Walter’s View On Philly.
Tomorrow is Philly!
I suppose it’s not hard to imagine that since winning in 2002, no race excites and motivates me more than Philly. It’s in one of my favorite cities, the crowds are big, loud and drunk, it’s 156 miles in six hours and ten times up the Manyunk Wall. What’s not to love?
The lead up to Philly has been good. The Navigators Team has proven itself to be the strongest team overall, with the most depth, despite coming up short at the end of the previous races. We’ve placed at least two guys in the top ten in Lancaster and Reading. The team is racing very aggressively and for the last month, the other teams have been forced to chase us all day.
It’s no secret that Sergei Lagutin is absolutely flying. I know that all the other teams see him as “the man” and he will be watched closely. However, by the end of such a long race there may be nothing the competition can do to stop him.
Since coming back from Europe, Mirek Mazur has been coaching me again. He knows how to push riders to their limits and he has pushed me. After lots and lots of tempo efforts in the 53*12, I feel great. I’m riding stronger than ever, since 2002 and I’m also lighter than I’ve been since then. I’ve been in all the major breakaways in all the races for the last month, which gives me more confidence than ever, going into Philly.
In between the last several races, I’ve been relaxing with my friend Chris at his house in PA, sleeping-in and going for easy rides. I drove down to Philly last night to do my usual “day before Philly” routine. That’s: Get up, have breakfast, then go for a ride with my Navigators team mates. On the ride, we peddle through Manyunk and out along the bike path. On the way back I do a couple of tempo efforts to stretch my legs out, before stopping in Manyunk for lunch and a coffee. I like to relax there for awhile and hang out with friends.
Today I had the company of my friend Matt, from Peterborough and his brother Brian, as well as Soren, from our sponsor, Trialtir. The afternoon/evening routine is to get a massage, go for the team dinner, have the team meeting and somewhere in between all that, write something for missingsaddle.com and call my wife for the love and encouragement she provides.
Having accomplished all that, I’m ready for bed and ready to rock tomorrow. Thanks in advance to all the screaming fans… especially my friends from Peterborough and Northeast PA who drove all the way down to see me.
-Mark Walters, Team Navigators