7/09/2006

Bicycle Tour...Round #2

I was joined by 15 other cyclists on Sunday for the second round of the Tour dé Neglect. A couple intrepid Buffalo News reporters, Gabe - frequent BRO writer/commenter and the guy behind Reurbanizebuffalo, city photographer David Coffee, Cynthia from BIA and BuffaloReaserch.com fame and Buffalo State College's Dr. Martin Ederer joined the tour. Dr. Ederer's recent book, Buffalo's Catholic Churches: Ethnic Communities and Architectural Legacy (2003) should be on your coffee table. It's an excellent text, with pics, describing the rise of Buffalo's Catholic parishes. Here he's pictured checking out the sanctuary of the Sacred Heart on Emslie Street.


photos from David Coffee
Thanks to the Central Terminal crew, we had an opportunity to escape the heat and grab an impromtu tour. Bruce Beyer shared his insight and experience raising a family and living across the street from the insanely neglected building that once housed Buffalo's Simon Brewery. In addition to the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home, Transfiguration Church, the Wollenberg Grain Elevator and the Church of the Sacred Heart and it's crumbling school building, plan on getting a peek at those other structures, too. The next tour is Saturday September 2, 2006!

I'll be writing up my personal observations of the tour in a few days...Meanwhile check out David Coffee's flickr slide show depicting some high lights of Sunday's ride.

update...7/10/06...How could I forget? Scott, who kicked this blog from its 3rd grade level to it's current 11th grade status, was on the ride yesterday, too! He also repaired a rider's flat right after the urban portage...Here's his write-up!

update...7/11/06...
Check out what Gabe has to say in this post on his new ReurbanizeBuffalo site. Bookmark it, you'll wanna come back.

update...7/14/06...Tour photos from David Coffee...his write up over on E-strip, is here!
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Artspace ArchiveAnnals of NeglectBAVPAWhere is Perrysburg?Broken Promises...
Writing the CityWoodlawn Row HousesTour dé Neglect - 2006

3 comments:

dcoffee said...

What a great trip, I've always wanted to see more of the East side from a human perspective instead of in a car. I saw tons of interesting buildings and neighborhoods that I have never seen before. What a wonderful opportunity, and a great crowd of people, about 16 of us. Nice to see Cynthia Van Ness again and Meet David Torke and Scott. Keep up the good work, the trip was very enlightening, and I feel like I have a much better understanding of my city because of it.

dcoffee said...

PS. It was great to have lunch with you guys afterward. I definitely enjoyed our conversation. And I hope you didn't get too much sunburn David, My nose peeled a little.

fixBuffalo said...

yeah, good times. Spread the good word about the next tour! I'm looking forward to adding another set of buildings and places to visit for next year.

Meanwhile, we're busy working out the nominations for the winner of the Tour de Neglect. Any suggestions? My secret ballot will be heavily weighted towards Transfiguration.