The upside to bright colors it that I was noticed, so there was less chance of being smushed by a big truck. I was young and stupid anyway. I thought the tank top would keep me cool.
I never gave much thought to how I was improving on the bicycle, but on one particular ride I decided to go topless, had a flat tire, and was caught in a heavy downpour as I stood in someone's yard, with parts of my bike lying all around me. I was eighteen miles out and some kid rode up to me and started talking. He invited me to his house to use his phone. I thought it was strange, inviting a total stranger, dripping wet, who was wearing nothing but a thin pair of spandex shorts, into his house, but when his father walked in he said,"Dad, this is the guy I've been telling you about". He'd seen me riding many times but could never catch me. My old pal Phil drove over to Iowa to pick me up in the rain. It's great to have friends.
Back to Bill...he rode with the local cycling club so I showed up for a few rides. It was fun, not too difficult, and I'd always manage to shake things up at the end to be the first to make it back. There was one guy who was pretty good but I was always better. One day the club members were talking about an allegedly very-difficult course and they called it something like "Suicide Hill". I was curious about where this place was until I found out they were talking about my daily training route, which I'd been burning up. I was riding the hilly
