riding with Al stern
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riding with Al stern
Big Al was weird, he broke 11 cranksets, he didn't pedal in circles, more like triangles, we both raced but Al was stronger and faster but then I was a lot older. Al would talk for hours about races he had been in. I got so that I did that too. I was hanging out with big name cyclists from the past like Torchy Peden. I Knew Mike Neel he was working at Turin bike shop, one day ge told me,"Ya know Allen the other cyclists don't like you for a reason, you came into racing off the streets and you are doing much better than lots of lifelong riders, that isn't supposed to happen anymore" my first few years i was an awful turkey. but tpward the end of my ten years of bike racing i could hang with the pack even break away occaisionally. there were training races in Will county on the frontage road next to I-55. the course was a ten mile lap. we had a 150 mile road race in March it was 6 below. my banana and my water bottles froze solid, i came in first everyone else had quit. I had a ball of ice on my beard. that was the longest single day even up until then. we also raced in Hinsdale in the industrial park. I could go on and on, but i will let u go this time.
#2
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Are you the guy that lost his Strawberry between Peoria and Blomington?
I'm the guy that picked up your bike.
I'm the guy that picked up your bike.
Last edited by big chainring; 08-16-09 at 11:27 AM.
#3
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I raced at the Industrial park in Hinsdsale. I'll never forget showing up one Wednesday evening and Mike Neel, Roger Young, the DeJonkeren brothers(remember them), and a host of others were there. There was a series of bike races, I think Lowenbrau Grand Prix, and these guys just happened to be passing through Chicago going up to Milwaukee and stopped to race that night. One of the best racing series ever. Jeff Bradley would show up quite a bit and race with the seniors while just being an intermediate rider at the time.
I also crewed for Big Al when he did the John Merino Open in Hebron, IL. He laughed and laughed about riding on Coon Trail Road. He thought that was the funniest name for a road, especially after riding 750 miles in 72 hours.
I also crewed for Big Al when he did the John Merino Open in Hebron, IL. He laughed and laughed about riding on Coon Trail Road. He thought that was the funniest name for a road, especially after riding 750 miles in 72 hours.
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Riding with Al Stern
OK, i am in Hot Springs Arkansas, i retired from teaching, and my elderly mother lives here, i left my road bikes in storage in Shelbina Missouri. I am riding a Trek 830 Antelope mountain bike. i am nearly 70 years old but thinking of riding the TT as a grand master. that is if i get my bikes and am ready to ride without causing excessive laughter. i am looking into how many guys my age rode this past championship-Allen L btw nice to hear from u
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I raced a lot in the 80s with Al in Masters Races.
I remember one time at Sauk Village during an early Spring Race that Al and I were off the front for a couple laps and the refs were enforcing the yellow line rule harshly. So, here was Al and I all by ourselves and he was slowing down in the corners to like <10 mph. I kept talking to him calmly, trying to guide him through the semi-wet corners so that the two of us could succeed, which we ultimately did. He could pedal all day, but he couldn't corner for crap.
I remember one time at Sauk Village during an early Spring Race that Al and I were off the front for a couple laps and the refs were enforcing the yellow line rule harshly. So, here was Al and I all by ourselves and he was slowing down in the corners to like <10 mph. I kept talking to him calmly, trying to guide him through the semi-wet corners so that the two of us could succeed, which we ultimately did. He could pedal all day, but he couldn't corner for crap.
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Keep the chain tight!
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Al told me this guy on a bike had said to him "you aint no racer." then zoomed past Al, when he had a gap he turned off down a side street to the right, as Al went by he shouted," Clark street racer!"
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I am alive and well. I have a real racing bike now. but god I am so slow, on the flats i can make a whole 21 miles per hour. but only for a short time. I love a film called "breaking away" and also "American flyers" as an aging cyclist, I am sort of reenacting my bicycle racing years. Not by actually racing but wearing the shorts and jersey and etc.
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Oh, and another thing, for some reason the results of that race( the Will County 150) were published in Velonews. Does that mean that I am the record holder for winning the longest single day event in the USA? see. i am a time trialist, and a rolleur. and very stubborn too. the officials kept telling me to quit. that they would give me the win. but I wanted to finish and have my time elapsed on record.
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Aluminum Stem
I misread the title of this thread and thought it was about riding with an Aluminum stem. I expected that if there were any replies at all, they would say "riding with an aluminum stem is, you know, pretty much just fine. All in all, aluminum is completely acceptable for making bicycle stems out of. Quite nice, actually."
Humph.
Humph.
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Al Stern was Jewish, and he loved to joke about being the only Jew riding instead of selling bikes, I loved him, he was a character. His dad was ww2 veteran, I met his mom and his sister, they were characters too. I really don't know what has become of big Al, but I suspect it isn't good because i saw an ad for an Al Stern memorial race. I was an Al, there was the state rep of the USCF Al Herreweyers and there was Al Stern.