I watched a recent YouTube video of the Cat's Hill Criterium, and that got me thinking about my bike racing days and the one that got away forty-four years ago.
So it's 1981, race day, time to drive down the peninsula from San Francisco to Los Gatos. Over the years, I had raced it several times with teammate Toby Power and we'd both done OK in the lower ranks (Cat 4, Cat 3), but not so much after moving up to Cat 1/2.
Memory is vague, but I think I'd just placed 5th at the old Crockett-Martinez Road Race, so I was feeling a bit more confident than usual. For me, just staying in the peloton was a success, and I was an unlikely challenger to the best local riders at the time (Trampleasure, Vierra, Bostick, Muzzy, et al) or when out-of- towners (like the Stetina brothers), or Mount, Pringle, Boyer or LeMond raced in-district. But I recall my team (SF Wheelmen-Bianchi) was experiencing a bit of behind-the-scenes tension and that I was really motivated to race well.
Lined up with Toby and teammates (Tim Imai, Mike Williams and maybe others – Paul M, Clark N, Kurt H, Miles H, Owen G, another Mike -- sorry, don't remember who was there or not). Not much discussion on race strategy, and we're off. No old 8mm or Super 8 or VHS-Beta recordings, no photos I've ever seen, and no 1981 entry in the LGBRC online race archives to tell the story, perhaps only my memories.
Most likely, there were a couple of unsuccessful early breakaway attempts -- all I remember is that at some point (maybe half-way), Dave Zanotti (San Jose BC) was just up the road and I bridged up to him, might have been three of us but then just Dave and I, and that was it. We managed to keep a gap on what I assume was a chasing peloton – visible but not real close whenever I looked back. The laps counted down and we rode well together to keep the field at bay. I wasn't the best bike handler, especially on a fast, rough descent into a final right turn. Couldn't nail that corner, and I ended up providing Dave with a perfect lead for his win. So, Dave, congratulations again after 44 years, thanks for the ride on what was probably my best bike racing day ever.
(Also, thanks to my former SFW and Dave's SJBC teammates who undoubtedly worked hard to disrupt the chase behind. I don't know who else was in the race, but it was Cat's Hill, and usually anyone who was anybody showed up on race day.)
Ron Low
2nd place 1981 Cat's Hill