Below you'll find some photos that I took at the recent Philadelphia International Championship,"America's top international cycling classic, and one of the richest and most prestigious one day races outside of Europe" (according to Wikipedia). But beyond that, it's one hell of a party! We had heard about this event when we first moved to Philly, and looked forward to it all year. Unfortunately, Justin had class all weekend and so I was flying solo. You can check out all the photos on my facebook page, but here are a few highlights:
There were hundreds of professional cyclists and many more cycling enthusiasts and spectators taking part in the day.
There were also a few spectator dogs, and the poor things were super hot. I guess I should feel worse for the cyclists riding the ten 14.4 mile loops (156 miles)...
The cyclists start at the Art Museum and work their way to Manayunk. This shot is on Main Street, a relatively easy stretch of the race.
Thousands of spectators of all ages lined the streets, and the roofs...
They passed out cow bells to ring when the cyclists passed by. I love this little one's sunglasses =)
I was amazed to see all the marshals, police, and other race officials. It's incredible how much planning and structure goes into an event like this. I love the look on this marshal's face!
And here they come! This part of the race is called the "Manayunk Wall" and is an insanely steep (17-percent grade) hill that is basically like pedaling up a vertical wall. I can attest to this from walking up it. It sucks.
This is my AstraZeneca ad. Sorry, Dad.
Sweet, huh?
I loved people watching. At this house they were doing jump rope with a land-line telephone (you can tell if you look closely). Drunk people jumping rope = extraordinarily smart.
Friend and fellow intern, Josh, with his bell!
I think this is my favorite. I love the look on the face of the guy in green. He's like, "Oh, no you don't!"
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