The closest I got was riding in a peloton with John Howard during a race at Central Park, NYC back in the early 80s. The pace was fast and quite a rush.
Below are some shots I took circa 90-91 at IIRC, the Tour de Trump. It was a circuit race around Central Park. The closest I got was a few pics post race of Raul Alcala (the winner), and Andy Hampsten. I think that's Steve Bauer following a tow from a Canadian rider.
Raul Alcala is prob sitting in the same van as the one in Richmond. Maybe even same jersey. Same with Andy Hampsten. Man, I should have mounted on one those PDM Concorde bikes and taken off... that would have been a great souvenir
I did pick up a Team Lotto water bottle. When I saw it being tossed, I ran like hell to get it. I had to mow through kids and old people to get to it, first. Just like Constanza... Well, not quite like that
Being the bike hoarder that I am, it pains me to see all of those TdF water bottles, musette bags, etc being tossed around France.
Anyway, great brushes. Fun reading