MEETING TYLER

It was a cold and dreary November morning in 1998 when I jumped out my office to grab a cup of Starbucks espresso.  Walking towards the store I noticed two cyclists standing on the sidewalk near the coffee shop.  One of them was wearing full US Postal kit.
Coming closer I realized that the US Postal kit wearer was Tyler Hamilton.  I knew all about him as the CCB alumni, heard all unbelievable stories about him, saw him on TV, but never met him. He lived in Brookline MA at the time and was going through Lexington on his usual monstrous mileage training ride.  I introduced myself as a CCB guy and invited him to ride with us on weekends.  He did not know that we still rides this late in the season, but said he will look into it. I wished him good luck in upcoming season and went for my coffee. “Sure, you will drive 20 miles just to ride with a bunch of misfits (comparatively speaking)” I thought.  
I was wrong.  Two weeks later I found myself riding side-by-side with one of the top professionals in the world.  Not only that, but for the next several years Tyler  became a permanent  fixture on our November-December rides.

 1994. Tyler in Fitchburg.  Photo by Jonathan McElvery