Old School - Winning Bicycle Racing Illustrated

I originally became interested in cycling while attending Ohio State in the mid-eighties. During this time I came across an issue of Winning Bicycle Racing Illustrated at a bookstore and after looking through the glossy pages filled with the latest bikes, equipment and racing news I was hooked. I first subscribed to the magazine in 1985 and kept it going through 1991.

A few months ago I was going through some old boxes in my attic and found all 7 years of these magazines. Looking through some of these old classic magazines I realize that a great deal of cycling history and innovation took place during this period of time. Some of these innovations include the development of clipless pedals, composite frames and the brake lever shifters all of us now take for granted. During this same period an American cyclist from Minnesota named Greg Lemond made history by winning 3 Tours de France from 1986 to 1990. All this and more is captured in this old musty stack of magazines.

In the May '91 issue that features Phil Anderson on the cover wearing his Motorola kit, there is an article about a 19 year old Texan racing as an amateur on the Subaru Montgomery race team. As I'm sure you have guessed, this rider was Lance Armstrong. Lance was quoted in the interview as saying "I want to go to the (Barcelona) Olympics in 1992, then turn professional and race in Europe". Needless to say Lance made good on his dreams and made cycling history. The July '91 issue features an article about a promising 17 year old junior cyclist named George Hincapie who raced for the G.S. Mengoni amateur team. This same issue included an article about Johan Bruyneel who was racing for Lotto and was predicted to be Belgium's best finisher in the upcoming Tour de France.

Watch for monthly "Old School" posts that will feature pictures and other tidbits from these classic magazines.

Nice Hair Lance!