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(photo courtesy of www.actionimages.cc)
Philly week is always the biggest week of racing during the summer months for any of the domestic racing squads. The races held in the first week of June each year in Pennsylvania are equivalent to the spring classics held in Europe. Every professional bike racer looks forward to doing the International racing in the Philadelphia area.
We got off to a bit of a rough start in Allentown, the first day of the three race series. Willo (Trent Wilson) was tangled up in a crash and went down on the pavement hard. In an attempt to break his fall he broke a few bones in his hand. Unfortunately this was the end of Trent’s Philly Week and his good form was not put to use because he couldn’t hold onto the bars. Both Neil and Jonathan Cantwell had a go at the end and finished up strong on the day. With our team captain out of the racing it was a tough blow to the teams morale and it would get worse before it got better.

Later in the week the team traveled to Reading, PA. Reading is a fast technical circuit with a good climb the last three times around. Not only had we lost Trent but Neil had fallen ill during the week and was not able to make it more than a couple of laps before succumbing to the virus that was strangling him. The rest of us tried our best but we struggled without our team captains and this day proved to be very difficult for us.
The race in Downtown Philly was our last opportunity to shine. We had Neil back from the dead and feeling better each day. Ben “Diesel” Kneller was a last minute fill in for our fallen captain Willo, fresh and excited to race in front of the 60,000 plus screaming fans of Philly. Cody “Stevo” Stevenson had proved that his form was increasing each day and he is tough as nails. He would be our go to guy for the finish. Chad and Evan were the escorts to the front of the field each time we went up Manyunk Wall and it proved to be the most important role for setting up our early breakaway riders. Ryan, Ben and I were assigned to the early breaks and drilled it up “the Wall” each time.
The first three laps over the Manyunk wall we were represented at the front and in the breaks. I snagged a couple KOM points on the lower climb over Lemon Hill and tried for a move but it was too early. The third time up the climb Ryan drilled it from the bottom to the top. This wasn’t the early break but it did set up Ben to roll away with a group that counter attacked on Kelly Drive heading back toward the finish.
This race is one of the longest and hardest days of the year. Its 156 miles of continuous effort takes everything out of you. On this day however it was even more difficult after a few hours of racing in record heat. The temperature coming off the pavement was 100 plus degrees and add 100% humidity, that spells survival of the fittest. We did everything we could to stay cool and hydrated but it was just impossible to keep up with the rate of perspiration. Throughout the race riders were melting under the scorching heat. We used ice cold bottles whenever we could to keep cool. Bags of ice and sponges on our necks to try to cool down the core temperature, but it was too little for some.
Ben started to come unglued in the break after snagging the KOM points. Soon we were no longer in the break and our priority was to look after Cody. As the rest of us withered in the heat, Stevo hung in there tough all day. With one lap to go we had lost almost everyone. Cody was the lone soldier looking to prove that he was the man of the day. Unfortunately he was robbed of his last bottle in the feed zone. Another rider tried to steal it (can you blame the guy in that heat?) and Cody missed his feed. At 150 miles into the race with no fluids left Cody sucked it up and stayed in the front group. Coming to the line he was in the top 15. The riders wound up in the last kilometer for the sprint Cody stood up to give it a go and his leg’s just said no. After the heat and the miles of fighting go position without any teammates left to help guide him around, he still managed to score a top 20 finish in the toughest race of the year. That said, tough as nails Cody was the man of the day and pulled through for the team.
With Philly week wrapped up and in the books, it was back in the van and off to the airport for a flight to Quebec to begin the Tour de Beauce in Canada. The staff would not have a day off for another 10 days and the racers would begin a 7 stage tour with only a day of recovery. We were ready to put the struggles of Philly behind us and move on in search of a few good rides at Tour de Beauce. It would prove to be another challenging and trying tour for the team, but also provided some great rewards for our hard work and determination.

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