‘Rolling Rabbis’ Arrive in Philadelphia

Three bearded bicyclists – one forced to ride in a car because of a popped bike tire – arrived at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital on Thursday afternoon to a cheering crowd of Magee workers and the Friendship Circle volunteers.

Also welcoming them was Philadelphia’s six-day heat wave, with temperatures over 90 degrees.

The “Rolling Rabbis” started their cross-country bike ride yesterday from Manhattan to raise money and awareness for the Friendship Circle, an organization that provides programs for children with special needs.

While waiting for the car after rider Dani Saul ran over broken glass that slashed his tire, the trio changed their shirts, sweat-soaked from the six-hour ride.

Bicyclist Shmuel Rothstein said the biking is fun.

“You’re in open air most of the time. The wind cools you down,” he said. “Whenever you do stop, you bend down and then you sweat. It does hamper you, makes you a lot more tired.”

But temperatures won’t get lower. The group will head south Friday, through Georgia, Texas, and Arizona, and will end the trip in California on Aug. 25. It will stop at 16 Friendship Circle branches and collect donations – the goal is $4 per mile.

“It’s been tough,” said Saul, 21. “But it’s going to get worse – we’re going down to Texas. It’s going to be hot. But we’ll deal with it. We’ll wear sunscreen.”

Cooling off was the order of the day.

Sitting in the sun at LOVE Park, Juanita Harris and her three children decided to dip in the fountain. The family came from West Philadelphia for a day trip to Center City.

“I like to let them enjoy the waterfall,” Harris said. “I don’t do public pools. They’d rather just come out here and hang with everybody.”

Under a watchful eye of the park’s security guard, Harris, 24, and her children sat on the ledge, feet in the water. But then 5-year-old Janiya danced and splashed her 10-year-old brother Jeremiah. Jenesis, 2, swam with her doll.

Harris grabbed Jenesis and dunked her playfully into the water.

“I dip their whole body in here. I let them slump under, then we get on the bus and it’s cold,” she said. “They’re cool on the bus and when they get home, they’re not dripping, they’re just cool.”

In Old City, Isaac Taylor, 12, found a respite from the heat in the Visitor Center theater.

The Taylors, including mother Karen and Isaac’s brother Noah, have been in the city for three weeks, visiting the boys’ father, who works in Philadelphia. The Taylors, from San Diego, like Philadelphia, but Karen compared the two: “It’s difficult coming from perfect California weather,” she said.

Isaac quickly added, “Mom, it’s not that bad.”