bike race

Yesterday was the Philadelphia International bike race. The toughest and most spectator-popular section of the course is in my neighborhood. The racers go up "the wall," the steep hill running from Main Street Manayunk to Pechin Street in Roxborough. My in-laws came over for a birthday breakfast (they're three days apart in age) and we walked a few blocks to watch the cyclists climb the wall with such ease it doesn't seem human. They go around the course 10 times! We watched 6 laps from 5 different locations; the best being the second turn they make after climbing the wall. They lean over so far it is amazing that gravity doesn't pull them to the ground.

This was our first bike race living in Philly. The whole neighborhood is transformed into one enormous block party. People have BBQs and start drinking at 9:00am and the open container law is ignored by the hundreds of police officers placed around the course.