Tie The Knot: TT Wedding Nuptials

“Dearly beloved. We are gathered together in the sight of Scotts, Cannondales, Cervelos, Orbeas, and others to celebrate the joining of this man, Rob Brothers, and this woman, Julie Davis, in tandem.” This is the kind of story we love here at PEZ…

“We have watched them grow in love and equipment. We have marveled at Rob’s maturity in his acceptance of Julie’s capacity to kick ass. Their enthusiastic support for each other is a training guide for us all. Join me and rejoice in the union of these time trialing addicts and wish that their remaining years together be their personal bests. And now what a 6mm allen wrench has joined together let no Mavic disc wheel split asunder.

“You may now click in.”

These fine words came from David Harwi, the “gate keeper” of Philly’s weekly “West River Drive Time Trial” to honor Rob Brothers and Julie Davis. Rob and Julie were married Sunday, August 5 but since their relationship really evolved from cycling and the pursuit of excellence they incorporated a small ceremony at the weekly series they trained for and attended often.

Just over a year ago Rob and Julie met on jdate.com, a dating service for Jewish professionals. Julie had a running background with an interest in triathlon and Rob had a cycling background. The chemistry was there as was their drive for sports. Rob immediately noticed that Julie was very strong on the bike portion, which she was focusing more on due to an injury. They trained together all the time and after a few months decided to get married.

There’s the kiss – and it’s official!

The 7am early morning time trial is held weekly from April thru September at the end of West River Drive (Martin Luther King Drive) near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and heads out 4.2 miles to the Falls Bridge and back to complete the 8.4 mile TT. Riders will warm up on the closed road between 6-7am, receive a number on a small sticker that gets placed on their stems, then simply call them out as then come blasting through. Professionals, beginners, and everyone in between come to this event.

Local Human Zoom rider Al Arnal set a course record of 16:27 on this day, 8/4/07. He’s also the 2006 Tandem National Time Trial Champion (elite) paired with Chad Totaro and was 3rd in the National Elite Time Trial this year with only about 3/100 of a second between the top three riders. Professional rider and local Philly resident Tyler Wren, not a TT specialist, posted 17:29 but perhaps the best time was the personal best of Julie with a 19:23. Just one year ago Julie was in the 25-minute range so her training has certainly worked.

PEZ wishes the newlyweds the brightest of futures!

According to Julie there is no competition between them with their riding. Rob’s a solid crit and TT rider with a personal best of 18:31 on the course. He’s training now for a longer TT so he only put down a 19:06 but he told me that the gap to 19:23 is “just to close.”

Well Rob, better start training because there is no stopping Julie.

Once the racing season is over and some job constraints are removed Rob and Julie will head to Italy for a honeymoon. I’d bet they bring their bikes but I’d like to be one of the first to raise a bottle of grappa to honor them.

More info on the West River Drive Time Trial series is available at yahoo.com, groups, and typing in “West River Time Trials.”