Bicycle Club of Philadelphia

www.phillybikeclub.org
Founded in 1979, the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia sponsors recreational cycling activities, encourages bicycling as a mode of transportation, and promotes bicyclists' rights and safe bicycling practices. Oh, and it's a great way to meet new people, see the city, and work off your Ben & Jerry's indiscretions. Shell out $15 for a yearly membership and you're also entitled to discounts at many area bike shops.

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Blue Cross RiverRink

www.riverrink.com
Ah, winter. The crisp air, warm coats, and the ice skating. Located on the bank of the Delaware River, the Blue Cross RiverRink is the best spot for winter skating in Philly, allowing skaters a gorgeous view of the waterfront.

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Philadelphia Sports Complex

  • Lincoln Financial Field ("The Linc")
    Philly's 68,532-seat, $513 million football field is located on a 15-acre site in South Philly.
  • Citizens Bank Park
    Philly's 43,000-seat, state-of-the-art baseball field is located on a 21-acre site in South Philly.
  • Wachovia Center
    Philly's versatile entertainment complex can accommodate Flyers hockey, 76ers basketball, concerts, and more.

Test Your Knowledge of Philadelphia Sports Trivia!

(Answers are below)

  1. This 7'1" Philadelphia native and Overbrook High School graduate captured the 1967 championship with the Philadelphia 76ers and remains the NBA's all-time rebounding leader with 23,924 points.
  2. Under head coach Dick Vermeil, this quarterback led the Philadelphia Eagles to the NFC playoffs in 1978 and 1979. In 1980, he spurred the Eagles to a 12-4 record, the NFC Championship, and their first-ever appearance in a Super Bowl.
  3. Between 1969 and 1984, this hockey player scored 358 goals, had 852 assists, won the Bill Masterson trophy, the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Trophy, the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and helped the Flyers win two Stanley Cups. Today he's senior vice president of the Philadelphia Flyers.
  4. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, this player's 48 homers in 1980 are the most ever in a single season by a third baseman. He is a three-time National League MVP, a 12-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, and was named the Sporting News Player of the Decade for the 1980s.

Answers:
1) Wilt Chamberlain; 2) Ron Jaworski; 3) Bobby Clarke; 4) Mike Schmidt

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Dad Vail Regatta

www.dadvail.org
The Dad Vail Regatta, named in honor of crew coach Harry Emerson "Dad" Vail, is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States, with more than 100 colleges and universities from the U.S. and Canada participating. Held every May on the Schuylkill River along Kelly Drive, the regatta attracts thousands of spectators.

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Penn Relays

www.thepennrelays.com
First held in 1895, the Penn Relays is now the largest and longest uninterrupted collegiate track meet in the nation. In 2001 the relays broke attendance records with nearly 110,000 spectators for the three days of competition. The event regularly attracts more than 22,000 entries, half of whom are high school students. If you still can’t get your mind around how huge this event really is, chew on this: More spectators have watched the Penn Relays than any other track and field event in the world except the Olympics; and more athletes have competed in the Penn Relays than any other track and field event in the world. Oh yeah, and actor and Philadelphia native Bill Cosby usually attends the Relays, too.

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Philadelphia International Cycling Championship

www.procyclingtour.com
Each year the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship draws more than 200 cyclists and 500,000 spectators. The longest-running single-day cycling race in the United States, it covers 156 miles over a 14.4-mile circuit that takes cyclists all over Philadelphia — from the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Kelly Drive into Manayunk, where cyclists face the dreaded "Manayunk Wall," a muscle-abusing, 17-degree incline that rises 275 feet in just one-third of a mile.

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Philadelphia Marathon

www.philadelphiamarathon.com
Running 26.2 miles comes with its fair share of agony, but at least runners of the Philadelphia Marathon get some nice scenery. Competitors get to foot it past such scenic landmarks as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, Old Swedes' Gloria Dei Church, the Philadelphia Zoo, Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall, and Boathouse Row.

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Fairmount Park

www.phila.gov/fairpark
The next time you're strolling along one of the flower-trimmed paths in Fairmount Park, the largest urban park system in the nation, think about this: Fairmount Park's Schuylkill River shoreline almost had coal-shipping wharves constructed along it. Before the city recognized its potential as a public park in 1855, Fairmount Park was just an enormous plot of land that nobody knew what to do with. Today, thanks to preservation efforts and city involvement, the park boasts such attractions as Boathouse Row, Memorial Hall, botanical gardens, the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, nine historic mansions, and Memorial Hall, the only major building left from the 1876 World's Fair.

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Rittenhouse Square

www.ushistory.org/districts/rittenhouse
Originally known simply as "the southwest square," Rittenhouse Square was renamed in 1825 for famed astronomer-clockmaker David Rittenhouse. The square, located between Latimer and Walnut and 18th and 19th Streets, is today a popular picnic location with fountains, benches, and sprawling lawns. The area surrounding the square is home to such Philly landmarks as the Philadelphia Ethical Society, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Civil War Museum, the Rosenbach Museum and Library, and the Mütter Museum.

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Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Amusement Park

www.dorneypark.com
Hard to believe, but Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom began as a trout hatchery. In 1870, a decade after Solomon Dorney opened his fish farm, he added games, playground-style rides, and refreshment stands and, still unwilling to ditch the trout game, renamed the place "Dorney's Trout Ponds and Summer Resort." Today Dorney Park features more than 100 stomach-churning rides on 200 acres, and its Wildwater Kingdom has the third largest collection of water attractions in the nation.

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Jersey Shore

www.visitnj.org
Philadelphians don't go "to the beach," they go "down the shore." The New Jersey coastline is actually a collection of dozens of beaches and communities, each with its own personality. You can experience the excitement of Atlantic City, enjoy the boardwalk and water parks of Wildwood, or visit the family-friendly, year-round neighborhoods of Ocean City, just to name a few.

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Adventure Aquarium

www.adventureaquarium.com
Look: at the Adventure Aquarium, you can swim with sharks. Really. Seriously. They will put you in a tank with sand, tiger, and nurse sharks. Swimming with sharks not for you? That's okay, there are still 200,000 square feet of sea animals to visit with — and you don't have to get in the tank with them.

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Sports