May is Bike Month! Please join us in our ongoing celebration as we share some cycling stories from our employees all month long. If you missed them, check out parts one, two, three, four, and five!
Steve Prudente
Cycling Route Manager - North Philadelphia Marketing Coordinator
What is your favorite cycling memory? I really enjoyed riding out to Valley Forge with some of the Wash Cycle crew a few weeks back for Todd's birthday, but my favorite by far was the Philly Naked Bike Ride in 2015. I'd read about it for years and was never able to participate for whatever reason, so when I finally could do it last year, it was like crossing something off my bucket list. I know it sounds crazy, but it was a great day of unity among cyclists and also to support environmental awareness and positive self-image, something I feel could greatly benefit today's world. What's your least favorite or most unexpected cycling memory? Before I write this, I want to make it known that this is an unexpected memory, not my least favorite. My 2nd week as a Wash Cyclist, someone called off sick when I was scheduled to work the evening residential shift. Myself and one other cyclist had to take the entire roster in half, which added up to more than 30 appointments each to be covered in a span of about 4 hours. Customer Care did their best to keep the customers informed of the situation, but we still had to make a few calls from the road to assure the customers we were on our way. I didn't finish until at least 9, maybe 9:30, and I was scheduled to be finished at 8. It was definitely an unexpected introduction to this job...baptism by fire! For the record, my least favorite memory was when my bike got stolen out of my garage at college because my roommate forgot to close the door. No more needs to be said about that. 
How often do you choose to ride a bike and why? Every. Single. Day. I'm actually attempting to do 365 days of biking. The biggest reason is that I fell in love with it. Being active is great for my mind and my body, cycling has taken me places I never would have gone without it, and I get a good feeling knowing that I'm not burning up gas or dollars getting to and from work every day. Plus, parking in South Philly (or the city in general) is awful, but there's rarely a shortage of bike parking. Why did you want to work for Wash Cycle Laundry? I'd have to say the sustainability mission and the "cool" factor. I once spent 8 weeks learning to build houses out of natural materials and since then, I've wanted to be involved in creating a sustainable future. Wash Cycle was a great way for me to be part of the urban side of the movement while living in a city that I love. It's also fun to see the responses when people ask 
me what I do and I say "I deliver laundry on a bicycle." Haha... What's your earliest bike riding memory? When I was a kid, you weren't cool unless you had a bike. I remember it was literally all day every day, we were out on our bikes until dinner time, sometimes later. We had this dirt track near a creek that the older kids in town had made, complete with banked turns, jumps and other obstacles. We were too small to ride on it, but we tried anyway. I had my share of scraped knees and I even chipped a tooth once, but kids will be kids, right? Finally, what would you say to convince someone to ride a bike? It's great for your health, the environment, your wallet and your commute. Plus, you can get a great tan in the Summer. STAY CONNECTED to our blog throughout May for more inspiring stories from our employees, and receive 15% off your first service during Bike Month by using the code "BIKEMONTH2016" at checkout:
