The Fremont Twilight Series is a fun one occurring every Thursday evening during the better months of the year (May to September). The course is a smooth, flat, wide and simple .65 mile rectangle with a twist: the wind. Sometimes it is not much of a factor, but when it blows one had better be adept at riding in an echelon, a diagonal version of the classic pace line that shelters one from the wind.
In the summer of 1987, Tony Barletta and I discovered that the Fremont Twilights had its own secret formula like that of the Oakland Twilights. (see Oakland Twilights Series Story ) We would simply wait until the halfway point, and then from the back of the pack, launch a ridiculously agressive surprise attack. There were few occasions in which our bold move was challenged by those caught off-guard, but those attempts generally proved to be futile.
Tony and I would each take half lap turns at the front. My half was the tailwind, while Tony's was the headwind. Each of us were truly convinced that the other was doing more than half the work.
I was in awe of how Tony would power into that headwind. While his high-output pedalling style was a little rough, it was all sorted out by the time the energy found its way to the pavement, and Tony rode a remarkably straight line into a wind which varied in both velocity and direction. I was confident in him to the extent that we innocuously made contact on a number of occasions. Tony's speed was as steady as a metronome until he was out of the way after pulling off halfway between turns one and two.
Tony would then pull in, and I would continue at his previous speed going into turn two while he got settled in. Then I would turn the screws, accelerating slowly but (to Tony) seemingly endlessly on the tailwind stretch. We had turn three figured out quite well, and Tony would just barely manage to stay with me as I took it wide without slowing down in the least. We would still have the same high pace as we bombed into turn four, and at that point I was only more than glad to pass the reigns back to Tony and quickly take shelter in his medium-sized but predictable wake.
This routine would continue until the race's finish at which point we alternated taking the first honors. Almost without exception, we were between a quarter of a lap or a half of a lap ahead of the pack at the finish. The one remarkable exception was when Jan Zaluda (a.k.a. "The Count" by the Bike Barb) chased us down when we were a quarter of a lap ahead of the pack. Everybody (especially Tony and I) were amazed by this solo feat of athleticism, and it was somewhat less of a surprise when Jan put his reknowned mental abilities and track skills to use in the final sprint, beating Tony and I quite decisively despite our best efforts.
The Fremont Twilights have changed little since then. In fact, I have had the pleasure of anonymously (well, almost) sitting at the back of the pack and watching a new set of leaders show their stuff. Admittedly, the speeds achieved today are well above those of a decade ago, but the flavor is still the same.