Thanks for asking. Can't resist sharing. And I'm glad you asked, because I realize I've never put this story down on paper... sorry if it's TLDNR.
The 1989 Stanfurd Criterium. Collegiate cycling weekend events usually consist of a road race, a criterium and a time trial. Well, the criterium's technical course through campus with a hairpin turn was just to my liking! Cal Cycling makes a great showing in the A field. We have a lot of riders in the peloton. I'm feeling GREAT and move to the front and push the pace. The technical course strings the peloton out. A Cal Cycling teammate is up front with me, riding strong.
As we keep pushing the pace, we realize we have a gap on the main group. My teammate and I and two other riders find ourselves in a four man breakaway. "Nice!" We all work well together taking turns at the front. However, my teammate keeps coming into the hairpin turn REALLY fast. I yell out to him, "Dude, take it easy! We have a good gap, don't take crazy risks!" Well, a few laps later guess who washes out in the hairpin? You guessed it! Crap, just lost my teammate
Well, luckily race promoters often give a "one free lap" rule in criteriums, and this rule was in effect. If you flat, have a mechanical, or crash, you can jump back in where you were if you can make it back to start/finish within a certain amount of time. Luckily my teammate was unhurt, bike unscathed and able to jump back in with us. "Welcome back!!!" I said. After which I added, "I TOLD you to take it easy on the hairpin!!!"
Well, we traded off prime wins throughout the race, giving Cal a lot of points. We were flying through the course - albeit a bit slower at the hairpin! As we continued our brisk pace, we eventually began seeing riders in front of us. "Cool, we're catching riders!" Well, it isn't THAT big a deal to catch riders off the back in a crit, so it wasn't that amazing. Well, after working our way through several struggling riders, we came upon a large group. "Ha! It IS the main group! We've lapped the field!" F*** YEAH!!!!!
Man we were SO psyched! Two Cal riders lapping the field on a technical course on the Stanfurd campus. How sweet it is!!! I'll never forget the feeling of approaching riders from behind and seeing the surprise on their faces. Although many felt dejected to have been lapped, the majority were gracious in letting us work our way through the main group so we could contest the finish as a four-man group.
Well, my teammate and I were wondering, "So, who are these two riders with us? Are they sprinters? Have they been hanging in and saving energy, just to destroy us on the bell lap?" Well, we couldn't really know. We had spent so much time working on staying away from the main field that we hadn't sized up our break away competition.
My teammate realized I was riding strong and said, "Hey, I'll lead you out!" which meant he'd let me contest the sprint finish with the two others. So he got in front as we passed start/finish for the penultimate time and turned on the gas. Our compatriots stayed in third and fourth position through the last lap. He kept the lead and the gas on throughout the course as we rounded the last corner. I came around in my sprint and won going away. Yahooo! (Turns out the two other riders weren't sprinters and never contested the finish.)
Cal Cycling takes 1-2 in the Men's A's criterium. The A's race win with all the primes guarantee's a team victory for the weekend's racing. Ahhh, a great day for Cal on the Stanfurd campus!
Post Script: My teammate and I found ourselves in the virtually same position at Western Regionals in Santa Barbara: He and I, the same rider from Saddleback College, and one other took advantage of the technical course and succeeded in a four man break. We couldn't believe we were in almost the exact same position as at Stanfurd. I returned my teammate's favor and led him out for the win! (He had recovered from cancer the previous year, so it was extra special for him.)
We went to nationals that year, finishing second to CU Boulder. CU Boulder just happened to have an ex-skier on their team named Juliana Furtado! She dominated the field and won it for them and then went on to become the 10-year reigning women's mountain bike world champion!
I thank my lucky stars for the opportunity to race for Cal. Collegiate bike racing was wonderful and have such wonderful memories from then. One more memory: Wobbling up Addison to the group ride at Sproul after a night of drinking; were were SO hungover! My roommate's immortal words, "This is MOST non-triumphant!" Ahh, good stuff!
Thanks for letting me share.