"If you have enough willpower and you want something bad enough, you can get your body to do anything...anything" - Jock Boyer 1985 Race Across America
Jock is the most underrated world class cyclist of all time. His resume reads like an freaking Odyssey - with everything from a Coors Classic GC win to Race Across America including the first American to race the TdF (5 tours and 12th overall). He won RAAM in 1985 after folks told him that a TdF racer could never win an endurance event. Not only did he prove them wrong, but he decided to win RAAM again in 2006 at the age of 51.
He was also involved in the folkloric episode of the 1982 World Road Race where he and LeMond would have to agree to disagree for life. Boyer ended up in the break however, he was not known for his sprint, so LeMond (who could absolutely lay it down in a sprint) decided that he had a better chance of winning and bridged up to the break. That plan seemed to be working well for the Americans with one small exception which happened to be glued to LeMond's wheel and did I mention that this exception had to have his cycling shorts custom made to accommodate his quads - Giuseppe Saronni. LeMond bridged Giuseppe right on up to the break and they took Gold (Saronni) and Silver (LeMond).
For the record:
Jock has paid his debt to society and is working on Project Rowanda. The last time I saw Jock I was painting a fire hydrant on the corner of Broadway and Highland in the city of Seaside and he was pushing a huge gear (just like 85' RAAM) and he gave me a puzzled double take as I yelled out, "go Greyhound". My blue collar brothers were not as impressed with the skinny pedal pusher as I was - go figure.
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