“I am going to win. No matter what you do, I’m going to win.”

Dorothy, we are not in Central Park anymore.

This field was stacked with talent, much deeper than the spring edition. In addition to including essentially the entire field of the prestigious Univest race (the top amateur race in the country), there were also a good number of professionals in the mix. While I was sitting at the feed zone, a local racing veteran pointed out a guy who he said would win the race, and this guy, Melito “Pulla” Heredia, was probably the strongest amateur in the country, and his name inspired fear in more than a few pros. When I replied that in a top field like this one, there are many riders who are capable of winning naming a few of them and remarking what good years they had, he just told me to sit tight.

After the rest of the fields had finished the racers joined the spectators the feeders and families that had gathered at the line. It seemed to me that this was an especially appropriate way to spend the day and honor the memory of Nancy Morgenstern. The terrorists had chosen the Towers, in part, as a symbol of multiculturalism and even by New York City standards our community of cyclist draws from a huge diversity of ethnicities, races, countries and classes. To be riding alongside people you would not ordinarily ever get the chance to meet, to suffer with them, to become their friend… this to me is the absolute best thing about riding in New York.

Back to the race

The anticipation was palpable. The P-1-2 riders did not disappoint, as they came into the sprint with as much speed and noise as if they were racing fifteen-pound motorcycles. It’s not often we are treated to a sight like this in New York, so a special thanks to Mike Green and everyone who helped put on this great event.

Todd Herriot We got away the first lap, but 15 of the 20 or so guys there didn’t want to work, and it was never organized. So inevitably, we were caught. After that, I dropped my chain, and was chasing for quite a while to get back on—that was my race-winning effort right there (laughs). Then Davide got away with about four, and the rest was cat and mouse for the field. But it was a great day of racing. This is the best course in the country, if you ask me, but if you’re not having a good day, there is nowhere to hide.

Davide Frattini (2nd place) The last lap, we got away with about ten guys. Everyone was attacking in the break, so I jumped on the last hill and we dropped the rest of the break. I tried to drop Pulla on the hill, but he’s just too strong. Too fast! I was surprised I got that close to him in the sprint, to tell you the truth.

@##=#<4,L>@##=# Pulla There was a break on the first lap that looked promising, so I tried to catch it, but I ended up bringing the whole field with me.

After that, I was looking for a group to jump with, to start a new break. I knew I didn’t want a sprint in the end. There was a seven-man break, and I went with them. Colavita (Frattini) attacked the break on the last lap, and I went with them. I didn’t know him that well; I tried to attack him a couple times, but couldn’t get rid of him.

Marco, our brilliant photographer, who generously offered us his translating services for the above remarks, also provided us with an anecdote that he had overheard on the back of the press motorcycle. When he tried to attack Frattini on the hill, Pulla told him, “I am going to win. No matter what you do, I’m going to win.”

It wasn’t anything personal. But Pulla said that even though he didn’t know the guy that well, and there were certainly many other guys in the field who were capable of winning, he just wanted to try and get in his head.

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Photos courtesy of Koqui Fung

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1 47 Melito Heredia GS Gotham/TOGA

2 39 Davide Frattini colavita – Sutter Home

3 33 Daniel Greenfield Louis Garneau Racing

4 89 Dan Timmerman Fiordifrutta

5 88 Sonke Thiel STEVENS – Von Hacht – Harvestehuder RV Hamburg

6 34 John Delong Snow Valley

7 36 Josh Dillon Louis Garneau Racing

8 40 Mike Friedman North Western Mortgage

9 83 Ward Solar Cobblestone/Natures Path

10 10 Robert Lea

11 62 Edwin Morel GS Gotham/Toga

12 29 Michael Cody Fiordifrutta

13 38 Bill elliston TARGETRAINING

14 90 Zoltan Tisza CRCA/Axis

15 59 Roselvert Marte G.S. Mengoni

16 75 Chris Rozdilsky Fiordifrutta

17 48 Todd Herriott Colavita – Sutter Home

18 54 Troy Kimball Westwood Cycle Masters Team

19 32 Wendy Cruz UPMC-ACT

20 42 Dave Galvin Monticello Velo Club

21 65 Michael Norton Team Nerac.com presented by TD Banknorth

22 52 Christopher Jones SDBC (San Diego Bicycle Club)

23 8 Paolo Zenoni

24 12 Sean Barrie Rockville Harley-Davidson/Bicycle Pro Shop

25 74 Lee Rosenthal CRCA/Sakonnet Technology

26 3 Daniel Byrne CRCA/Merrill Lynch – Hincapie Sports

27 26 Gerardo Castro Cobblestone-Nature Path

28 77 Colin Sandberg Mededith Group-GPOA

29 37 Stephan Dioslaki YSG Ideal Tile

30 50 Pleasure Jackson Broadmark Capital

31 13 Jason Beerman Champion System Racing

32 72 Fred Reidenbach HydroMax

33 43 Adrian Gerrits Tri-State Velo

34 5 roger aspholm westwood velo

35 46 Jason Harpp Louis Garneau

36 68 Chris Peck Fiordifrutta

37 16 Alberto Blanco ACT

38 58 Mike Margarite GS Gotham/TOGA

39 6 Mike Attie Tri State Velo

40 19 Jason Bremer GS Mengoni

41 55 Robert Lattanzi CRCA/NEXT

42 25 Dan Cassidy Louis Garneau

43 4 Mark Alden CRCA/Blue Ribbon-Translation.com

44 9 Jason Baer Louis Garneau Racing

45 100 Solomon Woras Broadmark Capital

46 7 Ian Ayers Colavita / Sutter Home

47 93 Rafal Urzedowski WATCHUNG WHEELMEN

48 56 john loehner CRCA/Sakonnet technology

49 69 Tom Peterson Broadmark Capital

50 73 Philip Riggio Tokeneke Road Club

51 1 Martin Lechowicz

52 27 Edward Angeli

53 11 Matthew Baldwin Bethel Cycle

54 51 Stephen Jamison CRCA-NEXT/Sanchez

55 49 Peter Horn CRCA/Sakonnet U25

56 15 Aliaksandr Bialiauski CCB/Volkswagen

57 60 Xavier Melendez NEXT-CRCA

58 22 Paul Burrowes W.S. UNITED

59 82 Thomas Soladay Team Spirit

60 86 Adam Sullivan Team Casterama

61 14 Marc Bertucco ABD

dnf 2 Alejandro Acton TargeTraining

dnf 17 Eugene Boronow GS Mengoni

dnf 18 Kipp Bradford Providence Velo Club

dnf 20 Horace Burrowes W.S. UNITED

dnf 21 Jermaine Burrowes W.S. UNITED

dnf 24 Todd Cassan Rocinante

dnf 28 Juan Carlos Almante

dnf 30 craig cook crc association

dnf 31 Troy Critchlow Broadmark Capital

dnf 35 Ryan Dewald Snow Valley

dnf 41 Victor Manuel Lopez Polonia

dnf 44 Andrew Greene High Gear

dnf 45 Alejandro Guzman CRCA/Foudation

dnf 53 Jerry Kapko Deno’s WONDER WHEEL

dnf 57 Robert Lyons GS Gotham/Toga Bikes

dnf 61 igor misicki Watchung Weelmen

dnf 63 Basil Moutsopoulos CRCA/Sakonnet Technology Elite

dnf 64 Dan Neyens Broadmark Capital

dnf 66 Joseph Papp UPMC-ACT

dnf 67 JP Partland Kissena

dnf 70 Sebastian Potok Watchang Wheelman

dnf 71 Lisban Quintero G.S.Mengoni USA

dnf 76 Peter Salon ACT-Cuevas

dnf 78 Mateo Sasso UPMC – ACT

dnf 80 Michael Sherry CRCA/Merrill Lynch – Hincapie Sports

dnf 81 Mark Siega CRCA/Remax

dnf 87 Alvaro Tardaguila UPMC – ACT

dnf 94 Brad Viera Snow Valley

dnf 95 Jason Walters Ideal Tile/Brielle Cyclery

dnf 96 bruce weyman CRCA/ Sakonett Technology

dnf 97 Matthew White Fiordifrutta

dnf 98 Christopher Wilson Tri-State Velo