them. I recommend adding landmarks to google maps and getting directions by using the bike setting. Google maps will keep you on designated bike paths for the most part.

Browse at some of the routes Rob and I regularly use. If you see us, be sure to wave when passing by!

27 miles North to South

Betsy Ross Bridge | Graffiti Pier | Penn Treaty Park | The Ben Franklin Bridge | Camden | Delaware Ave River Trail | Navy Yard | FDR Park | South Broad St | Passyunk | Queen Village | Society Hill | Old City | Northern Liberties | South Kensington | Fishtown

The screenshot from our Strava app doesn’t illustrate precise directions to every single stop on the list here, but you can cover all of these locations via 27 miles of connected bike path on a beautiful day in about 2.5 hours. 

Some of the highlights include:

Graffiti Pier where you’ll want to lock up and plod around on foot. It’s a great place for a picnic. It’s not as desolate as these photos show, there are usually friendly people exploring the area, painting, or doing Instagram photo shoots. Easily enter by turning off Richmond St. at Cumberland towards the Delaware River and following the road toward Beach St. You’ll see a trodden path and the abandoned former coal dock.

Cycling over the Ben Franklin Bridge is fairly challenging and not for the beginner biker. It’s uphill both ways. Well, half of it is, and the incline is no joke. It feels like a spinning class in real life, especially on the way down where your pedals will spin wildly out of control if you don’t keep your feet attached to them. Also, there are a lot of people and dogs on leashes spanning the walking path to navigate. You never know when someone is going to jump out in front of you to take a photo. This is where having a bell is essential. On the other side of the bridge is Camden and there’s a nice bike path on the waterfront you can tool around on.

The Navy Yard is not to be missed. You don’t have to cycle to enjoy it. The amount of landscaped outdoor space is expansive and the path along the water is beautiful, not to mention the contrasting architecture of old military homes, repurposed factory buildings, and futuristic new construction commercial buildings.

While you’re down there you may as well give the FDR Park path a spin. It’s a shaded breezy little jaunt that’s spectacular for jogging. From there you’ll be at the southernmost end of Broad St. I like to cycle up Broad to Race, shoot through Chinatown, under the 5th St. bridge and up through Northern Liberties to head back North East. My husband hates biking on Broad so once we’re past Marconi Park he cuts over Wharton and up Passyunk Ave all the way through Queen Village and Society Hill through the 5th St. tunnel.  There are cobblestones on 5th St. between Walnut and Chestnut which are murder on a racing bike with hard skinny tires, this is where the butt cushion comes in handy.

34 miles North to South West

Fishtown | Penn Treaty Park | Snyder Ave | West Passyunk Ave | Fort Mifflin | Philadelphia International Airport | John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge | Bartram’s Gardens | Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania | South Street Bridge | Pine St

Again, the screen shot from our Strava app doesn’t illustrate precise directions to every single stop on this list. We tried to include the Cobbs Creek Trail but Google maps kept rerouting us so we took an awkward detour through West Philly. The suggested route above should still be miles of connected bike path that could be completed in a little less than 3 hours.  Also, we don’t recommend biking through the Heinz Refuge, it’s great for walking, and a short stroll will get you to a nice place to picnic. Same with Bartram’s Gardens. 

Some of the highlights include:

Snyder Avenue between Delaware Avenue and Broad St. is so quintessentially Philly. There are some great historic row homes with original character, as well as colorful murals, and longstanding Philadelphia institutions like Dancadelphia that’s always decorated for every occasion, especially Halloween. If you don’t picnic, there are great Mexican and Thai restaurants to stop at like Taqueria Don Chucho, and Ameri Thai

Fort Mifflin is a lesser known well-preserved historical landmark you can tour on foot when the quarantine lets up.  Right now, during the shutdown it’s closed.  It’s adjacent to the Airport Runway on Hog Island a great place to fish and bird watch, both natural birds, and commercial flights.  

Biking around the Philadelphia International Airport can be done virtually traffic free. Even during non-quarantine time, the traffic is limited to airport service vehicles and the path is flat so you speed freely for 7 miles without breaking. 

Finally, if you detour through the Hospital of Pennsylvania University campus, it’s eerily desolate right now, but take a gander at one of the newest buildings on campus, the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care at CHOP . It’s super kooky in design like a stack of giant glass eternity bands alternating with giant poker chips. 

25 miles East to North West

Fairmount Ave | Art Museum | MLK Jr Drive | Waterworks | Manayunk | Towpath | Boathouse Row

There are a ton of paths to take all around the Fairmount and Wissahickon Park systems. We don’t have mountain bikes so we didn’t go where we feared to tread. MLK Jr Drive is closed to traffic right now so we’re free to bike, rollerblade, wagon, run, scoot, or whatever human-powered mode you want to take, and there’s enough room for everyone. On the way, you’ll see people in boats fishing on the lower river and have a great view of the Waterworks. In the summer you can kayak from the Schuylkill River Trail to here and back.

Beyond the open road, the bridges are beautiful, especially the iron one that connects MLK Jr Drive to Kelly Drive. Take Main Street to Venice Island where you’ll find the entrance to the Towpath which is better for walking and running than biking because of the different materials the path is made of and how the connections make good use of your butt cushion. Once you’re past Manayunk you can ride as far as Conshohocken, maybe further. The nice thing about walking here is the wildlife.  At the moment there are geese with adorable fuzzy baby gooselets and turtles sunning their shell-covered buns on the tree branches downed by the river’s edge.

See You Out There!

Overall, don’t be scared to hop on your bicycle and ride like the wind.  With the spring upon us, traffic down, and a little more wiggle in your schedule, there’s no time like the present for a new adventure.