I got a few comments about racing the Tour de Trump and had I met the guy.  The answer is yes and yes.  His organization only sponsored the race one year, then it was taken over by Dupont, but the year they did sponsor it, Mr. Trump came to the start in Albany and then to the NYC start too.  I don’t remember seeing him at the banquet, but he might have bet there too.

I was riding for the Wheaties Schwinn Team.  Riding to the start of the prologue time trial in Albany, we came upon a traffic stop.   A Lamborghini SUV was pulled over.  I’d never seen one, so I went over to look at it.  There was a guy standing there and I asked him if it was his.  He said no, it was Mike Tyson’s.  I look over and Mike Tyson is sitting in the driver’s seat with his window rolled down.  I ride over and say hi and introduce myself.  He stuck his hand out and I shook it.

I tell him that we are riding over to the start of his buddy, Donald Trump’s bike race.  He says something like Donald is a character.  Turns out the first guy I talked to and Mike were having a little race on the streets of Albany and were getting tickets.

So I get to the start of the time trial and they are doing some introduction stuff and they had me come over.  And there is Donald getting introduced.  When they introduce me, Donald came over and shook my hand and we talked a little.  He didn’t come across like the sharpest tool in the shed.

He had a couple big body guards,with little small machine guns, kind of surrounding him.  As soon as he moved past me, a bodyguard sort of pushed me out of the way.  I was straddling my bike, so wasn’t prepared for the encounter.  I wasn’t happy getting shoved around with a guy with an Uzi.

I was riding away to prepare for the start and was thinking how weird it was to meet Mike Tyson and Donald Trump the same day.  I probably have pictures of myself and both of them, but I am too tired to go look for them.

Thinking back upon it now, it seems weirder, considering Mike’ and Donald’s life paths.  Guess bike racing was a little more popular back then here in the US?

If you want to watch a little cyclocross, Trek is streaming the race right now.  The women’s race just started and the men’s race is at 8 am CST.  The course is a mess.

My friend John Pierce took this photo and got me thinking about posting this. He wished me good luck in recovery, which is super nice. I’ve known John for years. He is a great guy and super bike race photographer.I’m on the left in the Wheaties/Schwinn jersey.  My friend and old team mate, Andy Hampsten is a couple guys over in the 7-11 jersey.  Two riders over from him, in the blue, is Viatcheslav Ekimov.  He was an amatuer pursuit rider back then.

I have received a ton a stuff from all over the place since I crashed and have been laid up. This has been so nice.  I am constantly amazed how generous people can be.

Yesterday, FedEX showed up and dropped off a couple boxes.  One had a book from Amazon.  It was from my friend, Stacie, from Louisville.  She has been pretty important in this whole episode, starting with flying here as soon as she heard I was in the hospital.

Anyway, in the box was the new book on Greg Lemond,  Yellow Jersey Racer.  I haven’t had a chance to read much yet, but I flipped through the pages and checked it out.  It is a super nice book, with lots and lots of photos I can relate to.

Greg and I go way back.  He is a year younger than me and we both traveled the same path pretty much.  Eddie B. had just been discovered, so the USCF was just getting their program going, which pretty much started with inviting a bunch of juniors to the Olympic Training Center.  I’m not exactly sure how I got that invitation, but that was the first time I met a bunch of guys that I would race with, and against, the next two decades or longer.

It is great that Greg is finally getting his due and is becoming an important part of our cycling history.  He is, by far, the best rider that the US has ever had the pleasure to witness  race bikes. Plus, he’s a nice guy.  Our sport has taken such a crazy path, it all seem surreal sometimes.

Anyway, below is a link to an excerpt that Velonews posted a few days ago.  It happens to be an excerpt from Jeff Bradley, another junior back in those days and another nice guy that I have the pleasure to hang out with nowadays.  Jeff has a house up in Cable, Wisconsin and I see him a few times a year.

The book has a lot of contributions from guys I rode with and call friends.  Guys like Phil Anderson,  Ron Kiefel,  Shelley Verses, Andy Hampsten, and, as I said before, Jeff Bradley. Anyway, if you’re looking for a great way to fill these long winter nights, this book could be the ticket.  You can get it on Amazon, prime, so it could be at your house tomorrow.  Here is a link.Or it is also at Velopress, but 10 bucks more.

Here is a link to the excerpt at Velonews.  

This is the first picture in the book. I’m sure, I’d bet Greg got this bike from Michael Fatka. I was sponsored by Michael and this is the first bike I got from him too. Cycling was a very tight community back then.

I hope you had a chance to see the supermoon. It was amazing.