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Italian Fountain Century

So there was this quirky listing in the Philadelphia Bike Club calendar. I finally remembered to ask about it on the most recent Progressive.

In my defense, all winter long there were cyclists pacing the “fountain” ( (I was one of them, sometimes) trying to keep warm while waiting for  fellow riders to show up for a group ride. So this didn’t seem totally unlikely:

Level A, B, C, D, xyz, 12 mph, 100 miles. Meet at the Italian Fountain behind the Art Museum.  The ride leaves at 7:00 am.  85th/87th Anniversary, 3rd Annual Italian Fountain Century is again being held on April 1. An all new spectacular route this year, counter clockwise, which means the riders will have to count backwards.  The Fairmont Park Commission has issued a permit which forbids parking in the circle because the outer perimeter is one tenth of a mile where cars normally park. This will make for a car free route. There is a 1 cent per lap registration fee only payable in pennies which will be thrown into the fountain.  The Italian Fountain has been taken away for renovations so this event will be canceled if the Fountain is not restored and working by April 1.

And, in further defense, there are some pretty strange cycling events out there. It’s not as if I thought this was a real ride . . . I thought it was, perhaps, an eccentric excuse for a party for (how do I say this delicately?) eccentric bicyclists.  I asked about the vertigo component (kidding, I was kidding!), and ride leader Tim said something about medical sponsorship.  “Sponsored by Meclizine!” I chirped.

[Current state of the Italian Fountain.]

George, looking perfectly innocent, said that 1,000 bagels were going to be given away (one for each lap), but that this was a problem for the Jewish riders, since Passover won’t be over by the time of the event.  Sadly, this bit of information did not deter me sufficiently:  I was wracking my brain to recall if I’d seen, among the many faux-food Passover offerings, faux bagels made with matzoh, instead of leavening.

In typing the text of the listing, I see that my cursory perusal missed a few significant clues.  What, for instance, are xyz ride ratings? There’s the Anniversary/Annual discrepancy (could just be careless writing, right? The fountain may be older than the event, right? Right?)  And the counting backwards; just a little humor, right?  And pennies for registration?  It would be nuts, but it could happen, right?

The most critical bit of data that escaped me was the date.

Tim says that one person falls for this every year.  I’m sure glad I didn’t send an email to the ride leaders. That sort of thing just sticks around in the innerweb ethers forever!