TONY PRATT TAKES THAT FINAL RIDE TO THE SKY

By John McKee

I haven't written anything in over 5 years but I wanted to write a piece about someone I knew for a short time. As everyone knows the pandemic created problems for everyone doing almost anything including doing training rides on the road. I became more cautious than many riders and welcomed the opportunity to ride with a smart trainer on Zwift. Zwift is an online high tech interactive training and racing program. I met old friends and met new ones and organized groups rides called Meetups. I got reacquainted with a former road racer by the name of Jeff Moreton and invited him to my Meetups. Jeff asked me if some of his friends could join us and the answer was yes, of course. Zwift makes it pretty easy to do group rides with riders of different abilities. The two people brought in by Jeff were Jim Robb and Tony Pratt. Both were very friendly and loved to do my rides which were usually on Mondays and Thursdays. Jim was in better shape but Tony had such a positive attitude and loved to do the group rides with guys that use to race like he did. Tony was living in Arkansas but with Zwift it doesn't matter where you live. Perfect for Tony to participate. I started Meetups in March of 2020 and Tony was a regular rider and started getting some fitness back. He definitely was showing improvement. 

Tony 1993

Tony definitely became a fixture on my Monday and Thursday rides. In Zwift Meetups the organizer can select Stay Together mode which discourages flyers off the front and helps riders off the back but only so much. Sometimes Tony looked like he needed a little help and sometimes he would be doing fine on his own. Tony really seemed to like Zwift and branched out and did his own rides and did other group rides and races. The last Meetup Tony did with me was on October 12, 2020. Tony rode well and did 30.81 miles in 1:32:30 or 20.0 mph. Good effort for sure. Tony had been having headaches and visited a doctor and went through extensive testing. Tony had cancer. Stage 4. Devastating! Tony went through radiation and chemo treatments. Even after many treatments he got back on his trainer and rode on Zwift. Unfortunately, it was a stacked deck against our friend and on March 25th, 2021 Tony Pratt passed on surrounded by his wife Becky, son Mitch, and daughter Clara. 

Tony was born in Southern California April 11, 1956. He graduated from Arcadia High School in 1974 and attended UCLA. Tony got a job with the City of Los Angeles as a surveyor. Eventually Tony became head of the Survey division overseeing several offices from the San Fernando Valley to San Pedro. Tony married his wife Becky in the early 80s and had 2 children- Mitch who is in the Navy and an Annapolis grad, and Clara who nows works at Trader Joes. Tony retired in 2016 and moved with his wife Becky to Arkansas to live in a beautiful gated community with 6 golf courses and bike trails everywhere. Becky has family there. 

Tony had always liked to ride bicycles and transitioned into racing. Tony became good enough to ride for the Chevrolet/L. A. Sheriffs Cycling Team in the late 80s. Tony met teammate Jeff Moreton and became good friends and  also became neighbors in the San Gabriel Valley. They trained and raced together. Fast friends. Tony raced through the life of the Chevrolet/L. A. Sheriff Cycling Team. Tony and Jeff were much alike and if there was a hill in the race then they would do well. As many of you know in Southern California most races are criteriums and this wasn't exactly Tony's strength but he was a good teammate and did his job. Tony raced many categories including 35+, 45+(Tony took a good spill at Ojai in this cat and ended up in the hospital) and eventually 50+. 

Tony is taking a pull at the 1992 Commerce Criterium. Jeff Moreton is on his wheel.

Tony transitioned away from bike racing and enjoyed life with his wife and finished his career with the City of Los Angeles. Tony would get out and ride with his buddy Jeff on special occasions like a Grand Fondo in San Luis Obispo in 2014.

Tony is riding a restored Raleigh bicycle with Jeff at SLO

Tony, Eli & Jeff Moreton, Elinor
& Marc Charlton

Tony also would take vacations like one to Italy in 2018 with his wife Becky, Jeff and Eli Moreton, Marc and Elinor Charlton. Earlier during his bike race phase Tony and his wife would travel to race sites for major races like Nationals  and other races like The Sequoia Classic. If you can believe it, Tony was stronger than Jeff early in their racing careers and Jeff would fall into a support role in some of the road races they did together. I organized a support Tony Zwift ride on March 14th. The ride was attended by Jim Robb, Mike McKinney, Kevin McDonald, Jeff Moreton, Craig Jones, Howard Miller, Cleave Law, Greg Page, Bruce Steele, and myself. We rode and swapped cycling stories and Jeff gave us some history on Tony. Jeff's wife Eli relayed to Becky Pratt some of the highlights and passed those on to Tony to let him know we were thinking of him. Tony was having a tough time but appreciated the sentiments and the well wishes. 

Tony may be gone now but his memory lives on and everyone's life that knew him is richer. His Zwift buddies are glad to have known him for the short time that we did but everyone will miss him!