I was at the turn-around that day (I was too poor to afford the entry fee). I very well remember the long line of traffic that was held up just before the "big guys" (Frey, Bostick, etc.) came through the turn around just north of Estancia, including some very slow-accelerating, heavily loaded trucks.

Now, having been there myself, I know how much a truck moving at speeds in the 40s (mph) helps when you're averaging 34 mph yourself.  I've had a lot of long car trips with Kent Bostick to hear the inch-by-inch replay of that day. Many factors were at play, but the bottom line is that Frey was the only guy who could pedal that fast that day (on a fixie, no less...). Recall that Frey also win the national TT championship at the 1988 Olympic trials, ahead of arguably one of the most talented group of American TT strong-men ever assembled (Norm Alvis, etc.).

I've been on Frey's wheel in many hard races, and the guy was the master of the "big wind-up," where everyone else was completely spun out, or maxed out, and he could always reach for more with just a little more RPM that no one else could muster.  I can vividly remember the look of his pedal stroke and the back of his legs, and how he would actually sit up straighter and higher on his bike to do it (vs. the famous "Bosti-meter" head tilt and full spasm body crouch of Kent Bostick).

Besides Jim Warsa, anyone else remember the "Great Vaughn to Roswell Road Race" the day we had that tailwind and did 90+miles in like 2:45? Classic John Frey conditions...

On Jul 20, 2016 1:15 PM, "Warsa, James S" <warsa@lanl.gov> wrote:

​​Weather. Double-tailwind that day.


--
Jim Warsa
Transport Methods Section
Computational Physics and Methods Group, CCS-2
Computer, Computational and Statistical Sciences Division
Los Alamos National Laboratory

From: Bike-racers <bike-racers-bounces@mailman.swcp.com> on behalf of George Tapley via Bike-racers <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 12:19 PM
To: paul; Craig M. Doolittle; Craig Denman; Clay Moseley; Chad Patterson; NM Bike Racers
Subject: Re: [NMCycling] Mari Holden trivia
 
Chad, 
Back in the fast days before the shoulder there was the tire wear strip. That was the fast line.   

I know I have spoken with a number of people over the years on the record and many will not attempt it because the 
course is not closed.    One team manager actually said that Frey had to be drafting the day he set his record. 

Yeah, Steve Wood had just graduated from Highland High.  I think he is still the youngest winner of road nationals 
and may still have the largest winning margin.   A ride legends are made of.  Flatted 2x caught back solo both times. 
Went through the field and attacked after the second lap.  Tom Doughty was the only one to go with him.  Then he dropped
Doughty on Watertower hill.   Solo'd in for the victory.




On Wednesday, July 20, 2016 8:36 AM, paul via Bike-racers <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com> wrote:


...and the alibaba face mask, gigantic spoke protector (disk wheel precursor), Schwinn Ashtabula forks, 12 spokes(?), ...

On 07/19/2016 05:26 PM, Craig M. Doolittle via Bike-racers wrote:
And on the bottom of his shoes!
 
From: Bike-racers [mailto:bike-racers-bounces@mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Craig Denman via Bike-racers
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 5:21 PM
To: Clay Moseley; Chad Patterson; NM Bike Racers
Subject: Re: [NMCycling] Mari Holden trivia
 
I remember John Frey's first TT record because I spent so much time looking at the stenciled 51:57 on the back of his seat tube -- and recall the 600-grit sandpaper on all of the tube leading edges placed there for the hype of speed.
Craig Denman
 
On 07/19/2016 03:53 PM, Clay Moseley via Bike-racers wrote:
John Frey once held the national record at around 52:00 early in his career with RGRT.  I remember when it was still above the 50:00 mark around 1987 or so, then came the "fast years" from 1988 to recent.  I think Kent was the first one to go sub-50 with his Ten-Speed Drive Guercotti, and within a year he got that down to 48:44 or so, when Frey did his thing in 1990 (47:35?).  On that same day, Kent also went 47:40-something.  I only recall one other person going sub-48 on the Moriarty course, and that was Colby Pearce with his high-dollar Lotus and Superman position.  In recent years, it seems that the 50:00 minute barrier has become harder to break. 
 
All that being said, I think the Brits were the first ones to make the 25-mile time trial a famous distance that was focused on for speed records.  Our times compare closely with theirs, but it wasn't until Boardman came along that the 47-minute barrier was broken.  Then there was a string of them as well.
 
Anyway, back to your original question, Mari Holden's time is pretty killer.  Many top-level (Pro/Cat-1) men can't time trial that fast on an equitable course with the same conditions.  That time will stand for a while.
 
 
 
 
On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 2:37 PM, Chad Patterson via Bike-racers <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
Can anyone tell me the last time a 51:36 would've been the outright winner of Record Challenge?  I'm just looking for something that will illustrate to the average sports fan how ridiculously fast that is.

Sent from my iPhone
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