Long-time WNR riders and faithful volunteers, Dan Powers and Jacob Elliott, will take us on a tour riding through and by new infrastructure like the Old City Market Street project, Walnut Street bus/bike lanes, the cable stay bridge on the recently opened Schuykill River Trail extension, and the soon-to-open swing bridge that will connect the SRT to Bartram’s Garden!

Dan and Jacob are members of the Bicycle Employee Resource Group (BERG, for short), an employee affinity and resource group to connect and encourage employees of the City of Philadelphia to bike to work and beyond. Dan is a city planner with the planning commission who works on trail planning and Jacob is a planner/engineer with OTIS working on planning and designing bike and transit facilities in the city.

We’re expecting some special guests on this ride–Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear–co-hosts of The War on Cars podcast and author of the recently released book Life After Cars. They’re in town for a book event hosted by our friends at 5th Square Advocacy and Philly Bike Action on Thurs, May 14th, 7pm at Resurrection Philadelphia. Tickets are still available for this amazing event where they’ll discuss the negative affects of car-dependency and how we can make Philadelphia a more people-centered city.

Special ride notes:

• Another cool city project that was recently completed but we couldn’t squeeze into the route is the renovated Thomas Paine Plaza outside the Municipal Services Building. If/when you have time, go check it out!
• We’ll re-group for a midpoint photo just south of Grays Ferry Ave in Grays Ferry Crescent, with a view of the new swing bridge.
• There’s currently a chance of rain forecasted for Wednesday night. Our practice is not to make a call on weather until the day-of to give Mother Nature every possible opportunity to change her mind. We’ll cancel any ride by 3pm that day. If you don’t hear otherwise, the ride is on!

As usual, we’ll ride according to our How We Ride guide. Please follow these ride norms so everyone’s on the same page, and we keep the ride safe and fun. We’d like to highlight:

Stop at lights. Please, please DO NOT block intersections contrary to the traffic light. Our group can be very large and extended, and holding traffic risks serious conflict. If the light turns red, please stop.

Roll past conflict. Whether it’s angry motorists or unruly pedestrians, please do not engage with conflict and move on in a way that de-escalates the situation.

Finally, a reminder of risks and responsibilities. You don’t need to sign a waiver to join a Wednesday Night Ride, because it’s an entirely voluntary & free group activity. But please keep in mind:

• Everyone rides at their own risk.
• Every rider is responsible for themselves, their behavior, and their bike.
• Keep your bike properly maintained. Here’s a link to a basic bike check.
• Cycling has inherent risks–you could crash, fall down, or get hit by a car, and get hurt or even killed–though we try to minimize these risks.
• If you have a health condition that could affect your ride or put you at additional risk, consider a) checking in with a doctor, b) letting us or a friend know, c) having a backup plan to get home if riding doesn’t work out.
• We always plan to have a sweeper, but can’t rule out that you could get lost, or that your bike could break down and you’ll need to find another way home.

Want to lead a ride in 2026? We’re looking for ride leaders. Let us know if you’re interested! Our only criteria for leading a ride is that you’ve joined us before. You don’t need to have prior group ride lead experience or come up with the whole route on your own, we can help with that!

Thanks for riding! See you Wednesday.