We should all have days this good. Before 9am. Jim got in a little racing, a little conversation, and then soaked in some adulation. Here’s some words from Ferdie and Jim.

‘Come here often, big boy?’ Ferdie zooms Jim’s lens.

Ferdie:

Last year when Jim Boy retired after serving on the CRCA Board of Directors for fourteen years, the board, on behalf of a grateful membership, decided to install a plaque in his honor on Jim’s favorite Central Park bench—at the foot of Cats Paw Hill right across from the Boathouse. Jim often sits there to wait for pick-up rides and/or chat with his friends.

After the CRCA race on Saturday, October 16th, many of Jim’s racing colleagues and non-racing friends, who enjoy his company on ‘recreational training’ rides in the park and to Nyack, came to the plaque’s installation ceremony,

After a brief word of welcome to all, I gave a bottle of champagne to his wife, Fatu…for safekeeping until Jim was safely off the bike and back at home.

As I said to the people gathered at the bench, it would be impossible for me to recount in detail all that Jim has done for the CRCA. Many of us feel that the club would not be in existence today without his many years of dedicated service. The wording on the plaque sums it up:

To Jim Boyd

with gratitude for his dedicated service

to the Century Road Club Association

and to bicycle racing in Central Park

Jim will, no doubt, still be riding for the next three decades. Although his eyesight may not be as good as it is now, the plaque will be there to guide him (and us) to “Jim’s bench.”

Jim:

My own history with CRCA began tenuously in 1979 when I heard about a bicycle racing club that used the roads in Central Park for its races. As a kid, I rode a lot, usually by myself. At age 14 I rode to Connecticut from LI, taking the ferry at Port Jefferson to avoid going through New York City. At 16 on a bet I rode to Montauk Point and back within 24 hours, starting from Baldwin, NY, a small town in Nassau County, a distance of over 200 miles. When I received a driver’s license, I gave up the bike.

In 1979 I bought a cheap bike and started riding on day trips with the NY Cycle Club. My feeling toward bicycle racing was that I was too old to start in such a sport. After two years of riding with NYCC, I was encouraged by other members of CRCA to try it out. I bought a new bike and joined in 1981. I was 45. Other notables who joined in that year were Chris Mailing, David Wagener and Charles Denholm. I was in good company.

Prior to 1989, Lou Maltese ran CRCA. (His history with CRCA goes a long way back and will be dealt with in other articles.) In 1988, Lou was 81 years old and slowing down. He realized he could not carry on the responsibilities any longer and agreed to permit a board of elected directors to run the club. It was a diplomatic victory for Chris Mailing to get the proud Lou Maltese to cede control. Chris wrote the Bylaws, based on those of the NY Cycle Club, a board was elected and took office for the first time in 1989.

I was appointed to the CRCA Board of Directors in April 1989 as Communications Director after the resignation of Sidney Schuster. (Sydney is still active in the sport. She lives in Rhode Island and, on her motorcycle, paces open races along the East Coast.) Since that time, I was continuously a CRCA board member until 2003: newsletter editor, Membership Director and two years as President. There were years when I had responsibility for two offices at the same time. In addition, I became Race Director and had a close relationship with the members who came out on Saturday mornings.

The strength of CRCA is in its members, people who come from all walks of life. And it is meeting and talking with you over the years that has been most satisfying to me. I’ve made lasting friends in CRCA and, for me, there can be no finer tribute to the club. Thanks to everyone who joined me and my wife Fatu on Saturday morning, Oct. 16, to celebrate the plaque on the Central Park bench. Thanks to Margaret Vogel who came up with the idea, and thanks Emily Scharf for the lovely words on it, and thanks Ferdie Scharf for the kind words spoken at the bench.

(We invite you to add your comments/anecdotes about Jim below. Thanks to Emily Scharf for photos 15-25.)