June 10: Philadelphia International Championship, 156 miles

the whole philly thing is awesome. tour of CA and Georgia were fun, but this race had a very evident element of tradition. you know it special when you see the faces of teammates who'd-seen-it-all light up, getting chatty about this, or that, pointing landmarks as we roll into the city. the day before race, it's customary to roll down Kelly street past the restaurants and side walk cafes and up the Manyaunk climb . . then once the legs opened, spin down the "the bike path" along the river, teams and recreationalists alike streaming past eachother. the race was hard today. i felt good. . way better than i expected. the screaming fans helped, and it didn't hurt that my doc brother ditched out on some responsibility in Baltimore to come watch the race. . i think he even ran the risk of missing a dinner where he was going to receive a reward for his past 2 years of medical research .. now that's a cycling fan! Gavin gave him the "bro deal" and let him hop in the team car for a few laps. THanks Gavin! even though i know you're NOT reading this. the Team rode great today. we did everything we saught out to do, having all the right riders doing their designated jobs. . . we had Sayers and Vitoria in the final move as we hoped. . but the last 1km didnt go so well as they both had to avoid collison as a ride swept across the road and a few people got tangled up and went down. . Sayers hoped a baracade and fishtailed it until he was down on his side, and Vitoria had to slam the breaks, ruining his chance at the finish. . . .. the other dudes rode great, covering moves and getting Sayers/Vit in position at critical points. i made the early move and had the chance to duke it out with Neal Shirely (who i have a great deal of respect for) for KOMs up the climbs, which is a little joy of mine to attack when others are trying to conserve. . Neal ended up winning the KOM compition even though our break got brought back after a few laps. .. tonight Moninger/sayers/Hansen, and Hartely and i shot down to Monk's Belgian brew house for a burger and a couple Triples. delightful, but after you burned 5730 kilo cals on the ride, your buzz goes out like a match stick. http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/jun07/commercebank07/?id=results/commercebank073