How It Began - Part 3

Williamsport, PA

Williamsport is a beautiful place nestled between Bald Eagle Mountain, one of Pennsylvania's longest ridge mountains, and the rugged terrain of Pennsylvania's Northern Tier. It is a place of unusual civility where you can be deep in the forest roads in less than 15 minutes. It is a great place to live. More importantly to this story is that it is two hours closer to the hotbed of Pennsylvania road cycling, Lancaster County. I could now justify getting a USA Cycling Official's License which I did in February, 1999, at a clinic taught by Jim Patton and Judy Miller in Crofton, MD.

I also joined a list serve for owners of the Intruder's sibling motorcycle, the Suzuki VX800 (www.vx800.net/faq). In April I bought a 1990 with 2,500 miles. There are two important things this adds to how I got to the Tour of Ireland. 1. I now had a motorcycle that, while not a BMW (the motorcycle of preference for race support), it could do everything the Beemers could and some a lot better. 2. I met some GREAT people on the list.

My first year as an official did not offer much more activity so I just kept marshaling Philly week and Altoona plus I added the Univest Grand Prix, a UCI race held every fall in Souderton, PA and the Housatonic Classic in Danbury, CT. People were starting to recognize me when I showed up.

In 2000, things got interesting. I worked a lot of local one-day races as a motoref and at one in Lebanon, PA, when I showed up Keith Erb told me it was time to be a Chief Official. I was bright enough to know that this was a safe assignment since Keith was backstopping me. Sherry Erb, his wife and Judy Miller, the USA Cycling Regional Representative were the judges and standing by, observing and kibitzing, was the The Big Guy himself, Judy's husband Dave, a member of the USCF Board of Trustees and one of the four most senior motorefs in the county. I think I had the most experienced crew working for me that day that any new Chief Official ever had. Shortly into the second race of the day, the skies opened up, thunder and lighting filled the sky and the street soon had two inches of water. I canceled the day's racing. It took years to overcome the nickname I got that day, the Terminator.

In July I went to Altoona to marshal. Following Kirk and Dave's advice I brought my striped official's jersey. I ended up being a motoref for the women's pro race for six days, my first stage race as an official.

Me on the VX800 at the Martinsburg Stage of the Tour d'Toona

2001 was another giant step forward. Before the season began I successfully upgraded my license to become a Category B official. In addition to now officiating almost every weekend, I still worked the REALLY BIG EVENTS (Philly Week, Univest, and Housatonic) as a motor marshal and was selected as one of the marshals to travel to California for the first San Francisco Grand Prix. I could not believe that I was being invited to work the most important one-day race in the country. Dreams do come true.

In early spring of 2002, I was talking with Chris Shinners who was now in charge of the motor crew for all Pro Cycling Tour events (Philly Week and San Francisco). He told me that it looked like the 2002 San Francisco race was going to use local motors because PCT was unable to secure motorcycles for us to ride plus there were others clamoring for spots on the crew. I might not be on the '02 crew. I asked Chris if I could source the bikes would I be assured a place on the crew? He said yes.

Remember the great guys on my VX list? Well more than a few lived in California. I put out a plea for help on the list serve and Rick Blunden, former Bicycle Coordinator for the State of California, suggested I call the folks at Mountain View BMW. I called them and a great lady, Carolyn Krchmar, almost immediately said yes. She needed to talk to her team. She called me back within the hour with a few questions. I was in over my head at this point so I put her together with Chris and got out of the way. I was going back to San Francisco to work another great race, this time on a new BMW from Mountain View BMW.

Another memorable event that year was I was assigned to be a motoref for the Housatonic Classic in CT. At the managers' meeting the officials were introduced and I was introduced as “the most widely traveled motor marshal in America.” I had no idea.

(to be continued)

How It Began - Part 2

1995

In February I got a personal invitation to participate in the three races run by the technical support company that actually ran the Thrift Drug Classic, The K-Mart Classic and the US Pro Championship race in Philadelphia. I put in for Thrift Drug and K-Mart.

A month or so later I got a phone call from the fellow who was running the motor marshal crew. It was an interesting conversation.

"Tom, who are you and where did you come from? Nobody knows you and yet you did a good job (for a beginner) at last year's race." We talked for almost two hours. At the end he said that they were looking for new blood and I seemed like the kind of person they were looking for. I was offered the opportunity to work both races that I'd asked for. Accepted!

I ended up working both races as a rear marshal. While that is a beginners position, there were some wonderful things that happened during that period.

One was the day before the 1995 Thrift Drug Classic I was invited to join the motor crew for breakfast at the Marriott. I got there about 7:30 and was met by Jim Ingram, one of cycling's most colorful characters and most experienced. Jim said we were going to join some racers for breakfast.

Some intro to cycling. We sat down down at the Motorola table and talked about everything with a couple of team members named Armstrong and Hincapie. Lance went on to win that day and to win the K-Mart Classic and the race I did not attend, the US Pro in Philadelphia. That was the year that there was a $ 1,000,000 prize for winning all three races.

When we got to Wheeling for the first stage of the K-Mart Classic I was introduced to Kirk Leidy, the founder of the Tour d'Toona, who together with Dave & Judy Miller, Jim Patton and Keith & Sherry Erb would all mentor me in future years. Kirk invited me to come to Altoona, PA to marshal the Tour d'Toona.

How little I knew. I had been invited to work US Pro and the full Tour d'Toona and I did not even realize what fantastic opportunities I had been offered. I went to Altoona for the Saturday Blue Knob stage then went home.

The next year there was no K-Mart Classic but there were Olympic Trials in West Virginia, a Time Trial in Martinsburg and a Road Race in Wheeling. I worked both of those, Thrift Drug and Saturday at Altoona again. My new friend, Kirk, was named the Technical Director for 1996 Olympic Road Races.

1997 was a special year. In February I had a stroke and found out I'd had a silent heart attack in January. For six weeks it was questionable if I would ever ride again. One day at about the six week mark, after coming home from PT, I asked Ann not to put the car in the garage. I took the Intruder for a ride around the block.

It worked! I was going to ride again. I didn't ride it again until mid-May. I was ready to ride the last Thrift Drug Classic. Also went to Philly for the first time and did the full week at Altoona. The highlight of that week was that Kirk, Dave and Jim told me to put on a striped jacket and to trail Rod Miller, then one of the top motor officials in the country. Me, act like an official. What else was possible?

In 1998 we left Pittsburgh and moved to Williamsport, PA. In October I sold the Intruder.

(To be continued)

How It Began

In the early '90s I was living in Pittsburgh, the home of the greatest professional one-day bicycle race the U.S. has ever seen, the Thrift Drug Classic. I never missed a day and wondered how I could get involved.

One day in early February, 1994, my daughter got a piece of junk mail from the race asking for volunteers, especially volunteers with motorcycles. That was me! I had just bought my first adult motorcycle, temporarily satisfying my middle-age angst with a Candy-Apple Red Suzuki Intruder 800, probably the most beautiful but inappropriate motorcycle for bicycle race support ever made.

With my Godson, Ian, on that old beauty (note MARSHAL stickers).

I filled out the enclosed form and hand-delivered it to the fellow in charge of collecting the forms and waited ... and waited ... and waited. The day before the 1994 race I read in the paper that volunteers were to meet at Station Square. Well, no point in waiting at home, I'd better get there since clearly my invitation had been lost in the mail.

I jumped on my bike and was there 45 minutes before the meeting began, but there were no motorcycles anywhere. I saw Bud Harris, one of the race organizers, whom I recognized from his pictures in the paper, walked over and asked if this was the place for the motorcycle volunteers. Nice as could be, he told me that the motors were meeting at the Greentree Marriott (places and names will mean something to Pittsburghers - apologies to the rest of you) in 30 minutes.

I got there in 20. I walked into the meeting just as they were doing the roll call.

"Anybody whose name was not called?"

I put my hand up.

"Who are you?"

"Tom Balaban."

"Who sent you?"

"Bud Harris."

The groan was clear. "OK, we'll find something for you to do."

I was a rear marshal which meant riding in front of racers who had fallen off the back and providing security for them as they struggled up Sycamore St. (the Burma Road to locals) and over the rest of the nine-lap 11 mile circuit.

I was hooked. I wanted to ride with this group that was leaving the next morning for the West Viginia K-Mart Classic Stage Race but my work calendar was full, I hadn't been invited and Bud Harris, my unwitting sponsor, had nothing to do with that race.

(To be continued)