2008-12-15 39 -75

About

This one's right outside of Media, right near Baltimore Pike, about 15 miles away from Center City. About two feet inside a building.

Expedition

So, first i thought it would be a good idea to not sleep last night. A paper to write, some research to do for finals, seemed reasonable. I got that done, and was taking the trash out when i realized that it was about 9:30 EST and I should check the coordinates. Lo and behold, there they were; yes, it was a good ways away, but on Google Maps, the route didn't look that bad. I even checked out the Terrain mode, and even then, pretty benign. So, even though I have a car, I decided to leave it, and hop on Ol' Hubert, my trusty French, two-wheeled steel wonder.

The Green Machine

Then came the problem of authenticating. I don't have a camera, or a GPS (Santa's got that one in the bag however), so I quickly sent a text to my girlfriend, who wondered both what I was doing with her camera, and why I was up so early. I quick showered, jumped on Hubert, and dashed over to her house in South Philly. She gave me her camera, and I futilely tried to explain Geohashing to her, but she just rolled her eyes. So I jumped on the bike at around 12:15, and away I went!

Good God, not a good idea. There must have been a 25 mile per hour headwind the whole way. When I crossed the Delaware River at Passyunk Ave, the drawbridge was shaking and pitching, and every time a big-rig would roll on by, the whole bridge would shudder and bounce around. I'm not afraid of heights, but even I thought it was not a good idea to be standing around and taking pictures. So I did anyway, and the view sucked.

Oooooohhhhhh!
Aaaaaahhhhhh!

After the bridge, everything smoothed out, other than all of the grit kicked up by the buses and the wind. But my luck was soon to run out, as I noticed the terrain getting decidedly more of the uphill variety. After walking my bike up some very steep hills in Upper and regular Darby, I finally hit Baltimore Ave (not a Pike at this point, that happens about three miles down the road). This is when I come upon a very devious plot by PENNDOT. They have created, along the Baltimore Pike shopping corridor, a series of undulating sine waves. There is just no end to them until you hit the hash, some 6 more miles down the road. Granted, these are not very steep hills. but also note, I'm not Lance Armstrong.

So, just as my legs are about to give out, I crest the last hill, and like a moth to a flame, I am drawn to the spot. The place is packed with cars, but no one is really around. There was the one receptionist lady who kept looking out the window at this strange, sweaty man taking pictures of this rather plain looking building. I place a sign, took the Stupid Grin(tm) picture, and wandered around back.

Not much here, more cars, but at the very edge of the lot, there was a steep drop off, and a very epic looking wood, very Blair Witch-esque. Not a whole lot going on here, so back to the front. I get really excited when I see a sedan pull up to the lot, with two people in it, staring intently at a GPS unit. I was just about to wave when they rolled down the window, and asked for directions. Unfortunately, I was barley able to get myself there, so I was of no help. They drove off, and I waited around for another ten minutes, then packed up and left at 2:30. On they way back, had some Wendy's, and discovered the Delaware County WWI Memorial. Made it back home at exactly 5:00 PM. All in all, an enjoyable first hash :)

Next time, I'm taking my car.