More old-school bike racing pictures
I finally got to go through and separate the pictures from the 1978 Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, MA. Apparently this is a stage race now. But back then it was a single-day criterium in downtown Fitchburg. The course was about a mile, and it went up and down a hill in town. The race itself was something like 100km.
I don’t remember a lot about the race itself. I rode the whole thing, staying snug inside the pack. I didn’t try to do anything fancy. But it was still a fun time. About the only real memory I have of the race is that I spent a good part of it following Jon Schuster. He was a Category 1 racer with the Indy USA team, which was the big team of the day. A lot of the National Team members rode with them, including the Stetina brothers. Wayne Stetina won the race that day. But I followed Jon because he was big. Like a moose. And when he moved through the pack, it was like the Parting of the Red Sea. Everyone just got out of his way. And I just sort of followed along. It was fun.
So have a look at the photos from that day. It’s old-school late-’70s bike racing at its best.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I’ve enjoyed your stories about racing in the late ’70s. I came into the sport a few years after you and raced probably the final few editions of Nutley before the race ceased to exist (early 1990s?) and I believe I’ve raced Fitchburg on the course in your photos. The current criterium course at Fitchburg is a block or two away from the version pictured here.
I have some pretty vivid memories of Nutley (unfortunately, no photos of my own) and I can imagine exactly where on the circuit most of the your photos were shot. And that’s a great story, too, about your ride at Nutley. Did you ever do the Memorial Day weekend trifecta of the Gotham Cup, Tour of Nutley, and Tour of Somerville?
April 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Wow!!! What a cool trip down memory lane!! Thanks for that. i have done a very poor job of staying in touch with my cycling friends…very poor indeed. i’ve lost track of nearly all of them, i was actually putzing around looking for some info on the stetinas, who i used to live 5 doors down from and who got me started, when i stumbled across this. i had heard just recently tht roy had passed not long ago, without my knowledge, and was actually trying to find some things on him…and ended up here. how unbelievably fun and cool to find this!
i vividly recall many races from that time, including Nutley, somerville, hartford, fitchburg, walpole, rahway, i lived at T-town…the list goes on! my dad, who did all of administrative stuff for indy/usa, loved nutley most of all. there was some little place he used to sneak off to to get a sausage several times while we were there. never would tell us where. funny, fond memory. dad passed two years ago, too.
i don’t recall the specifics of this particular race (1978), but i recall being a popular wheel to be on…and zipping through fields. man, remember how fast the somerville race used to be?? had to be on the breaks half the stretch if you were in the rear of that pack…just got sucked right along.
what fun to have all these pictures to look at. thanks for the memories…if you have any more…put ‘em up!!!
again, thanks a million!
jon schuster
July 18th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Stan,
I don’t remember you, but recognise so many of the faces in your racing photos from the 1970s. I rode for NJBC as a junior and then shifted to CYBC and raced on a pink (magenta!) Dawes road bike. I rode all those races, Nutley, Sommerville, Fitchburg, Maine International, Hartford and others and sometimes with Jon Schuster. I retired in 1977 and stopped riding for about 20 years. I now live in Australia and I’m watching the Tour de France. Go Cadel!
Cheers
John Kalish
February 21st, 2010 at 2:47 am
the bikers in 70’s may nothave had the powerful bikes as today, but they had more courage, why not callfor a race for those racers
August 1st, 2016 at 6:37 pm
Hi Jon Schuster – if you’re still around, contact me. would like to know if you’re in the INDY area and still ride. Would like to fill you in on Dale. Thx