Geoff Bickford

The last time I was at the ESG was 1991, but I went to a couple games before that. Having some conversations about those times as

compared to this one, I have a few historical observations.

In the 80s, Al Toefield was there and looked out fo the nyc team. In the city Al was a cop, oversaw the Kissena club, and was a USCF official too.Al pretty much did everything for everyone. Of course everyone knows this, but he organized the spring training series and mostof the classic nyc races like Bear mtn. Al obviously cared a lot about cycling in the city.As far a I was concerned, he was one of the great guys from the old time NYC school. When you got a place in a race Al would give you a pair of really bad sew up tires from the Kissena shop that probably no one was buying and they lasted almost a few miles before going flat. Butnow Al, there was a

coach regardless and despite of and including.

Even though the officiating required him to be non partisan at the ESG, Al would come over and encourage the nyc team when he wasn’t dictating the rules. I can’t recollect if we had coaches or got water bottles or anythingaside from Al coming over. Greg Lemond hadn’t won the tour with the aero bars, so no time trial equipment existed yet which was great considering howexpensive it is. In the TTT I somehowwas selected toride on the vasity team even though I was a solid cat. 4. The team had some legendary city cyclists, Adam Asnes, Jerry Mallone, Stefan Spoerri. I think Stefan was about 6’6″ maybe taller. It was great they indulged me to ride with them because they were way up on the overall list and I was about 84th in each of the events. They were cycling gods. It was just 4 riders on the TTT team, and the 100k was grueling and windy and epic, but I managed to keep up and take a couple pulls I think. We got third and bronze

in the TTT, and the team got third and bronze overall!!!

Here’s the kind of thing Toefield used to say, he was great. When I was going to one of my first big out of town races the Whaling City pro am, I masked Al what I should do. He told me, “stay away from the corporate boys.” At the time this was kind of cryptic, but I had beentrying to avoid corporate reality since way before I started cycling, and so Al’s advice made obsure sense. Nevertheless I always tried to mix it up with the corporate guys and sometimes was able to beat them even though they didn’t seem to have jobs and rode their bikes like 9 or 10 hours a day. One’s mentors definitely help formulate your opinions.

In 1991, we had a coaching staff I think, but the games were still just a glorified version of other local races that you went to. I think I

carried extra water bottles under my seat or got someone’s girlfriend to hand me one. Nevertheless, the ESG used to bestow legendary status on nyc riders.

Ed Leonard, with his head tilted crazy like down to the left – an intense sight indeed – had in part achieved legendary crca rider status by

soloing the road race – winning by like 5 minutes which was basically superhuman.Just as it would be today. I always wanted to do

that, but couldn’t quite.

.

Tony Taylor showed up one year and had qualified and had an ESG ticket and everything, but the coaches determined for some reason

he wasn’t on the team. They’d replaced him with another rider. And that’s about all I remember of the coaches. Tony stayed for the weekend, maybe for the free food. He was pretty ticked off, just something else for Tony to be ticked off about. Bummer!!!

This year was my first in a while, I hadn’t ever really expected to go back to tell the truth but the free food and racing sounded

great! And it sure was. A lot of fancy TT equipment that’s for sure. Everyone has more thanone bike! I was amused that Western showed up with two coaches wearing matching shirts and shorts. I’m easily amused. They looked like they belonged at a DI university. Personally I felt it was a little embarassing what with the matching costumes and all, but that’s just me.

Western had a group of extremely well organized, entirely efficient, clean cut riders. I hear they have been training for and winning the event for several years. Nothing better to do I suspect, they’re kind of like the college kids in the movie “breaking away.”.

At this year’s race, I believe the Western coaches had looked through the rule book meticulously to gain additional points by any means

necessary, including the absense of one of their riders for several key days due to “illness.” Anythinhg to pulverize those of us who don’t spend hours pouring over the ESG “bible.” In fact Karl our coach kept joking that “he didn’t ever read the bible.” Although which one he was refferring to wasn’t entirely clear. Western’s kind of overzealous bible study did seem suspect to me too.

I think that it’s a miracle now that NYC has a coaching staff at all, despite what anyone says about them. Even if no one else liked the aspirated coke a cola, the two bottles that were handed up during the road race worked for me even though I was dieing out there. They had food waiting for us at the end of every race, and fruit and gatorade and pb and j, and that’s a first for any ESG game I’d ever been

to. I’m sure they spent more out of pocket on this operation than anyone was paying them. Is anyone paying them?! They definitely aren’t corporate types, but that’s what makes our nyc team so great!

When a tire exploded on the last day after the TTT, Bill Montgomery improvised, “get the bikes in a circle, they’re shooting at us,” and

this was comic indeed and brougtht the house down!!! I do not think Western’s coaching staff would be able to come up with anything

nearly so profound…more like facts figures, point totals, like it was the tour de france or something.

As far as race tactics. In the points race I heard Montgomery yell out, “go Latanzi, now,” somewhere during the final couple of laps. I think

Latanzi was done in from about 13 and a half previous efforts, because I thought Bill’s analysis of the situation was perfect. I went

when it became clear that Rob wasn’t going to go, and so got 2nd in the final sprint, and was happy that I was able to contribute to the team effort in some small way over the course of the ESG extended weekend. And that was all due to Bill’s interpretation of the race from the sidelines!

Just like back in the 80s, the TTT men’s and (now also!!) the women’s team won the bronze in the TTT, and NYC managed to pull off third place and the bronze overall! The more things change the more they stay the same so to speak. I now have an additional esg medal!

I think that someday our coaches will be inspired to miraculously organize a winning team even though they aren’t corporate by any

means, and that will be fun. It’s a good story now, and it will be a good story when they win on their own terms! I for one want for the nyc team to bring Western down, they remind me of too many bad things. . .

But I believe Al Toefield would be proud of us still!!!