Not for tourists article

Tracts WelcometoNotForTourists

Freewheeling Philadelphia

Andy Greenberg • Web Contributor • Philadelphia

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best,” wrote Ernest Hemingway. Phila-

delphia has little in the way of contours. Even so-called Society Hill and Chestnut Hill hardly offer a

climb. But Hemingway’s idea applies nonetheless: With your feet spinning below you, the wind rush-

ing past your (helmeted) head and the fear of death by taxi-door in your heart, Philadelphia’s bustling

landscape suddenly shifts into new focus. After navigating

Center City on a bicycle, experiencing the city from the con-

fines of a car is like listening to music underwater. Philadel-

phia, as much as any city in the world, is best traveled by its

bicycle lanes.

Let it not be forgotten that Philadelphia is the birthplace of

American cycling. Alexander Pope, who would become a

bicycle industry baron, first spotted a British Penny-farthing

bicycle at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Fairmount Park.

Today, the city maintains its special cycling status: Bicycling

Magazine recently ranked Philadelphia fourth on its list of

best cities for biking. The city government is working to fur-

ther enhance Philly’s cycling reputation, with plans to quadruple the more than 100 miles of bike lanes

that already weave through the city. 95% of SEPTA buses are equipped with bicycle racks, and even

Mayor Street claims to bike 30 to 40 miles a week.

So, consider that Philadelphia’s official Bike Week runs from May 13th to 21st. Spring has arrived.

Gas prices are gut-wrenching. This city is one of the flattest, most bicycle-friendly in the country. If

further enticement to push the pedals could possibly be needed, I present a brief tour of Philly’s cyclo-

philic hotspots, both the celebrated and the subterranean.

First, the subterranean. The Bike Church Co-op at Neighborhood Bike Works is literally under-

ground, hidden beneath the rear building of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church at 39th and Locust. Squeeze

a bike brake beside the door, and a friendly bohemian covered in chain grease will lead you down

into a room which, to bike enthusiasts, is the functional equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Fac-

tory. Frames and components―salvaged from discarded and donated bikes―line the walls, waiting

to be rejuvenated and bought at single digit prices. Specialized tools that can usually be found only in

expensive repair shops lay around the basement’s worktables, available to anyone who needs them.

Volunteer “facilitators,” many of whom are bike messengers and mechanics by day, stand ready to

help you with your repair or bike-building project, or alternatively to engage you in heated debate over

the merits of fixed-fixed versus flip-flop hubs or on-board versus off-board bottom bracket cartridges.

In return, all they ask is some help cleaning the shop and perhaps a donation in monetary or bicyclical

form. The co-op’s do-it-yourself atmosphere may intimidate

those accustomed to treating their bikes like cars, magical

machines to be assembled and disassembled only by ac-

credited experts. But for the intrepid, thrifty, and minimally

mechanically inclined, the Bike Church renders nearly all

other bike shops obsolete.

Still, some jobs can’t be accomplished with only amateur

know-how and a basement full of tools. For those, try Bilen-

ky Cycleworks in far north Philly and HH Racing Group

in Media. Both build their own world-class frames and do

professional welding jobs. Bilenky makes rugged steel bikes

with beautiful lug work, whereas HH creates their own cus-

tom-sized titanium frames, including ultra-light and durable track frames. For added style, R.E.Load

Bags in the Northern Liberties stitches their own custom designed messenger bags. They also sell

second hand, first-class fixed-gear frames and parts.

With all these options for repairs and upgrades, you may find yourself looking for excuses to break

more components. That can easily be achieved at another of Philadelphia’s bicycle institutions, the

weekly pickup game of Bike Polo in Center City West’s

Markward Park, at the corner of Taney and Pine Streets.

Bicycle polo, for the unschooled, is what it sounds like―

equestrian polo, minus horses, plus bikes. Also subtract

the traditional game’s grass fields, complex rules of right of

way, and elitist atmosphere, and replace them with pave-

ment, good-natured violence, and large quantities of Pabst

Blue Ribbon.

Each point begins with two teams of three sprinting to-

wards a rubber ball in the center of the basketball-court-

sized arena and ends when a player hits the ball through

the goal posts on either end. The moments between these

events are filled with what might seem like a chaotic mess

of tangled mallets and tumbling bodies. But occasionally the skill of the players becomes apparent,

as they take a deft shot on goal or skid into a motionless trackstand to block a shot. Bike polo is not

for the faint of heart or the fragile of bicycle, but don’t be intimidated; not all the players are bike mes-

sengers, and newcomers are welcome to join in. Last October, Philadelphia held the first annual East

Coast Courier Bike Polo Championships, a tournament that drew bike polo teams from as far as Ohio,

Florida, and Canada. Next September 1st, Philadelphia will host an even larger messenger event, the

North American Cycling Courier Championships. The NACCC is the biggest bike messenger racing

event of the year and will feature three days of death-defying Alley Cat races through the city.

But Philly’s prestigious cycling events are not limited to the subcultural. In fact, the cycling spotlight

shines brightest on Philadelphia at the USPRO race held in Manayunk this June 11th. The 156 mile

race was the first official international bike race to take place in the United States. Since 1985, it’s at-

tracted legends like Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong, eager to test their legs against the infamous

Manayunk “Wall.” The Wall is one of the steepest climbs in American bicycle racing, with a punishing

17% grade. If that number sounds unimpressive, think about it this way: at that angle, you could reach

the top of One Liberty Place in just over a mile. In the nine laps of the Manayunk race, the cyclists

will climb the Wall for a combined total of around three miles, which means an ascent of about twice

the height of the Empire State Building. Now add the other 153 miles of the race and throngs of well-

soused Manayunkers screaming and clanging cowbells, and it all makes for one of the most unpleas-

ant Sundays of anyone’s professional cycling career. For us sadistic onlookers, however, it’s quite a

show.

Thankfully, biking to Manayunk doesn’t always involve shredding your knees on a preposterous climb.

In fact, a flat and scenic path up the east side of the Schuylkill River begins as far south as the Chestnut

and Walnut Street bridges. This trail leads you by the Art Museum, past Boathouse Row, and eventu-

ally about 6.5 miles to East Falls Bridge. The bridge marks the official beginning of the Schuylkill River

Trail, an 11.5 mile path that extends past Manayunk all the

way to Valley Forge. Those looking for a quick and casual

ride, however, can simply cross the Schuylkill and make

the return trip down West River Drive.

On the other side of the river, riders trade a smooth road

for solitude: because this side of the drive has far fewer

visitors, the bike path has become a bit dodgy from dis-

use, with plenty of debris and large cracks in the pave-

ment. From April to October, however, the city has given

cyclists a generous gift: a car-free drive between 7 am and

5 pm every Saturday and Sunday.

But rather than take the wide empty road during its bike-

only hours, better to brave the bumps and ride the West River Drive path at night. As you pedal

southwards, with the shimmer of the Schuylkill’s boathouses glinting off the water to your left, you’ll be

greeted

by one the top-five best views of Philadelphia’s glowing skyline to be found anywhere in the

city. And when you finally dismount at the steps of the Art Museum, looking over the lights of Benjamin

Franklin Parkway as they stretch towards City Hall, you’ll be glad you live in the place that first gave

bicycles to America, and that still gives so much to those who ride them.

Places Mentioned:

The Bike Church Co-op at Neighborhood Bike Works

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

3916 Locust Wk • 215-386-0316

www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org

Tue, Thu, Sun 6:30 pm-9 pm

Bilenky Cycle Works

5319 N Second St • 215-329-4744

www.bilenky.com

Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm

HH Racing Group

801 N Providence Rd

Tue-Sat 9 am-5 pm

R.E.Load Bags

608 N 2nd St • 215-922-2018

www.reloadbags.com

Mon-Fri 11 am-5 pm; Sat 12 pm-6 pm

Bike Polo

Markward Park

Taney St & Pine St

Wed approx 10 pm

Andy Greenberg is a freelance writer who lives in West Philadelphia. He performed his first no-hand

trackstand at the age of seven weeks, and has been known to destroy bicycle components just by

glancing at them.