Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Don't Fred on Me, Philadelphia


When they feel that the government has failed them, some Pennsylvanians cling to guns and religion. When Philly cyclists are snubbed by snow storms, public services, and inconsiderate drivers, we cling to studded tires and...um...bike-mounted plows? Well maybe we should. It's been almost two weeks since the last major snow storm, and the bike lanes are still defiled:


Half the lane has been cleared on Spruce St. The cleared portion of the bike lane symbol looks more like a unicycle than its two-wheeled cousin. Nice of the city to think of its unicycle-commuting contingent, but come on Philly, the bicycle is still a more popular device on snowy days.


On Spring Garden, drivers have taken matters into their own hands. On this block they managed to take up both the parking lane and the bike lane by parking diagonally. Good effort, guys.

Now I've never been big on reading, but I can tell from the picture that the little Ikea man here is not riding a car...


...but the Fredworthy award for bike lane defilement goes to this awesome pile of snow at 20th and Spring Garden. Nice job, jerks.

I've always had a lot of faith in the brotherly love of Philadelphians, but I think it's clear that in snow storms, every cyclist is on their own. I'm not suggesting we all mail teabags to Mayor Nutter, but maybe we should equip our spandex-clad militia with some of these.