Athlete Profile: Gary Toth

by Carter Yepsen

On any given weekend between March and December, somewhere within an hour or two of the Capital District, you can find a bike race. Some of these are back road events, with maybe 50 riders participating, while others attract more than 500 racers and will have thousands of spectators. While organizing one of these events is a daunting task in itself, it’s the essential behind the scenes work of the officials which keep the race safe, fair and credible. For the major races in the area, there’s a good chance you’ll find Gary Toth there.

Gary Toth has been a mainstay of the Capital Region bicycle racing scene in the area for decades. He’s been racing for more than 30 years, and acting as a senior race official for the last ten years. As Gary and his wife started to raise a family, the realities of the training schedule needed to be competitive at elite levels steered him toward officiating races, rather than competing. While Gary still participates in a few races every year at the masters-level (ages 40 and over), officiating keeps him intimately involved in the sport.

Officials are trained, tested and licensed by USA Cycling, the same national governing body that licenses competitors and permits events. They are ranked in categories C, B, A and National Commissaire. Gary was promoted to National Commissaire after a six-day course, concluding with written and oral exams, held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. There is one higher level of officiating, International Commissaire, licensed by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body of cycling. Unfortunately, Gary has already passed the maximum age of 44 to be promoted to that level.

Gary is readily acknowledged as the senior United States Cycling Federation official in the area. He’s overseen hundreds of races, and works events throughout the Northeast, including national championships in Burlington, VT and New York City and on the track at Kissena Velodrome in Queens. But what makes Gary such a vital part of the area’s cycling community goes further than just his dedication to running a fair race.

I first met Gary on a Capital Bicycle Racing Club training ride in Feura Bush. It was my first time at this group ride, and about 30 riders were doing repeats on a ten mile route, with a couple of sections designated for “racing” where we’d pretend we were battling for a stage win. I remember this guy in the pack who was a dominating force, barking orders to less experienced riders. “Don’t lock your elbows. Keep ‘em bent.” He actually placed a hand on one rider’s back and “encouraged” him to ride a straight line, and this while riding along at better that 25 miles per hour. Gary’s comprehensive knowledge of the sport makes him such a good official. It’s more than knowing the rules, its knowing the sport.

Gary laments that bike racing may never become a mainstream sport in the United States. Even with Lance Armstrong winning the Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year, and with riders in stars and stripes jerseys, there’s still an active anti-cycling sentiment on the road. The well-organized and well-funded sports such as baseball, soccer and football captivate kids at an early age. In Europe, kids have access to racing bikes at an early age and it’s almost universal that kids grow up learning how to ride a bike well. That understanding spills over to a bike-friendly culture, where it’s almost unheard of for a cyclist to be endangered by a car.

To be a good official, Gary says it’s paramount to be consistent. He says cycling is no different that other competitive sports, such as baseball or hockey, where players early on will test an official to see what they can or cannot get away with. Most riders know if they have broken the rules, but will continually try. Gary usually issues a stern warning, but must occasionally administer a penalty or even disqualification if the infractions persist. In the professional ranks, rather than time or disqualification, the penalty is often a fine. Interestingly, the fines are in increments of $8, corresponding to 10 Swiss francs, from the schedule in the UCI regulations.

Riders are also known to administer their own justice on the course, too. Gary notes that riders are hesitant to “rat” on other riders, but it is not uncommon for a group of riders to administer “justice” on the course. Racers may box an uncooperative rider in, or work together on dropping the rider so that he’d have to use more energy to keep up. Riders who race regularly quickly learn who the good guys are and who is a selfish rider. For example, in a breakaway, where a few riders accelerate away from the pack, this move will only be successful if the riders, usually from different teams, cooperate and take turns breaking the wind for others.

Gary points out that it’s actually a competitive advantage to “know the rules.” There are subtleties in the racing code that can help a rider. Being on the wrong side of the rules can cost the rider critical time, money, or even cause the rider to be disqualified. For minor infractions Gary will typically administer a warning. For example, if a rider passes other riders in an unsafe or unsportsmanlike manner, he’ll radio ahead to the lead car with instructions that that rider must drop back behind the pack to the trailing official’s car. The other racers will see this and not make the same mistake. Since road races in the northeast typically take place on open roads, there is always the threat of oncoming traffic. The rules exist in part to make the sport safe, one thing Gary is passionate about.

Steroids, blood doping and EPO have been receiving press in many sports, with cycling as no exception. Gary says he’s seen the US Olympic Committee van appear at races unannounced to test pro-level riders. He believes testing is so expensive that we’ll probably never see it at the amateur level. Gary added that excessive amounts of caffeine drinks, and certain cold remedies are stimulants and, in the pro levels, would cause a racer to test positive for banned substances.

During the too-brief off season, Gary concentrates on family activities to make up for the many absences from home during the racing calendar. Right now it’s skiing, more alpine than Nordic — and spring soccer is about to start.

Consistency, knowledge from experience, and commitment are what come to mind when talking with Gary Toth. Like in other sports, the contestants will test the official, seeing how they will call minor infractions. Riders will often challenge the official, using any number of excuses. One gets the feeling after talking with Gary, that he’s not used to being overruled.

Carter Yepsen lives in Saratoga Springs and works for Cisco Systems. He rides 5,000 miles a year, and is a member of the Capital Bicycle Racing Club and Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club.