NewsArticleBody
 Bike Friday Clubs are a great way to get together with like-wheeled minds in your own town or someone else's. The Bike Friday Club of NYC were treated to a tour of Harlem by City University NY architect and walking-Wiki of the built environment, David Holowka, one chilly April Fool's Day 07. Colleen McGuire, who divides her time between NYC and her Friday-Friendly bicycle touring company, Cycle Greece, reports from the saddle ... What prompted the Harlem architecture bike tour on April 1? My sister and I are twins and wanted to do something special on our birthday, so I asked BF Club of NY member David Holowka to give his Harlem architecture bike tour. He graciously agreed and logically extended the invitation to the club. Side Story ... When my sister and I were born the doctor didn’t know my mother was pregnant with twins. It wasn’t until I came out first that the doctor realized he had another baby to deliver. It was one in the morning and my dad was calling everyone with the news, but no one believed him because we were born on April Fools Day! Six of us, plus David, gathered at Central Park North under cloudy skies, a perfect day for an urban tour. Had the weather been nicer, we all might have been cruising down River Road instead. It was also a perfect time for an urban tour, 10 am Sunday morning, since there was little traffic in the streets. Of the group, only Bennett was riding a Bike Friday. David rode a Brompton and had loaned his other folding bike, a Moulton, to Zak. Former Transportation Alternative president Charlie Komanoff, another architect Roger, my sister Cat and I were riding regular bikes - but we all envied Bennett’s shiny red Pocket Tourist. BTW, my bright orange BF Crusoe is waiting for me in Greece where I run a bicycle tour company called CycleGreece. We stopped at the Teresa Hotel while David related the time Fidel Castro stayed there and Nikita Krushchev visited him. Across the street we studied the Adam Clayton Powell statute with all the legislation he passed noted on the bottom. David pointed out Stanford White buildings on Strivers Row, Duke Ellington’s home, the building where Thurgood Marshall and W.E.B. Dubois lived (which had unobstructed views of Yankee Stadium), and the house where Alexander Hamilton lived (Hamilton Grange). One apartment building was known for its distinct terra cotta tiles that were also used at Ellis Island. David said the tiles were made so well (a lost art) that in the renovation project only 17 tiles out of 26,000 had to be replaced. (There are only a handful of artisans who can still make terra cotta tiles.) David showed us Sylvan Terrace, a charming one-block street that looks more like New Orleans than New York. Behind it on a hill stands the Morris Jumel mansion, the oldest home in New York City. George Washington used to stay and hosted many dignitaries. Astor Row is another unusual street for New York because the apartment buildings all have a sitting porch and front yard. It was a terrific two hour tour that packed in more than can be mentioned here, such as the Audubon Ballroom, and Convent Avenue. David had plenty of facts and interesting stories at his fingertips. The tour could not have been done so efficiently but for our bicycles. We had a number of comments from Harlem locals to the effect ... "Look. They’re all on bikes,"as if cycling were a novel form of transport instead of the most effective means of locomotion in an urban environment. We capped the tour off with brunch at a delicious soul food restaurant (heart shaped biscuits!) called Miss Maude’s Spoonbread II on 125th Street. We treated David and kidded him to next time take us to an upscale fancy place for his free tour guide meal. David is planning future rides in Harlem and other neighborhoods (e.g. Staten Island). Don’t miss his tours - they’re fun and enlightening. But hey, let’s see more Fridays! Contact him via the BF Club of NY message board. RELATED LINKS Bike Friday Club of NY - Join now ... over 50 folding funsters lurking on the message board! Some Harlem architecture shots - from David's inaugural tour in 2006 |