A great man....

[Catulle]

Hector Roca was Panama's cycling champion for many years during the mid sixties when I used to compete. I was a teenager when he was a champion racer and I used to ride with him. Roca was stern and disciplined but he loved to teach and help other riders. At one point I remember buying from him a Bianchi frame for $4.

Roca, being from a very underprivileged background, migrated during the seventies to New York. At the Big Apple he got a job at the famous Gleason boxing gym because fellow Panamanian Roberto Duran trained there at times. Roca remains at Gleason's where he has trained first rate boxers such as Iran Barkley, Buddy McGirt, Arturo Gatti. Moreover, he has become a celebrity of sorts as he has become very popular with the movie set having trained Jennifer Lopez, Wesley Snipes, Michelle Rodriguez, John Leguizamo, and more recently Hilary Swank for The Million Dollar Baby, and Russell Crowe for The Cindirella Man.

I ran into Roca some three months ago as he was visiting a gym in Panama. We hadn't seen each other for some forty years. I'm very proud of Roca, a natural athlete who used sports and his God given talent to succed in life and overcome the huge odds against him.

[Too Tall]

Great story. Tell a story about training back in the day.

[William]

Great story. Tell a story about training back in the day.

I agree, please tell us more.

William

[Catulle]

Tell a story about training back in the day.[/QUOTE]

The heyday of my life as a cyclist was when I was in high school during the mid sixties, and as Roca reminded me when I last saw him, I weighted some eighty pounds when wet. Of course he was exaggerating, but only a little.

Back then there were several semi-pro teams in the country but the very best one, Roca's team, was sponsored by a guy who owned a construction supplies business located right behind my school. I used to ride and train with the guys from that team and others, but one of the very few places where I could buy tubulars was from Sr. De Sedas, the owner of Roca's team. Although I knew well the guys from the team, whenever I'd walked into Sr. De Sedas' office to buy a Pirelli tubular I did it as if walking into a cathedral.

Sr. De Sedas was a quiet and somewhat gruff middle-aged man but passionate about cycling. He wouldn't say much to me but he would sell me a tubular or two, something that he wouldn't do for just anybody as he kept them for the team. He knew I rode with the guys and sometimes he'd see me trying to keep up with them at the races. One good day, as I was hanging around his office looking for a Pirelli tubular, he asked me if I wanted to join his team. I'm sure that Mariano Rivera wasn't as overjoyed as I was then when he was asked to play for the Yankees. More than happy, I was proud.

To make a very long story short, my dad wouldn't let me join the team. He was quite concerned as it was that I would spend every minute of the day and night that I could on the bike. It was as if was glued to the bike. I remember being invited to a farm once and ending up racing a horse as I'd take my bicycle anywhere I'd go.

Somehow I gathered the courage to tell Sr. De Sedas that I could not race for his team, but I would still ride with them and even join them at the races whenever I could. I'm convinced that bicycles are something you either carry it in your blood, or you don't. And when you carry it there is nothing you can do to get rid of it.

:beer:

[BumbleBeeDave]

Wonderful story!

Did Roca recognize you when you encountered him several months ago?

BBD

[Catulle]

Did Roca recognize you when you encountered him several months ago?

BBD[/QUOTE]

Yes, that's when he unkindly reminded me that back when I used to weight eighty pounds when wet. It was great to see him. We embraced and all the yucky stuff :)

[weisan]

Thank you for sharing.

[coylifut]

keep going, there's got to be more. maybe we should start a separate thread about training back in the day

[Serpico]

bttt

good stuff Catulle