Bubba Melcher makes transition from gridiron to road bike

When cycling fans look back on the 2003 Tour de France in years to come, they're most likely going to have vivid memories of the crash scene from the dramatic 15th stage in the Pyrenees on Monday.

Lance Armstrong, nursing the slimmest of leads in the overall standings, decided that the time had come to make his move. But as he began to accelerate away from the field on the last ascent toward Luz-Ardiden, he crashed after a spectator's outstretched bag caught his handlebars. Germany's Jan Ullrich had an open road to victory and the overall lead as he glanced back and saw both Armstrong and Iban Mayo of Spain down on the road. Instead of surging ahead, however, Ullrich formed a line with several other riders and waited for the two fallen riders to recover and catch up to the lead pack.

Back in Reno, Bubba Melcher watched the scene with a knowing smile. The sportsmanship and camaraderie Ullrich showed are two of the qualities Melcher so much enjoys about cycling, a sport in which he has emerged as a national-caliber master's age group racer -- after hanging up his football cleats.

This is Brett "Bubba" Melcher, a four-year starting tight end for the University of Nevada from 1978-81, former head football coach at Galena High School (where he still teaches), and a man well versed on the importance of knowing about killer instinct.

Try and picture Melcher, in the biggest football game of the year, catching a pass and having an open field for the winning touchdown after the defender tripped and fell. Would he have stopped and waited for the opposing player to get back up and continue the pursuit?

Melcher simply laughed at the comparison.

"It would have never happened," he said. "Football is such a fierce environment. In football, you're taught to knock the guy down and then you want to go kick them in the teeth while they're still down.

"It's just different in cycling. The competition is still fierce, but there is etiquette. It's a gentleman's agreement that you don't attack when the other guy is down."

The sportsmanship shown on Monday was payback from a similar incident in 2001 when Ullrich crashed on a steep descent from a mountain pass and was allowed to catch up after Armstrong held up the lead pack.

"You never want to burn bridges in cycling and that's one of the reasons," Melcher said. "The bottom line is, the next race you and your team show up at, you want to be known as gentlemen. That's part of the camaraderie."

It's an attraction that lured Melcher -- all of 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds -- to the world of competitive cycling. And he's doing quite well, thank you.

Melcher placed second in a master's criterium at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic on May 31 and was fifth in a high-powered men's 35-and-over field at the Nevada City Classic on June 15.

This weekend, he will race in the eighth annual Carson Valley Classic, which includes a criterium in downtown Minden on Saturday and the Diamond Valley Road Race Sunday in Alpine County. Competition begins at 8 a.m. both days.

"That's going to be a big race," Melcher said, noting that Sunday will be a district championship road race. "The field should be good just because it is a championship race, and the guys down there always do a good job of putting on a good race."

It will also be a good chance for Melcher to prepare for the U.S. Cycling Federation Masters National Championships in Louisville, Ky., on Aug. 4-9. It will be his fourth trip to the masters nationals, highlighted by his men's 40-44 age group criterium championship two years ago in Spokane, Wash. He is looking forward to this trip.

"I'm going to focus on the time trial and criterium," Melcher said. "But you know what, it doesn't get any easier from one year to the next. Those guys aren't slowing down any. This is a sport you can do until you're in your 70s or 80s."

And that's another attraction of cycling.

"I love the competition and I love the camaraderie," Melcher said. "I feel very fortunate to be married, have three kids and have a job that allows me to train and still enjoy life. I can go out and laugh and not take this too seriously, yet still be able to fulfill this competitive edge."

While Melcher has a considerably different outlook than he did as a football player at Nevada, make no mistake about it, he is still highly competitive. That's another reason why he had an appreciation for the exchange of sportsmanship between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich.

"There's no doubt, you know you've beaten them fair and square," Melcher said. "You know when you win, it's the real deal."

Dave Price is a sports writer for the Nevada Appeal