Don Hanson
Don't laugh at the post about the whole field being
cited for not stopping at the stop sign. It's not far
from real life..
Back in the '80s I lived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The Highway patrol there was very anti-bicycle,
especially one short little trooper. Each Sept. a
large USCF race finished in Teton Village, a ski resort
near Jackson. The LOTJA, at 208 miles, the longest
bike race sanctioned by USCF..from Logan, Utah to
Jackson, Wy.
So, this one little trooper, Dave Schofield, decides
to take it on himself to get back at all those elitist
bike creeps, and calls his boss in Cheyenne, asking it
he can enforce all the traffic laws..The desk jockey in
Cheyenne says "sure, Dave, the laws are the same for
everyone" not realizing that some 500 racers compete in
the LOTJA and bring all their support crews and
business into Jackson Hole and Logan, Utah...
So Officer Schofield calls the organizers the day
before the race and says.."Be advised that all stop
signs on the route of your little race MUST be
obeyed!" There are only really two stops in Wyoming on
the course..So the organizers mention that in the
pre-race riders talk...(about 5am-pitch dark).."Ok, it
is a race but the Wy. Highway Patrol tells us we have
to stop at the stop sign in Jackson..."
So as the lead pack (about 10 riders) comes to the
one stop sign on the outskirts of Jackson, where the
course turns left...Here's Officer Schofield, with his
cruiser parked in the middle of the street...(very very
wide street about 6 lanes..no traffic) He is standing
in the middle of the highway, yelling.."You must
stop...Halt!..stop..Obey the law!, etc etc." as all the
racers, who by then have been about 8 hour in the
saddle with another 10 miles to the finish, ignore him
and race on through..So the next chase group, who see
this, keep hammering. Officer Schofield pulls his
six-shooter and takes a shooter's stance....Yelling
"Halt, Halt..in the name of the law..." Those guys
stopped. But then he got tired of standing out there
and drove away, so everyone else rode on through....
The next year, the organizers finished the race in
Idaho...Schofield was then transferred to Rock Springs
(NOT a promotion) The Wy. State Patrol decided to
allow a 'special exception' for organized bike races,
after all the motels and hotels wrote in and complained
about the money they didn't make because of that stop
sign and Officer Schofield...
That race still happens each Sept. if you are
interested...BTW..
Don Hanson