The 25th annual, & now titled ‘TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship‘ - affectionately referred by out-of-towner’s as “Philly” - ran again under blue skies this past weekend in one of our favorite cycling mad towns. Imagine, same great race course for a quarter century, in a major & blue collar American city…plus, it’s never even really rained during that run.
Staying true to our respective job descriptions, Dealer Marketing man Ed Nasjleti & yours truly made the annual pilgrimage navigating IBD visits, sponsored teams, shop bike rides & assorted parties prior- to & on race day.
Countless must see highlights & institutions were calling our names at this year’s event, led again by the annual Bicycle Therapy party. Lee Rogers & his staff tidy up their great bike shop & throw the best of the Friday night shop parties (yup, there are others, including Cadence in Manayunk & Action Wheels in NJ, but I’ve got a soft spot for this one). BT always rolls out amazing food & beer (thank you Victory Brewing!), and on this occasion hosted mutual friends, Team Ouch presented by Maxxis headlined by 2009 NRC race leader Rory Sutherland &team cap’n, Tim Johnson.
I hope many of you reading have taken the time to pay ‘Philly’ a visit before and/or that you’ll make some space in the future to join & support this weekend. It’s more than worth it. Trust us.
On race morning we opted for one final early AM wake up call with our friends & Philly locals, Fuji bicycles and the event organizers to help kick off the Philly Fun ride. The ‘all comers’ ride openes the race course up to anyone one willing to brave an early Sunday morning loop of the course including a spin up the Wall - yes there were more than a couple of Sledgehammers getting flogged up that fabled wall of pain.
As for the race itself here are the men’s results & the Elite Women’s Liberty Classic results as well. But like most great weekends where you’re sleep deprived and phlat out jumping from a hot Philly phrying pan to the phire there’s so much more to the story.
THX Philly!