He can have a beer. Days before Lodi, Gerlach gave hundreds of fans lining the streets in Davis, California, a glimpse of the talent that had always prompted local cycling enthusiasts to wonder what might have been.
Had he trained and lived properly, many have wondered, might Gerlach have a Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix title to his name by now, instead of racing for entry fees and meal money? In the Davis race on the Fourth of July, Gerlach attacked perhaps a dozen times and was clearly the class of the field, riding away from the pack only to see others bridge up to him but fail to do the work to stay out front.
On the final straightaway, there was Gerlach in full flight at the head of the pack with reigning U. Gerlach remained in the saddle and simply powered his way toward the line, finishing fourth. Bahati bested McCook in a photo finish. Three weeks later, Gerlach sat slumped in front of a Sacramento grocery store asking shoppers on their way out if they could spare some change.
Get the latest race news, results, commentary, and tech, delivered to your inbox. Photo: Allan Crawford. Weekly Newsletter Get the latest race news, results, commentary, and tech, delivered to your inbox. Think again. The young Gerlach advanced through junior programs and then onto the Olympic development program in Colorado with riders like Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner; Tyler Hamilton, the reigning Olympic time trial gold medalist; and many time Tour de France finisher Bobby Julich, the long-time veteran now in his last pro season.
Gerlach had superior overall skills. But Gerlach was often an individual in a team sport. He had a temper and that, in part, led to his nomadic journey. He rode for nearly a dozen teams in a nine-year pro career that ended in with the Sierra Nevada squad based in Northern California. In his final season, Gerlach finished 10th in a rich one-day circuit race in New York that also included Armstrong as its marquee attraction.
He once punched Lance Armstrong at the Olympic training camp. He was smart to get by on the streets. He had a broken ankle and was stabbed a couple of times, but he survived. Maile remembers that when he worked at City Bicycle Works in Sacramento years ago, Gerlach would walk into the shop, pick up a cycling magazine, read every word on every page, put it down and walk out.
As the years passed, Armstrong claimed seven Tour de France victories and became a worldwide inspiration after surviving cancer. Gerlach won races, lighted up cigarettes to celebrate, experimented with drugs, chased women and was booted off teams. He was kicked off the mighty U. Postal Service squad in , the year Armstrong learned he had cancer. A recovered Armstrong joined the squad two years later and went on to win his first Tour de France in On one team, he slept with the female team manager.
By , Chad Gerlach was out of the sport. By the spring of , he had fumbled and stumbled and fallen hard, addicted to crack and living on the streets for what turned into five dismal years.
The onetime world-class athlete was reduced to asking strangers and old cycling buddies alike for spare change. Stoned and disheveled, he seemed to have lost his pride and dignity. In no time, the cameras were rolling in Sacramento. After nearly walking out on the show, Gerlach agreed to treatment and was flown to a rehab center in Florida.
Back in Sacramento last June, Gerlach wondered what he would do next, now that he was clean and sober. He had moved in with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, but he couldn't find a job. Friends lent him old bikes and encouraged him to ride, eager to see whether any of that once-astonishing talent remained. After only a few weeks, Gerlach was riding ahead of the pack. Then, just as Armstrong made international news by announcing his return to the sport, one of Gerlach's s teammates contacted him and asked if he wanted to race again.
It doesn't always end well. The rider in that position on the team last year, Valentino Fois, relapsed and died of a drug overdose last March.
Although he realizes the risks of making a drastic lifestyle change in the midst of recovery, Gerlach insists he has no physical desire to do drugs again.
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