On November 3 Joe Breeze and I trekked an hour up the road to Davis for the annual USBHoF induction dinner. A couple of our friends were being honored, and Joe was bringing a couple of bikes up for the museum display. The bikes were one of the ten original "Breezer" bikes that changed bicycling forever, and a tandem made by Tom Ritchey in 1978 for a coast-to-coast record attempt by Joe and his friend Otis Guy.
We first attended a symposium organized by Peter Rich, longtime owner of Velo-Sport in Berkeley. A panel of old racers discussed what racing was like in the '50s and '60s, when there were very few racers and fewer races for them to be in. Among the panelists were Peter Rich, Owen Mulholland, Ted Ernst, John Howard, and Tom Ritchey.
Afterward we retired to the banquet hall, where those who paid spent $125 for the dinner, although Joe and I were comped. Since we didn't have a reserved table, we were told to take one of the "open" tables. First in the hall, we selected a couple of prime seats, and as we were enjoying our first glasses of wine, someone asked, "Hey Charlie, okay if I sit with you guys?"
It was only John Howard, the cycling hero for anyone who took up racing in the '70s. Yer durn tootin' you can sit here. I felt honored to spend a couple of hours in conversation with a man who had been a distant hero so long ago. Since John was a multiple US road champion, an Olympian, first Iron Man winner, and holder of the bicycle land speed record (155 mph) I didn't have any problem finding stuff to talk about. Jacquie Phelan joined us also, and John seemed thrilled to sit with her, but I get to see her all the time since she lives in my town, and later she rode home with Joe and me.
After dinner, the inductions, and our friends Tom Ritchey and Susan DeMattei were honored, along with old skool racer Rob Parsons (5-time Nevada City winner) and track rider Erin Hartwell. Tom was anointed for "Contributions to the Sport," Susan for being the first American Olympic medalist on a mountain bike.
Afterward Joe and I posed with Tom. Gary Fisher wasn't there to complete the boxed set. Tom has not aged a minute in the 33 years since I met him.
Jacquie and George Mount never saw a photo they didn't want to be in.
