Urban Exploring by Beach Cruiser
by Jeff “Sketchy Guy” Rezeli
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“Let’s go someplace warm with a nonstop flight from Raleigh”. My wife, Debra, had an airline voucher to use before it expired in early December. Phoenix, AZ fit her limited criteria, so we were off to the desert southwest for a few days of urban adventure.
For accommodations, Debra found a renovated Airstream trailer permanently set in a neighborhood on the north side of Phoenix. As a recovering architect I appreciated the modern design aesthetic of the property, with steel posts suspending a fabric canopy over the trailer and chairs on the outdoor deck. A linear, steel fire pit was the focus of a minimal but very intentionally designed oasis inside a painted wood privacy fence. And then there were the bikes, of course. The property listing promised a pair of professionally maintained classic Schwinn bikes that would allow us to explore the city. What we found when we arrived was a little different.
By design we did not rent a car and chose to pack our helmets and some lights and arrived ready to explore the city on 2 wheels.
