Capitol City Classic Stage race 1983

After some cyphering with a couple folks...we decided it was 1983. Yep...getting old.


This was my first big race, The Capitol City Classic Stage race Oct, 1983. Rob Conner was the promoter.

The stages were a TT out at Pioneer Park from the top of pinewood bowl, out to the Animals and around the bowl to finish. Road Stage was a circuit race out at YankeeHill school, and the final race was a 50 mile Criterium Sunday around the Capitol. This arguably drew the most prestigious racers that have ever raced in Lincoln. Hugh Walton, Steve Tilford, Andy Hampsten, all Team Raleigh. Dale and Wayne Stetina, Glen Sanders from Colorado. Jeff Pierce and Dan Franger who raced on a Schwinn team. In this picture is Dan Franger on the front, followed by Andy Hampsten in the white hard shell. Bianchi guy don't remember his name, Trevor from Kansas, behind him was Gary Mulder, all you can see is his head. Jeff Pierce in the white jersey, over his shoulder is Dale Stetina. The polka dot shoulder jersey guy got 20 overall. Hugh Walton won the overall. Gary Mulder ended up doing well overall. Have to find out.






Hugh Walton was a mulit-national champion of Canada. Andy Hampsten was a first year Senior, future Giro winner. Dale Stetina was the Coors Classic winner that year, and his brother Wayne multi-national champion and Olympic team participant. Steve Tilford...what more to I need to say about him? How about still kicking arse. Jeff Pierce would win the Champ Elysee's the final stage of the Tour de France, 2nd US person to win a stage in the Tour. First was Davis Phinney. Both Phinney and Dale Stetina have sons that are up and coming bike racing studs.


I was so green. David Cech, Doug Lee, Gary Mulder and I raced on a team we put together to help support Gary. All of us except Gary were total neo racers, fresh Category II upgrades just for the end of the season. We were Cat 4's just the Spring of 1983, so we progressed a pretty quickly. We trained with Gary all summer and fall trying to get ready for this race...he'd drag us around on training rides and stretch our physical boundaries.



One memory that especially stands out was Doug Lee and I at the front of the circuit race pulling like crazy for no reason other to chase down one or two riders at the beginning of the race. Lesson one...not the thing to do...wasn't our place. Hugh who was well versed in the nuances of cycling, rolled up next to us, drooling screaming "what the F' are you doing?!!!" "Just chasing" as Doug and I look at each other. Up till then aside from just riding hard with Gary, all our races in Cat 4 and Cat 3 were more or less about sprinting, or just riding so hard that we'd drop most of the rest of the field and through attrition and a little sprint, we'd do pretty well. We were not well versed in the subtleties of real racing. When you get in a pack of such experienced riders, you don't just ride them off your wheel. No - it's a well orchestrated performance, where timing and cunning are a racers friend. Sometimes it's all about survival...just making it to the finish. Sometimes you get dropped, Sometimes you just hang by a thread...you KNOW being on the back of the field is no place to be but you are so wasted you can't even move up. You dig really deep and finally the field sits up, and you can recover. After that effort - sometimes - nothing is harder and in the end you do well. And for this reason you don't give up, cause you just don't know. This is one of the great things in being pushed to a level you are not used to performing.

"It gives you confidence, and when you have confidence, you can have fun, and when you have fun you can win." Joe Namath


When it's stringing out like this you know it hurts. Left, Dan Franger, not sure on next guy, Stan Blanton, Texas; Gary Mulder, David Cech, Kevin Burke...Me with the white hat. Hugh is on the right front with the Raleigh jersey.



That was my experience at this Criterium. I went into it in 21st place overall...I think....It's been a long time. They paid 20 places. I finished the criterium probably 2 -3 laps down to some of those studs. They were waging war with each other, and I was an innocent bystander. I finished in the field, never getting dropped, just lapped and secured 21st place overall. One place out the money, the story of my life. Just finishing this baby was a ceiling breaker and a new plateau.


I've had these pictures so long I don't remember who took them...Sorry

My wife found this poster at a garage sell last year. I kept so few as keep sakes. I'm really bummed I can't find a MTB picture from my first MTB race 1984 in Tampa Florida.

This is the poster from a couple years later -1985.