Philly

I was just having a conversation with a fellow racer about Sunday’s big race the Liberty Classic in Philly. We were talking and he asked me if I was nervous about the race and I told him that it is the most nerve racking race for me because I am always so SCARED because I don’t want to crash. It got me thinking that most races I enter I am not afraid of my competition, how hard it’s going to be or even how I am going to finish. It’s always about me being afraid of crashing. Racing is stressful and to top things off if you are always worried about crashing how can you ever win if you are always playing it safe? Unfortunately, Philly is one of those races where you don’t have to wander if there will be crashes it is WHEN are the crashes going to happen? Sure enough for the past 2 years I have done this race they always happen in the stretch leading up to the Maniuk Wall on the first lap. If you can make it to the wall on the first lap then chances are you will finish the race. I have come to the conclusion when you enter this race you have a 50% chance of crashing maybe even a little more. This year only 78 girls finished out of 160ish racers.

The start list going into Philly showed 191 starters. I would say realistically there were maybe 150-165 racers that actually suited up and lined up on the start line. If you have ever raced a race that big then you know it is possibly one of the most motivating and frightening things to look around you and see some really great riders and then look around and see some riders that you know you need to move away from immediately. This year I was lucky enough to find the team East Coast Velo and was able to guest ride for them. I was sporting the navy and orange kit. I owe them a big thanks for having me!

The gun went off and the peloton was flying around the fountain and onto Kelly Dr., where we would spend a good portion of the day. Kelly Dr. is the main thoroughfare for the race. The men’s and the women’s peloton would pass each other several times on this long windy wind open road. Unfortunately this road is where the wrecks typically take place. You have lots of aggressive riding and jockeying for position. Several times the road narrows from 4 lanes to 2 lanes and riders try to squeeze you out if you are on the sides even though that is the safest place to be and may be the most difficult due to the wind.

Within the first 20 minutes the first wreck occurred. This one was bad and took out tons of riders. For those riders that didn’t go down but got stuck behind it this can be just as bad. The peloton always accelerates and leaves those in the crash way behind to try to catch on. Typically you have to work so hard to catch once you get to “the wall” you are so blown that you can’t climb with the lead group and then you get dropped and pulled. On this day, unfortunately another crash occurred about a minute later taking another large group of the peloton down or out of the race.

Lucky ME I made it through both crashes without a scratch. For once I picked the right side of the peloton and stuck with it. I knew that most the crashes happen on the left side but on this day the crashes were spread all over the road and I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Maybe I am finally learning to ride in a huge pack! So we take off drilling the pace to the bottom of “the wall”. Hard right turn, hard left turn under the bridge and you are on the climb. This climb is not your typical steep climb. You have thousands of people lined up all along the wall screaming and cheering for you. This scenario is WHY I race. If this setting can’t motivate you to get your ASS up the hill then I don’t know what can. Today I was feeling pretty good. I hit the climb seated and pushed as long as I could in the saddle. When it reached a gradient I could no longer hold, I bounced out of my saddle SO HAPPY I had put on that 27 gearing and continued up to the top which seemed like it took for FREAKING EVER! When I hit the top I was in good position. Everybody seemed to settle in and get ready to hit the decent. This is a pretty sketchy decent. The roads in Philly aren’t the best. There are big potholes everywhere and the roads are shredded. Girls are bouncing all over the place and the peloton is completely strung out. The wind was bad which makes for a tough day. There is nowhere to hide and all you can do is hang onto that wheel in front of you.

1st lap down and I am feeling good. The next lap is by far the hardest. The pace was pushed and the peloton was getting very aggressive. I tried my 2 minutes of fame by going off the front just to see how my legs were really feeling. They weren’t feeling as great as I thought. A NZ girl bridged up to my then countered my attack. I decided it was time to retire back to the pack and save myself for the next 3 times up the wall. Good call on my part.

I made it up each lap with the lead group. The fourth and final lap I made it to the top. I was just about there and all the sudden a girl was coming over on me. I had no where to go but over right into the girl’s wheel in front of me. I rubbed her wheel and took a hard left into the barriers. I actually even knocked a little kid off the barrier. Hope he was ok but I didn’t have the time to wait and see. I threw it in reverse and luckily there were still a few girls coming up the hill. We busted our butts to catch on to the lead group but they were gone. The wind was too much and our legs were drained. I was very disappointed because I felt I had a raced a smart race and felt pretty good. That little crash at the top cost me a top 30 finish. Instead I finished 58th. Last year, my first go at the Liberty Classic, I finished 86th. It’s an improvement but I wanted better.

The Liberty Classic is one of my favorites. The city of Philly is a great place to visit. My host for the weekend, David Richwine of LAMDA Cycling, was absolutely the best host! I couldn’t have asked for a better situation. Thanks to Chris and Lies for all their support as well! It was a fun weekend.

I am sitting in a little coffee shop in Minneapolis getting ready to start The Nature Valley Grand Prix stage race tomorrow. This is a 5 day stage race all around Minneapolis and St. Paul. Today was stressful because the bike and bag didn’t make it here when I arrived last night. It was actually lost for 12 hours. I am ok and got my ride in today.

Keep checking for posts during the race. I hope to keep you updated most of the week.
Thanks for reading!