You can’t miss David Robinson, even in a crowd of 20,000.
The NBA Hall of Famer stands 7-foot-1, and he was the talk of RAGBRAI on the Day 4 and 5 rides, Wednesday, July 23, and Thursday, July 24.
Along the way, Robinson — who was a key member of the San Antonio Spurs for 15 years, including when they won championships in 1999 and 2003 — posed for photos with dozens of awe-struck fans. They posted their snapshots and selfies on social media and raved about his graciousness and warm rapport.
Among them was Des Moines’ Kyle Robberts, a part-time bike blogger at dsmbiking.com and manager of IT at Dee Zee Industries.
Robberts, 46, said he was heading into Ventura on Wednesday’s route when he spotted a group of three riders, one of them “insanely tall.” A short time later, heading out of town, he heard someone behind him saying, “Sir, there’s a railroad bridge ahead, and when you go under it, you’re going to want to duck.”
He said he turned around and saw the tall rider, and had a flash of recognition.
“I’ve been a Spurs fan since I was 10,” he said. “I asked him, ‘Were you in the NBA?’ He laughed and he said, ‘Yeah, I played for a couple of seasons in the NBA.’ And I said, ‘Are you David Robinson?’ “
They talked for about five minutes, with Robberts saying it was all he could do not to lapse into fanboy mode. He said Robinson told him his brother had talked him into doing the ride.
“He was just very, very nonchalant,” Robberts said. “I told him, ‘I was a Spurs fan because of you.’ He said, ‘I had a couple good years, a pretty good run.’ ”
Robberts said he also reminisced about once splurging on a third-row seat at a Spurs game and choosing one that happened to be across the court from where Robinson was sitting. The other available seat would have been in Robinson’s section.
“He said, ‘It would have been great to see a game with you,'” Robberts said, adding, “It was extremely surreal.”
He also was impressed by the size of Robinson’s bike. The seat, he said, “came up to my chest.”
He said Robinson graciously agreed to let him snap a selfie of them together, “even though he had to lean over quite a bit” to get into the frame.
“That definitely made my RAGBRAI,” Robberts said. “That experience was one I will never forget.”
Known in his playing days as “the Admiral,” Robinson was a U.S. Naval Academy graduate regarded as the best basketball player in the school’s history. He joined the Spurs in 1989 and instantly turned the team into a contender. With him at center, the Spurs, who had a dismal record the previous year, posted the biggest NBA single-season turnaround on record.
Named Rookie of the Year, Robinson went on to a stellar career. His Spurs were playoff perennials and he was named league MVP in 1995. He finally realized his greatest ambition for the team when it won the NBA championship in 1999. It took the title again in 2003, his final year,
A unanimous Hall of Fame pick, Robinson became a part-owner of the team and has amassed a long record of philanthropy. He is credited with providing the funding to establish and sustain Carver Academy, now IDEA Carver, a college preparatory charter school for inner-city youths in San Antonio.
Robberts said he came away from his encounter with Robinson even more a fan than he already was.
“I told someone, ‘They say, don’t meet your heroes,'” he said. “Well, I just did, and it was great!”
About Robinson’s bike
Who made the bike Robinson was riding on RAGBRAI was unknown. But he’s been riding for at least three decades, and veteran bike builder Matt Bracken was one of the craftsmen who helped construct a pair of bikes the NBA star bought in the mid-1990s.
Now a partner in Pedro’s NA, a Boston designer and retailer of bike tools and maintenance supplies, Bracken was working at bike frame maker and custom builder Merlin Metalworks in Boulder, Colorado, when Robinson ordered two bikes in the mid-1990s. He said one was for use in San Antonio and the other for a vacation home in Hawaii.
Bracken told the Des Moines Register that bike frames then were more square than is the current style, and the center post was 86 centimeters long — almost 34 inches — as compared to the 64-centimeter, or 25-inch, posts that are usually the largest available commercially.
“It was ridiculous,” he said.
Though the largest available, “the wheels looked like training wheels” when mounted on the massive frame, he said. And the head tube, on which the handlebars would be mounted, was so long that the shop had to send to another custom builder for a custom fork to hold the front wheel.
Bracken, who also helped craft custom bikes for former baseball slugger Barry Bonds, then-NBA star Ray Allen and late actor and comedian Robin Williams, said the builders had to bolt together two of their production rigs to make it possible to assemble the bike
“Given all the work, no matter what we charged him, he got a really good deal,” he recalled.
This article has been edited to add new information.
Bill Steiden is the investigative, business and RAGBRAI editor for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at wsteiden@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Super-sized NBA legend David Robinson leaves big impression on RAGBRAI riders
Reporting by Bill Steiden, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
