Josh Horowitz Races Philadelphia International Championship

On June 6, 2010, I fulfilled my lifelong dream of racing in the Philadelphia International Championship. You might think that after 22 years of building up my expectations there would be potential for a tremendous letdown, but even though I didn’t have the opportunity to finish the race, the experience was everything I ever dreamed it would be. The deafening roar of the crowd as we navigated the sharp left turn onto the Manayunk Wall paid me back for every pedal stroke I have ever taken.

Perhaps almost incidental to the experience is the fact that I had a damn good day on the bike. As a coach I have never been a fan of building an entire year’s worth of training around just one day of racing because of all the potential unavoidable hazards of bike racing, but in this case it worked out. I came to the starting line in the best shape of my career (which was no small feat considering I am 35 years old, a new father and am the team’s director as well as a racer and full time coach) and had a nearly flawless day.

But what really made the day special was the opportunity to share it with my parents and my wife. My dad took me to see the Philadelphia International Championship for the first time when I was 13 years old, and he was the one who handed me my last bottle of the day as I passed through the feed zone on my final lap. Talk about seeing something through from beginning to end! A chapter of my life is now complete. I hope the experience has added to who I am and what I can contribute to the world in some small way.

It only took me about two laps into the race to realize that the intensity of the race was not going to wear me down, but that the heat and the sheer distance could certainly break me. From that point, the day became all about eating right, drinking often, getting all my feeds, staying relaxed, staying safe and staying well protected in the pack; in other words, not making any mistakes.

By the 5 hour/125-mile mark I had outlasted almost half the field, including all but two of the Liquigas riders. My job for the day was to stay close to our team leader, Cody Stevenson, and to help him out with anything that he needed during the race. I was riding immediately behind him when on the 8th time up the Strawberry Mansion climb, his tire suddenly exploded. I stopped to give him a wheel off of my bike, which unfortunately, was the end of the race for me. Cody’s performance more than made up for my, and the team’s, sacrifices during the day by finishing in the top 20.

Finishing the entire 156-mile race would have exceeded my wildest expectations. My goal for Philly was always just to have the opportunity to stand at the starting line. I’ll never know for sure, but with only two laps left and plenty of fuel still in the tank, I think I could have finished the race. Sure, I’ve spent a little time obsessing over what might have happened under different circumstances, but those questions will quickly fade away and I will be left with the memory of a tremendous experience.

Philly by the numbers

300,000 spectators

20 teams including HTC/Columbia, BMC, Fuji/Servetto, and Liquigas

150 starters

67 finishers

156 miles

92 degrees

60% humidity

100+ water bottles consumed by Adageo Energy Pro Cycling

My race

125 miles

4 hours 58 minutes

8 times up The Wall (out of 10)

16 bottles (approximately 3 gallons) of water consumed.

5000 feet of climbing

22 years of racing and training to finally get there