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Roger Dawson story

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Roger Dawson story

Old 07-12-06, 06:45 PM
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Roger Dawson story

I wrote this story a few years back and thought I'd share it here. I changed this character's name to Roger Dawson. This story is about a real person, however. Maybe a few of you will read it and perhaps figure out who Roger Dawson really is.

Roger Dawson:

Roger Dawson was one hard core cyclist. I was 27 and he was 46. I admired him because he was hard core--a cyclist down to his bones. I knew he was hard core the first time I heard his telephone answering machine.."Hi, this is Roger, I'm probably out on my bike. Leave a message."

Roger once explained to me why cyclists shave their legs.
"I shave my legs only because it shows that I think like a cyclist, No other reason. If I think like a cyclist, then I should also look like one!"
He went on to say... "I will never let a cyclist with hairy legs beat me!"
From the moment I heard that, I knew the reason why I would shave my legs too.
Roger, moustached, with his square eye glasses--the kind that change tint when you go outside in the sunlight--was a regular at the tuesday, thursday, and sunday fast club rides. Roger was always the first one to arrive at the shop for these club jaunts. No matter how early I arrived, Roger would always be there getting ready..pumping tires, filling water bottles, changing into full club kit.

I admired Roger's bike. He had the coolest Merlin Ti frame with full Dura Ace. Pro level stuff!
I rode a black, aluminum Cannondale at the time, with the infamous grey Shimano 105 group of days gone by. Roger hated my bike and never missed an opportunity to tell me this.
"No hard core cyclist would ever ride such a hideous machine." he would say.
Roger would just roll his eyes whenever I slipped up and referred to my Cannondale as a 'bike'.
Roger hated my bike almost as much as he hated Campagnalo components. Roger was a Shimano man!
My wife wasn't too crazy about me hangin' out with Roger because she thought I would surely come home one day wanting a $4000 Merlin, with Dura Ace. She was right!

Roger liked to play coach out on the club rides, and was alway shouting constructive advice.
"keep your knees in close to the top tube!"...."OK, racing's over...shift to your small rings and lets cool down these last few miles!" On and on.
Sometimes we appreciated his advice, but not always.
It was rumoured that Roger was once a helluva cat 2 racer, but it seems that age had slowed him down a bit these days. He was alway rotating through the pace lines until the speed got really fast, then he would sit at the back and not pull through until the speed came down to his liking.
Roger was impossible to drop, however. You would look back and see him at the back struggling...his head bobbing, Body swinging side to side, and pedaling squares. After a few minutes of this, Roger would jump back in line and lift the pace of the group, as if he was the strongest one in the bunch. I often wondered where he got these sudden bursts of energy.
Most often, he would come around and win the street sign sprints after bobbing off the back, as if he were about to bonk. Roger often bragged that he was a true sprinter.
Roger was still lost in his glory days, when he was a raging cat 2.

Roger had the coolest Dodge Caravan. He had it decked out as if it were an official team car. Our club sponsor's decals and magnetics were all over the van, as well as a bike rack on top. I knew this van was kool when I saw the wheel mount on the roof rack. Whenever I saw the van out on the highway, there was always a couple of trick wheels mounted on it, spinning in the wind.
That was soooo kool--just like I remembered seeing on TV while watching the Tour Dupont on ESPN.

One of our sponsors was Joe's pizza parlor. Joe's Pizza parlor had the nicest and largest decal on Roger's van. I believe that Roger had worked out something with Joe to get free pizzas. For some odd reason, Roger never told us about this arrangement, and rarely shared free pizzas with us. I remeber the first time I went to Roger's apartment, there was a suspicious stack of empty Joe's pizza boxes in the kitchen. Nothing remained in these boxes, other than crumbs and traces of hard, dried mozzarella.

I always liked stopping by Roger's house after the club rides.
When you walked into Roger's place, you immediately knew that a cyclist lived there. There were posters of Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon on the walls...as well as an autographed pic of Roger's all-time favorite cyclist, Theo De Rooey. There were stacks upon stacks of cycling mags that included my favorites... Winning magazine, Cyclesport,Velonews, and even Graham Watson picture books. Hell, there were cycling trading cards laying around on the floor.
I saw my first original wool 'Brooklyn chewing gum' jersey at Roger's.
Only hard core cyclists like Roger had the wool Brooklyn jersey.
Sometimes you couldn't walk through his living room without stepping on the cycling paraphanalia.

There were shelves filled with cycling videos at Roger's place, most of which were pirated copies. Whenever I was at Roger's, there was always a cycling video playing on the VCR. Roger had a big screen TV, and it was wired into his stereo system. You haven't seen a cycling video unless you've watched one at Roger's. It was so kool to watch Lemond and Fignon battle it out on Alp d'huez on the big screen with Phil Liggett calling the action in stereo--and volume on max!
Being at Roger's place was like visiting 'cycling heaven'.

This was in the early to mid nineties, a time when the internet had yet to proliferate. This was a time when cycling mags and videos were like pure gold to the 'hard core' cyclist. I often left Roger's with a hand full of borrowed magazines and videos. Sometimes, but rarely, Roger would share one of those free pizzas from Joe's.
If I were single like Roger, I would have a pad just like his.
Perhaps Lance Armstrong had a pad like this?

It was always fun to go to the races with Roger, because he would support you to the hilt. First off, You got a chance to tavel to the races in that cool 'team' van, and your bike's front wheel could spin freely on the roof rack. You always felt as if you were on the Motorola team when you showed up at the races in Roger's 'team' van. Further, having Roger at the races with you was just like having a pro team director..or so it seemed. Roger would always take your bike off the van and check it out pre-race.
He would always make sure that you warmed up properly and that your tires were pumped to the proper pressure.
Sometimes, other cyclist would come over to see if they could get some air from Roger's pump. Roger, before giving up the hose, would always scold them first for not coming to the races prepared. I would cringe with embarrasssment.
In Roger's mind, no hardcore cyclist would ever come to the races without their own pump, unprepared.

During the races Roger was always standing on the side of the road shouting instructions. If you were up front with a gap, Roger would always let you know your time splits. Sometimes he would even attempt to hand you water bottles or perhaps try to run along side you long enough to squirt you down. After the race was over, Roger would always be there to take your bike and pour cold water over your head. Later in the day, Roger would race in the master's group. Roger always got dropped off the back. Yet, in spite of this, he always continued to ride as hard and fast as he could, and 'rarely' complained or gave excuses when he finished 'out of the money'. Roger always finished 'out of the money'.

It was always a long day at the races with Roger because you had to stay and watch every race. Whenever you were with Roger, you were always one of the last to leave at the end of the day. I was fortunate to have an influence like Roger around when I first began my adventures with the bicycle because he taught me about 'hard core cycling'.

Roger was a colorful character now indelibly linked to my early days as a young cyclist.
He would be proud that I am more 'hard core' than ever before. Conversely, Roger would be disappointed that I choose Campagnolo these days, even if it is an upgrade to my old grey Shimano 105's. I haven't seen my old 'director sportivo' in over 10 years. I heard that Roger took another job out of town and had to relocate. The club rides have not been the same without him. I have lately wondered what Roger might be up to these days. I have even thought of finding his number on the internet. I have no doubts that Roger is still going out to the races to help the younger riders. I'm just as certain that he is a regular on the fast club rides, wherever his current locale may be, and still bobbing off the back and winning the street sign sprints. I bet I could call him up right now and find out, but surely I would get the following message on his answering machine..."Hello! This is Roger. I'm probably out riding my bike..."
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Old 07-12-06, 09:08 PM
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This thread deserves a reply... I just don't know what to say. Nice story, though!
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Old 07-12-06, 09:42 PM
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I enjoyed that. Thanks.
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Old 07-13-06, 05:31 AM
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I have no idea "who Roger Dawson really is," but I would like to know if you meant the tone of the piece to be, well, a little bit sarcastic. And I also noticed that you apparently went back to Shimano on your Trek.... a small act of homage to Roger?
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