I won the 1981 Cat's
Hill.
The announcer had
pointed out all the
women in green outfits
(BBC, sponsored by
specialized imports)
saying "your winner
will be one of these
ladies".
It was my first USCF
crit. My then -boyfriend
Gary Fisher had just
taught me how to do
a trackstand at a light
a half hour before
the race started.
I was on a 23 " Peugeout
(2 inches too tall
for my 5-9 bod), wearing
an
orange and white Emily
K jersey I'd won in
a road race earlier
in the year.
1981 was my first year
of racing and Cats
Hill probably was my
first
non-collegiate race.
I had no jersies other
than this one, and
I thought it
needed a little help.
It was white on top,
and had a horizontal
band of lace
I tacked where the
orange began. Tres
chic. Also, I wore
a hard shell Bell
Biker, at a time when
these life-saving buckets
were very much scorned,
and
USCF hadn't had to
deal with litigation
yet (3 years more til
the Barb
Buchan case which obliged
all racer to wear a
z-90 standard hardshell)...
I think the vets started
with us, it was the
first time I'd heard
names like
Fred Fisk, Bob Tezlaff
(he might have been
the announcer?) etc/
Anyhow, I was a hill-hoppin
fool, and I even survived
the rotten patched
concrete, and a very
loose headset to win
by at least a half
minute over the
greenies.
Jacquie Phelan
Aka Alice B. Toeclips
