My roommate Gary Fisher was excited. Reigning national champion John Allis was in town, wanted to go on a ride and was looking for a local guide. We hopped on our matching orange Colnagos and headed for the place where he was staying, a fifteen minute ride away from the house we shared.
On the way over, Gary discovered his frame was cracked. He had to abandon the ride. it was left for me alone to show the champion our local roads.
He wasn’t riding hard, not training, but on the hills he didn’t seem to notice the slope. He never changed his pace and it was all I could do to keep up. Fortunately, he needed me to show him the way back to town, or I may have finished alone.