Wheel fun

The racing in Manayunk starts earlier than you might think

 

By Sarah Baicker

Philly EDGE Correspondent

 

            What goes up must come down.

             But in Manayunk, hours before the last of the Philadelphia International Championship’s cyclists climb the arduously steep streets, down come drunken twenty-somethings —riding on anything but a racing-grade bicycle.

            The non-sanctioned, technically illegal event is known simply as the “Downhill” or the “Suicide Derby” by its participants and fans. It has become a staple of the weekend of the annual bike race, though it does not appear on city calendars or lists of scheduled events.

At midnight the morning of the bike race, or 12 a.m. Saturday night into Sunday, the Downhill pits the daring against the reckless, as racers barrel down the stretch of Manayunk known as the Wall on, or in, the most ridiculous of homemade contraptions.

            “Basically, people build crazy shit—they put a canoe on wheels, or stick wheels on a couch—and they race down that steep hill in Manayunk,” said Dave Tomko, 25, of Northern Liberties, who lived in Manayunk during last year’s event. “It’s total, total drunken idiocy.”

            In the past, racers have been known to ride on such unorthodox vessels as vacuum cleaners, bed frames and lawn chairs duct-taped to skateboards. Slightly more conventional vehicles like tricycles, roller skates and BMX bikes are also popular. Many of the racers drink beer before, during and after they zip down the Wall before a crowd of mostly intoxicated, cheering onlookers.

            The Wall, which stretches from Manayunk’s Main Street to Pechin Street in Roxborough, is arguably the most demanding part of the bicycle race, which is the third and final leg of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling. The race attracts some of the top riders in the world to Philadelphia to battle their way up Manayunk’s most formidable challenge.

            Every year, spectators gather by the thousands along Manayunk’s Main Street and the Wall for front-row views of the throng of racers flying by. The town makes a weekend out of the race, with parties, activities and special events that start Friday and culminate with the racers’ trek through the area Sunday. It’s a weekend full, as area proprietors know, of drinking and revelry.

Comprising both a men’s race and a women’s race, the Championship brings the cyclists from the Art Museum, through Manayunk and Roxborough and back, for a total of 10 laps for the men and six for the women.

Considering the Wall’s 17 percent grade incline (which means the road ascends more than 275 feet in just one-third of a mile), it shouldn’t come as a surprise that scrapes, bumps and bruises are par-for-the-course for the Downhill’s racers. More serious accidents and injuries do happen—seasoned ‘Yunkers talk of the year in which a racer allegedly flew through the windshield of a car parked nearby.

            Legend has it that the idea for the race was conceived in 1996 at the Dawson Street Pub; entries on Wikipedia and Answers.com suggest racers congregated outside the bar on Saturday night, and walked together to the starting point of the Downhill at Manayunk and Lyceum avenues.

            These days, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of spectators gather together as midnight approaches to await the veritable parade of haphazardly constructed racing contraptions. They line the streets with drinks in hand—some even bring fresh margaritas to share, according to posts on PhillyBlog—to cheer on friends, or friends-of-friends, or just to see if this year’s racers can possibly better last year’s.

“Lots of crazy people, lots of drunk people,” Angela Whalen, 25, of Philadelphia, who captured images from last year’s race via her camera, said of the crowd. “Lots of people, in general, gather for the event.”

“Everyone who is in Manayunk is there,” Tomko said.

 Unfortunately for participants, police consider the event illegal, and put in extra work to stop it from happening. In recent history, Manayunk’s police force has worked to shut down the event as quickly as possible, or before it can even begin. As they’ve done in the past, officers plan a large presence this year, but also hope that people don’t even turn out for the event.

“I’m hopeful people don’t come to the event this year,” said John Cerrone, commanding officer of the Fifth Police District, which controls the Manayunk area. “There’s nothing to be gained from it.”

Last year, police tried to block off Levering and Lyceum avenues, so the racers couldn’t take off down the necessary steep stretch of road. Their primary concern was, and is, the safety of participants and onlookers, Cerrone said, but in the past they’ve had destruction to deal with, too. He mentioned instances of racers crashing into and damaging cars.

Cerrone said officers didn’t make any arrests last year, but had to move what he called “a large group of intoxicated people” away from the area so that the race couldn’t occur.

But Whalen disagreed.

            “They tried to block the road so racers couldn’t use it as a death trap,” Whalen said. “But people used the copious side roads that are just as hilly, so there was still quite a bit of action.”

 

See footage from past races, type in “Manayunk downhill” or “Manayunk suicide” on YouTube.

 

Philadelphia International Championship

Sunday, June 9

610.676.0390

 

Thinking about grabbing a front-row seat to watch the bicyclists struggle through the grueling 156-mile course? Many of the area’s hippest restaurants and bars offer up great views of the action.

 

Winnie’s Le Bus

4266 Main St.

215.487.2663

 

The Bayou Bar and Grill

4245 Main St.
215.482.2560

 

Derek’s Restaurant

4411 Main St.

215.483.9400

 

U.S. Bar and Hotel

4439 Main St.

215.483.9222

 

Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant

4120 Main St.

215.482.8220

 

Fun facts about the Philadelphia International Championship

           

-“The Wall” was officially named on June 5, 2002, when a ceremony was held and a plaque was dedicated.

 

-O’Brien’s Watering Hole is a residential house along the race course known for setting up a sprinkler for cyclists to ride through if they want to cool off.

 

-The PIC almost didn’t happen this year—and wouldn’t have, if Commerce Bank hadn’t signed a four-year contract as the event’s sponsor.

 

-Lance Armstrong won the race in 1993.

 

-The 10-mile men’s race is estimated to be about 156 miles in length.