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)
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)
1 comment:
So you pack up everything for the trip. You take your GPS knowing you are going to be in a strange land and on a motorcycle.......but no Ram mount?
Enjoying reading your commentary. See you when you return. Geoff
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