Manayunk native takes his shot Sunday at the wall

On many days, the Manayunk Wall represents nothing more than the most convenient way home for Robin Carpenter.

"It's one of the ways I'll often get back to my house," Carpenter said last week. "It's the shortest way. So if I'm feeling like I just want to get it over with, I'll just head straight up the Wall."

Sunday, it will mean much more as the starting and ending point of the race when the 21-year-old Manayunk native competes in his second Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic as a professional cyclist. Last year, Carpenter finished 36th in the event.

Carpenter will be racing as a part of Hincapie Sportswear Development Cycling Team, which he joined in late 2012. The race through his Manayunk neighborhood stands out among the rest for the senior at Swarthmore College and graduate of Masterman.

Carpenter's family has lived half a block away from the challenging hill for his entire life, making the race an annual spectacle. Since they moved into their house in the late 1980s, Carpenter's parents have hosted all of their friends for a daylong party to watch the race. While they were always excited on race day, having Carpenter in the race has brought the excitement to another level.

"We're always holding our breath when the riders come up the wall, making sure that he's in the pack and hoping that he's near the front, but worried if he's not, if we don't see him for a couple of minutes," said John Carpenter, Robin's father.

While many of the family's friends started asking him when he would compete in the professional race when he first started racing in middle school, it was more of a pipe dream for Carpenter. It wasn't until he began to separate himself from the pack in senior elite amateur races after he graduated from high school that Carpenter seriously considered going into professional cycling.

Carpenter earned his degree in economics in 31/2 years, finishing in December, so that he could travel to Europe for the spring semester to race with the United States National Team. In order to accelerate his studies while also focusing on cycling, Carpenter subjected himself to a strenuous schedule in the fall. On weekdays, he spent mornings in the classroom, afternoons training, and late nights studying. Then, he would race on weekends.

"The way I made it work was being pretty efficient with my time and really planning out how I needed to structure my week in terms of when I needed to get my work done," Carpenter said.

mcohen@phillynews.com

@MaxACohen