On Sunday, The Wall will once again test the legs, lungs, and spirit of about 180 pro cyclists representing 20 countries in the 156-mile race. The hardiest among them will scale The Wall 10 times. They will be exhorted by throngs of partying fans lining the narrow streets, many of the fans holding a drink in one hand while ringing a cowbell in the other. They will also be cooled down by sprinklers spraying water on them from O'Brien's Watering Hole.
Jade Uffelman, 18, who lives two blocks off Lyceum on Baker Street, said just about the entire extended family shows up at her parents' house to barbecue "and get intoxicated."
"They come early in the morning," she said. "Otherwise, they'll never get through the streets. And we have lots of cowbells."
Chmara, who moved to Manayunk in January, lives at O'Brien's. She said the owner, Dan White, told her the neighbors let him know it was his duty to continue the spraying tradition when he bought the place four years ago.
"They told Dan he had to keep it up, and he has," Chmara said.
The Wall, which begins on Levering Street, is so well known that even lifelong Manayunk residents who don't give a wit about the race, such as Reggie Armstrong, know exactly where it is.
"I don't know anything about cycling, but I do know about The Wall," she said while sipping a cup of coffee. "It's great. It's kind of made Manayunk famous, and who could have imagined that because when I was a kid my parents wouldn't even let me go to Main Street. Too dangerous."
Armstrong, who lives on Shurs Lane, said the race does hold a certain fascination for her even though she really doesn't know what's going on. "I look one way from my house, and I can see them on Manayunk Avenue," she said. "I look another way, and I can see them on Main Street. It's a big party for the whole neighborhood."
