Wachovia Week in Philly is over and what an incredible event it was! For me, it continues today, Monday, with assisting the teams with breakfast, schedules and answering tons of questions. Since I am the face they see at all team meals, they think that I can help with any question that they have. Not! But I try to help and do a lot of chasing around to get the answers that they need.

You can’t imagine the logistics of getting all the teams, luggage and bikes to the airport. We rent a fleet of vans and trucks, and all of us drive airport runs. Moving a cycling team is like moving a small army – it is really amazing!

I was up at 4:30 am on race day, assembling the course marshal supplies and lists. Boxes of whistles, lanyards and tee shirts, volunteer lists, sign-up sheets and instructions, maps of the course and race brochures – all had to be lugged out to a truck and set up at the meeting location on the race course. At least it was daylight here. Last October, at the Tour of Hope in Los Angeles and in DC, I set up everything in the dark. It was quite a challenge, and there were already some great volunteers waiting in the dark for me to arrive.

Here in Philly, there are many folks who have worked the same location for years. They show up, grab their stuff and head out to their posts. We are always happy to see new faces, and there were several this year. However, we were short of the number of folks that had signed up. That always creates some last-minute strategic changes for me, as you can imagine. But all’s well that ends well – the race was a great success, and all my volunteers did a great job!

I was behind the podium with the winners on Sunday, when a woman brought a VeloNews mag up to Freddy Rodriguez for an autograph. It was the issue that had the great sprinter, Pettachi, on the cover. Freddy signed his name and, with a smile, drew a little mustache on Pettachi.