
Los Tres Amigos and the 3 Muses all got up and out of The Castle by sometime around 10am on the 29th of August…..as Los Tres Amigos headed south out of central Los Angeles on La Paz Road in the direction of Mission Viejo….as they were heading to a Mexican food restaurant called Tortilla Flats that Audrey knew about….calling it the best Mexican food on the Left Coast….which happened to be right on the path of the road course for the Olympic Men’s Cycling Individual Road Race. The girls had taken their cars to their places to freshen up…..with plans of meeting the boys at the restaurant by noon. It was around 11am on the morning when Los Tres Amigos (Bone Daddy, Sky Pilot & Prince of Pleasure) arrived at the famous L A Mexican food taco joint known as “Tortilla Flats”…..for this was a dual purpose destination…..as the restaurant was located right on the Olympic cycling road race course….as the leaders followed by the peleton were to pass by sometime around 12:20 pm…..but also to meet a friend of Los Tres Amigos, known as Dirty White Boy…. who had flown in from San Francisco to spend a couple of day’s with the boys from Texas on their “Rocket Run” at the 1984 Olympics. While waiting for the leaders of the “road race” to come into sight……as they began the climb up the long continually inclining hill that rose to the home of Tortilla Flats….cuz that is when Los Tres Amigos brought Dirty White Boy up to speed about spending their first night at the Olympics with the “Three Muses of Turk” watching the Opening Ceremony at The Magic Castle…..while partying all night….which prompted DWB to say….“Ya’ll have got to be crazy….after a night like last night….it’s barely the roar of noon….and you’re off to see a bicycle road race….which you get to watch for maybe a whole minute and a half as the cyclists pass buy….and on top of all of that….ya’ll are gonna eat greasy Mexican food….man ya’ll got to be crazy.” However, not long after his comment is when The Three Muses Of Turk (Wei, Audrey and Chauncey)….when after taking in the scenery….that is when Dirty White Boy was heard saying “Oh, now I understand….ya’ll are just wild and crazy boys.”
Olympics – 1984 – Los Angeles Games – Cycling Highlights
DOG ASIDE:
I can hardly believe this….but BD swears the 3 Muses got caught up into the Olympic experience….as BD is always saying always….”Really L E….the 3 Muses were excited about seeing an Olympic event” . That may be true….but my guest is that “there was something else that was keeping them on the line”. (Sometimes I just kill myself….cuz I’m so good with puns and double meanings.) Anyway for whatever the reason….the fact was that the 3 Muses, when it came to sports, had only seen one live soccer match between the three of them in their whole lives….and all of a sudden were getting up from a night of being rode hard and put up wet….and heading to an Olympic competition with Los Tres Amigos from Texas. So you tell me what the real reason was….cuz they wanted to see Olympic cycling….cuz they wanted some greasy Mexican food….cuz my boys were so good looking, soave and sophisticated….or cuz they were packin’!?! And my response is simple….“I luv L A too!!!”….and I have never been there.
Olympics – 1984 – Cycling Men’s Road Race – Featuring USA Alexi Grewal (gold) + CAN Steve Bauer (Silver) + NOR Dag Otto Lauritzen (bronze)
Tortilla Flats lived up to Audrey’s billing….as it provided a birds-eye view of the cyclists as they passed by. Our band of merry makers arrived at The Flats around 11am….to find that The Flats weren’t flat at all….as the place actually sat on the steepest incline of a serious climb up a mountain…..as La Paz Road meandered back and forth along one of the more challenging sections of the Olympic cycling road course….and on this day The Flats were blessed to have a full house. Within an hour and a half of arriving and settling down to get a bite to eat….the leaders of the race arrived first….a break away group from the main peloton….including four Americans (Phinney, Thurlow, Grewal and Kiefel)….two Norwegians (Lauritzen and Saether)….two Mexicans (Alcala and Ramos)….and one each Canadian (Bauer), Swiss (Trinkler) and Colombian (Mora). This lead group was maybe two and a half minutes ahead of the main peloton on their breakaway at this point in the race….and it seemed obvious as they passed by The Flats….that the Americans had a distinct advantage…. cuz they had four riders who could work together during the grueling 191 km race. This first group to pass by The Flats…. included the eventual medal winners….as the band of merry makers were to find out later….whereby Alexi Grewal won America’s first gold medal of the L A Olympics….Steve Bauer of Canada won silver….with Dag Otto Lauritzen from Norway winning bronze. Within a few short minutes after the lead group passed out of sight….then came the whole peloton….and within 10 minutes….the entire show at The Flats was over. Albeit since the cyclists were going up a steep incline….they were moving slow enough to be able to see their faces….which were fixed and concentrated….sometime wrought with pain….but never wavering. Bone Daddy said he was impressed by the indelible mental image it made….by the mental machines that these cyclists had created in their minds and bodies. He also was impressed with the sound of the peloton as it passed by….even while going up a significant incline….he said you could hear the power of the aerodynamics of the group pulling each other along. The shortness of actual time that passed allowing every competitor to come into sight and pass out of sight was around 22 minutes….so this allowed our band of happy travelers time to head back to L A in time to get to the Olympic Swim Stadium by 4pm for the afternoon and evening session of the swimming competition….to which the boys had tickets from their original mail order pack.
Cycling – 1983 & 1984 – Highlights – Alexi Grewal Coors Bicycle Classic Rides
Los Tres Amigos followed the muses back at Wei’s downtown office….where they left their cars. What a wonderful fantasy had come into focus while on a magic carpet ride that these three ladies had brought to my boys over the past 24 hrs. And from all indications….those party girls from the Left Coast…..sure had a grand time….so much so….that all six participants unanimously wanted this fantasy to continue…..so a date was made for the coming Friday night for the 3 Muses and Los Tres Amigos….to meet again….with plans to have dinner on the Queen Mary at the wharf in San Diego….which would provide a nice break and aside from the mission at hand.
Olympics – 1984 – Cycling Men’s Road Race Highlights – Featuring Alexi Grewal