Re: [CR]California Bicycle Racing in the 1950s

(Example: History)

To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]California Bicycle Racing in the 1950s
References: <000001c4cf70$0f612cd0$6401a8c0@proto>
From: "Morgan Fletcher" <morgan@hahaha.org>
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 08:33:43 -0800
In-Reply-To: <000001c4cf70$0f612cd0$6401a8c0@proto> (chris ioakimedes's message of "Sat, 20 Nov 2004 18:16:06 -0800")


"chris ioakimedes" <chriseye@comcast.net> writes:
> A friend of mine asked what road races happened in California in the late
> 1950s, and what teams raced in Cal in the late 50s. If anyone can answer
> or contribute to the answer of these questions, please reply. Otherwise
> get off your computer and go for a ride.

Chris, I bet you know Owen Mullholland. I asked him your question and this was his reply:

In 1959 the "teams" were all clubs.  Some of the significant ones in the S.F. Bay Area were the San Francisco Wheelmen, Berkeley Wheelmen, Pedali Alpini, and Los Gatos Bike Club.  Another "team" was the Special Services division of the U.S. Army, which that year had such hot guys as Bob Tetzlaff (even then known as "King of the Road") and Jack Hartman.  There was an all Calif. state road championship held on the Uvas Dam course south of San Jose in Almaden Valley.  Mt. Hamilton existed.  Nevada City didn't start until 1961.  There were also some big races in So. Calif., such as one up Topanga Canyon.  The riders traveled back and forth fairly frequently to maximize the amount of racing.  In 1959 the Pan Am Games were held in Chicago so a lot of Californians went back east to race, particularly in Canada where there was a thriving road scene.  Races such as the Tour du Lac St. Jean (which had a 169 mile stage) and the Tour du St. Laurent (which featured such ex-Tour de France riders as Adolph Christian and Eddy Pauwels) were far beyond anything available in the U.S.

I'm not sure how far Chris wants to take this, but there are still plenty of guys around who raced back then, and I have their phone numbers.  There are a couple of annual bike rides for guys from that era, the Dinosaur Ride, and the Old Farts Ride.

I saw him yesterday at the "Turkey Day Appetite Seminar" (yearly m______n bike ride in Marin County, California) and we talked about what a great book the history of bicycle racing in California would make. It sounded like he'd looked into it a bit. I would love to read such a book!

Yesterday's ride was fabulous. But that's off-topic. I hope those of you that celebrated it had a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Old Farts ride is coming up - first Sunday in December, noon, Occidental, CA. I'll be there, riding something pre-1983.

Morgan -- Morgan Fletcher, morgan@hahaha.org Oakland, CA