Yea, Philly week. This is my favorite week of racing and I have raced here for 13 straight years. That also means I am old, but that is what that is. This year is a little surreal for me because it will be my last. The official word was released this week that I will be retiring from pro cycling at the end of the season. The time has come for me to move on and I am realizing that cycling is a young man’s sport. It is hard when I no longer even recognize have the pro peloton and about 10% of the European peloton. There is an official press release at our BMC website about me hanging up the wheels at the end of the year so if you want, or care, go check it out. So this year the Triple Crown has a new race up in Allentown which replaces the very difficult Lancaster race. The thing about Lancaster was the fact that if you had a good day there you most likely would have a good day in Philly at the end of the week. It was a bitch, but a real good measuring stick.  So a little shake up this year. I did my normal month long build up for this week, and I am hoping for a great last go on the Ben Franklin Parkway. I have run the same training prep for the last 10 years or so, and up to this point, it has worked pretty well.  So far the weather is perfect, and after a long day of travel yesterday, we had a nice ride out in the rolling hills of Reading, Pa where we are staying for most of the week.  I don’t know if the weather has ever been nicer, and the flight into Philly yesterday was incredibly beautiful.

So I am pumped for the week and I will try and keep everyone up to date on how the week has progressed. Again thanks for the shout outs I have had on my last couple of posts.

The post this week is brought to you by a new sponsor: “Rock bands where the drummer is also the lead on vocals”.

Late