Monarch helmet - Highlands spring criterium - 1986?

This is the Highlands before houses built. Mid 80's slowdown...not many houses being built out there...really took a while for the Highlands area to catch on so we took advantage of the open smooth roads.

In the last post I noted that we all got Monarch helmets after hairnets were banned. This is the proof - three out of the 6 of us here did.

This was the heavy hitters from Nebraska at the time, missing was a guy named Steve Melotz from Omaha, he might be on the right side out of the shot...Or Maybe it was Randy Gibson? The Omaha race scene has come a long way since then...Not to many guys from Omaha then, these guys were all Lincolnites. Although Fred Galata had retired before this picture and was from Omaha. He's made a 50+ comeback and is still fast.

Left to right:

Steve Canney, big wig engineer now - fast hard man then, Me (pink wool jersey...still got it and wear it all the time as a base layer...can't go wrong with wool...I remember grabbing this jersey from Mr. Bike in Lincoln and thinking - wool...I can suck it up on the color (pink)...then I ended up with a Pink Trek that year...weird. Next was the Great Hajo Drees the mad German from Hanover Germany. I think he came in high school on an exchange program and never went back he liked it here in the US so well. Still here. Guy could fly. Forget beating him in a sprint. In a DesMoines crit one time I was still in the group with him and remember thinking I'm just gonna mark his wheel and jump on it when he takes off, so down the finish straight...course was downtown, pretty good course, He goes, it's totally telegraphed no bones about it, so I pull out too and he takes two steps on the pedals and put two bike lengths on me. Gone. Quick. Whoa. Not in the same league. He won everything. Training with him was so hard. Next is Doug Lee, biggest quads I've ever seen. X runner. Got into riding after doing Ragbrai. We called him Crash Lee...guy could TT like crazy, but just had a nack for falling. Couple good crashes and he decided he'd had enough. Still waiting for him to make his running comeback. Next was Mark Anderson. What can I say - Anderhammer. Still working in the bike industry. Specialized Rep. Super good sprinter too. One of the best finishers from Lincoln at Quad Cities - Moline Ill. race ever on the old course. Next was David Cech, One of the reasons I got into riding. Dave's dad owned Mr. Bike, a local bike shop here in town. Bernie Cech rest in peace, let me work there a bit early in college and buy my first race bike- Colnago with a Campy record gruppo - loved that bike. Any way David figured it out quick when we took a trip to Florida to race for about a month and a half one fall. He and the other guy that went with us, Gary Mulder (turned pro too), got rich down there from race winnings...I got sick. Did do my first MTB race ever down in Tampa in 1985...That's another story, but won enough money to get home from that race. Next thing you know David's off in Europe racing for team Xerox with John Eustice I think...Can't remember for sure.

Also of note left in the picture is race promoter Greg Dunbar of Deluxe Cycles. Deluxe put on a few races back then. Included Race from the River...another story.

Little history. Can I tell you who won? Nope. Not me anyway...I could guess Hajo did...But maybe David did? Who knows? I'm sure it was a battle...Hajo, Canney, Anderson on the newly formed Deluxe team together, and David and I battling against them. David was racing for a team out of Tulsa - Gianni Motta...What was the name of that importer? Lewis? Hajo would later ride for the same team. Those guys together kicked arse.