Cycling: Hitting the Wall
Written by playerpress.com, Monday November 24 2008
There are many grueling courses in cycling. The hills and mountains of the Tour De France are probably the best known. But, for shear lung scraping, oxygen debt performing, lactic acid buildup nothing beats the Manayunk Wall.
Manayunk is a section in Philadelphia and is part of the course laid out for the Philadelphia International Championship. This event is part of the Pro Cycling Tour’s Triple Crown and its stature has grown through the years.
The City pours onto the streets to cheer on the riders, but the prime spot to watch is by the Manayunk Wall. The Wall is a 17% grade that is difficult to walk, but even more trying to ride; especially since it must be traversed more than once during the race.
This event is so difficult that there has never been a repeat winner. Eric Heiden won the inaugural race in 1985 and this year Matti Breschel endured the agony of the Wall to win the 156 mile event.
Although Breschel’s victory clinched back to back wins for the CSC team, the ’07 victor was J.J. Haedo who was in Europe during the running of this year’s race. He claimed a scheduling conflict, but maybe he didn’t want to become another brick in the wall.
Course creators Jerry Casale and David Chauner admit they were seeking a hazard when they charted the course through the Manayunk section. The area is renowned for its hills and they included one of the toughest it has to offer. Run in the heat and humidity of Philadelphia’s summers the course can sap anyone, but the inclusion of the Wall is the ultimate test.
One considerate neighbor named O’Brien took to setting up a sprinkler that allowed riders to cool down when they reached the top of the incline, but as the race has grown in importance and the number of riders has increased, it is now considered more of an obstacle and hindrance than it is an oasis.
Still, with this years high of 94 degrees during the race that allowed only 81 of the 190 starters to complete the course, that sprinkler probably should have been incorporated into race strategy.
Along with the Wall, Lemon Hill in Philadelphia’s Fairmont Park is another obstacle that must be conquered before the final flat out sprint along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Breschel was quick to note the severity of the course in his post race interviews and acknowledged that the hills, heat and humidity are some of the toughest conditions he has faced. Street surfaces were recording 120 degree temps during the race.
David Frattini of the Colavita-Sutter Home team won the King of the Mountain title. That prize is bestowed upon the rider who accumulates the most firsts over both the Manayunk Wall and Lemon Hill each time around the course. Frattini admitted he lost count of the number of water bottles he consumed during the race.
The Philadelphia International Championship is the premiere cycling event in the US and is worth a trip to watch in person. If you get the chance, be sure to set up next to the Wall, or Lemon Hill. You will see the riders when they must make it on guts alone. Either that, or hit the wall.
Tags:
Leave a comment
Not So Fast! To publish your comment, you have to login
Not Registered? Register now as it only take 20 seconds!
Click here to browse
0 comments