I was on the USCF (before USAC) board of directors back in the 80’s. One board meeting, out of the blue, the CEO at the time, Dave Prouty, said that the organization was going to cease to exist because he couldn’t obtain insurance because our members didn’t have proper head protection. We were presented with really no option other than passing a hard helmet rule.

I wasn’t for it at all. Back then, you pretty much had to wear either a Bell V1 Pro or a German track helmet. Both were heavy and ugly. But, the way it was presented, there wasn’t going to be any bike racing without making it mandatory for all amateur riders to wear them.

I was riding for Levis at the time and Bell was eager to get into PRO cycling, so they sponsored us. Man, were those helmets huge and cumbersome. I’d been racing in a hairnet helmet so long that the Bell helmet felt like a brick on my head.

Anyway, pretty early in the season, we were at a circuit race in Castle Rock, Colorado and it started storming. Pretty soon it was hailing pretty good size hail. I just kept looking towards the ground and I could hear the ice popping off my helmet. I was thinking at the time that the helmet was much better for situations like this, than a hairnet.

In the Coor’s Classic and Professional races, we didn’t have to wear a helmet at all, and I usually didn’t. It took a while for the rest of the World to pass their helmet rules. There was a time that you didn’t have to wear your helmet when you were climbing, so in the Tour, etc., guys would take their helmets off when going uphill, and hang them on their handlebars or give them to their team cars.

Eventually, Jim Gentes came up with the idea for styrofoam helmets, Giro, and they got way lighter and more usable. And UCI made it mandatory for all riders to wear them all the time.

The weird twist to the story is the during the 2nd day of the board of director’s meeting, after we had already passed the hard helmet rule, a discussion came up on budget. I asked Dave Prouty how much money that we going to save with our new rule and he said that he hadn’t talked to any insurers about it, but was pretty sure that it was going to save us a bunch of money. So, he pretty much just made up the extinction of bike racing insurance story. I’m not sure what the reason for him to be so adamant about hard helmets, but I guess it worked out in the long run.

The first time I ever wore a hard helmet. Micheal Fatka, our team director, paid me somthing like $500 to wear one at Cyclocross Nationals in Plymouth, MA.

Sprinting for a $500 prime on the Morgul-Bismark course at the Coor’s Classic with Giuseppe Saronni, sans helmet.

My original patent leather hairnet helmet. It’s a little attrified.

I forget how hard it is riding in the end of November, early December, even when it is relatively warm. I’m not that out of shape, well maybe I am, and I have been eating antibiotics and antiviral medicine by the handfuls, but whatever the reason, it sure does seem hard getting a 300 mile week.

Part of the reason is because there isn’t anyone else around here that can pull much, so I spend a nearly the whole day in the wind. We did have a day this week that was nearly perfect, really still, but normal wind speed for around here is 15 mph+, emphasizing the +. Plus, even though it has been in the 50’s, it seems colder. It only stays warm for a couple hours a day, so it seems like you’re never quite dressed right.

Catherine came back from Seattle and rode with us for 3 days. Up in Seattle, she has been riding outside on the weekends and then 3 times a week at Todd Herriott’s Place at night. You’d think that would be enough to keep her in pretty good shape, but it isn’t. Well, it isn’t good enough to allow her to go out with us and do an even share of pulling, in the wind, 3 days in a row. When it got down to four of us one day, Catherine was pulling out all the tricks to rest. Whenever I looked back, instead of 2 riders behind us, there would only be one, then Catherine was drafting him. There is a much better draft two guys back, and after the ride, she admitted that she was just being overly cautious, but this time of the year you never know when your going to just blow. I can’t blame her.

The temperatures are supposed to plummet tomorrow. Thursday the high is supposed to be in the lower 20’s. Same Friday and Saturday. Those temperatures are when I like to ride off-road, slower speeds, harder pedaling. But, I’m sort of trying to take it easy and riding on trails or in the grass isn’t ever easy, but neither is the wind, so………….

Catherine taking a little break 30 miles into the ride.

Trudi headed off to Park City for a little BMC mini-camp for the US riders.

Last night they went to a Utah Jazz game. Watched from a skybox of course.

It’s been so warm that we’re still eating lettuce and spinach for our garden. We cover it at night.

How about Black Friday sales at Walmart? An AR-15. “For your favorite outdoorsman”? I don’t think many people think of this gun as one for hunting. It is pretty much an assault rifle.