2023-11-15 | Remembering Andrea

Start: Norris Square (N. Hancock St & W. Susquehanna Ave)
Time: Meet at 7pm, roll at 7:10pm
End: Craft Hall, 901 N. Delaware Ave. Outdoor seating available.
Length: 8 miles, flat (+130 ft/-154 ft)
Level of difficulty: Easier
Route: Ride with GPS | Komoot | .GPX download

We recently lost our friend and fellow rider Andrea Gonzalez. Andrea shared her love of cycling with so many in Philadelphia and beyond in competitive, recreational and social groups including The Big Heat and Radical Adventure Riders (RAR). She was also kind enough to lead three Wednesday Night Rides, including two “Tour de Wawas” in the January cold to begin the new years in 2021 and 2022. You can learn more about the impact she had on our city here.

We miss Andrea deeply, and offer our sympathy to her family, friends, and all who knew her. There will be a memorial ride celebrating her life organized by The Big Heat and RAR on Saturday, Nov 25 at noon, with details available here.

We are returning to the ride this week with heavy hearts, and with a hope to find the joy in gathering and riding together that Andrea shared with us. Please meet us at Norris Square at 7pm on Wednesday for our third annual tour of the city’s four public squares.

A few notes, complementary to our How We Ride guide:

  • Stay behind the leader of the ride.
  • Do not block intersections with stop lights, It’s OK for our group to get broken up at lights, in fact necessary as our ride grows in size. Stick with a group big enough to hold the lane, and make friends while waiting for a green light.
  • Don’t forget your lights!

A note on navigation: Komoot is a free app that offers turn-by-turn navigation without requiring a paid subscription. Having more people on our ride using the turn-by-turn navigation helps everyone stay on the correct route, so if you’re able to do so using Komoot, RideWithGPS, or another app/device you prefer, we’d appreciate the help!

With respect to inclimate weather, our practice is not to make a call on cancellations due to poor 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 and send out notifications on our usual communication platforms (Instagram, Reddit, email, web).

Thanks for riding! Feel free to invite a friend and we’ll see you Wednesday!