Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

It’s like getting back on a bike. After a few year hiatus, I finally took the plunge to go with 2 wheels. As author of Green Philly Blog, I feel as though I should have purchased a bike years ago. However, I stalled this decision based on my long commute to the suburbs, a naïve decision to purchase a new car after college (for the record, it has a low emissions rating) and the expense of owning a bike/living in the city using public transit instead. Since I’ve lived in the city, I’ve been able to get around sans car & bike on the weekends. After wanting to make the switch, choosing to participate in the low car diet finally put me over the edge to buy a bike. I visited a few shops, test rode a few bikes before settling on the one I called the One. It was quite an interesting process overall. I considered each type of bike for my decision, look at various prices and thought long and hard about what to ultimately select as my new wheels. For those who haven’t converted yet, biking in Philly is hotter now than ever. Spruce & Pine Streets have lanes devoted only to 2-wheeling citizens, the Bike coalition has many events , and Philadelphians recently participated in the Naked Bike Race to raise awareness of how much Bikes help the city and environment. For those who are thinking of buying a bike, here’s a few pieces of advice I picked up from my journey: