A tough time to pedal

It's not easy to be a bike advocate in the winter. Especially a winter such as this one. While increasing numbers of Philadelphians are choosing two-wheeled transportation year-round, the realities of this winter have caused me to retreat a bit from the "all bikes all the time" approach I generally take to urban transportation. And it's not even the cold that gets to me - I've got my layering game down pretty well at this point – but, rather, the ice.

Over the past couple of weeks, a bicyclist's mental map of routes through the city has shifted dramatically -- with bike lanes chock-full of ice, the streets that are usually the safest (such as Spruce and Pine) have become terrifying. A lot of people in cars still expect you to ride in the "bike lane" even when that lane is a sheet of ice, it seems. Perhaps one day we will recognize as a city that our bike lanes deserve to be cleared just like the rest of our streets after it snows.

Don't get me wrong -- biking through the winter is totally possible. People all over the world do it, as a quick glance at the "Viing Biking" Tumblr reveals. And the Women Bike PHL Facebook group I moderate is full of brave, local women who have kept on pedaling no matter the wind chill.

(My ideal weather app would have three temperatures: actual temperature, real feel, and Bike real feel, which as my fellow riders know, is a whole other situation entirely.)

I could use this column to write about tips and tricks for winter biking, but many others already have. Get bigger tires. Wear windproof layers and lots of wool. Watch for ice, and if you find yourself on it, don't hit the brakes.

And if you don't feel like it some days? Remember that there are other options.

I've been spending a lot of time on SEPTA lately. I've used this winter as an opportunity to get better at taking public transportation in Philly, an important skill for any city dweller and one I haven't necessarily gotten very good at in my years of riding bikes.

As many legitimate critiques as there are of our transit system, I've had pretty great experiences: reasonably timely service. interactions with adorable children on the bus. interesting Twitter conversations with the oh-so-responsive @SEPTA_SOCIAL account, heated seats on the subway.

All this, plus the added confidence that comes from really knowing all your options. In my opinion, there's nothing quite like the freedom that knowing how to bike around the city provides (I will always prefer my own schedule to the SEPTA app's) - but true freedom, I'm learning, might look like mastering both biking and public transportation. I feel I can go anywhere!

I've also been walking a lot more this winter (and thinking a lot about walking, too,  thanks to Rebecca Solnit's beautiful book Wanderlust: A History of Walking.) I'm lucky enough to have a walkable commute, from South Philly to Center City, and I'm even willing to walk much longer distances when I have the proper shoes and time to spare.

Sure, it takes longer than riding a bicycle or taking SEPTA, but even when I don't have my bike, I still have a bicyclist's preference for saving money and for powering my own journey. I also notice things walking that I might miss from a bus or bicycle. Most recently, for me: the Poseidon ice sculpture at Logan Square.

As much as I miss riding my beloved bicycle Helena every day, and can't wait to get back to that lifestyle once this ice melts, I've been surprised at how much I've enjoyed walking and taking public transit this winter. Stepping out of my own bicycle-centric transportation comfort zone deepened my connection to Philadelphia, and allowed me to see it in a new way.

This spring, when Indego bike share launches, a lot of Philadelphians are going to be able to step outside their own transportation comfort zones and try pedaling around the city for the first time on these new blue bikes. A membership will cost just a few dollars a week. Without all the upfront costs, maintenance costs, and storage questions that are a part of owning a bicycle, bike share will dramatically lower the hurdles between bike-curious Philadelphians and that first pedal stroke.

Transportation choices are powerful, I am excited to see Indego open new possibilities for our city and its inhabitants.