We got to see the finish on a JumboTron Lemon Hill. There used to be a lot more people when the race was longer and more prestigious. The original pro race in Philly was the U.S. Pro Cycling Championship. Former speed skater Erik Heiden won the first one riding for team 7-11. Think that was '86. The second or third year he was in contention at the end but during the sprint he generated so much power that he ripped the upper from the sole of one of his shoes. Armstrong won one year, but I think I was touring that year and missed it. Before the start one year a rider from the fledgling Euskadi team reached over the barricade and handed my then GF his cycling cap as a present.

Back then, the cool thing was to try to encounter a team out for a spin the Saturday morning before the race and glom onto them. One year I rode for a while with the Coor's team. It was funny. The team was out front and there must have been fifteen of us trailing behind in our rag tag cycling apparel trying to keep up. They were spinning along at maybe 25 mph and chatting. The rest of us were struggling to stay in the draft.

When they added a women's race emails would occasionally go out to local club lists asking if any locals who lived near the start (which was downtown back then) could host a rider or two for the weekend. My apartment was too small. When I bought my house and my GF moved in, the possibility of realizing that fantasy evaporated.