The other day I was going through a drawer that contains a bunch of old papers, magazines, etc. Much of the contents are cycling related. I began leafing through the items and ended up taking a trip down memory lane and being reminded how much racing has changed in since I started in 1993.
Maybe the most striking fact was that there even was paperwork to sift through and reminisce. This was a time when there was no internet for the general public. You did not go to websites for race information. Online registration was non-existant. Races were publicized through snail mail and flyers in bike shops. Also, in this part of the country, when you became a member the USCF (there was no USA Cycling) you began to receive a small magazine called Midwest Flyers.
Calling Midwest Flyers a magazine is being generous, but it did not set out to be anything fancy like Architectural Digest. The first two years I raced, it consisted of approximately 20 pages of black print on white paper.
Then in 1996, the paper became more like a newspaper and color cover photos were added.
Inside was a handful of small ads but the bulk of pages were just what the name advertised... race flyers.
One of the striking things was entry fees. Most entries were around $15-$20, with some of the higher categories paying a bit more at some races. This was also the time of late fees if you did not mail your money about 1 - 1.5 weeks ahead of time. Thank goodness that indidious little $5 or $6 charge has gone the way of the Dodo bird.
Midwest Flyers was not just race flyers. Several races sent in a few pages of race results. Old race results are sometimes interesting because of the names that moved on to bigger things and reached a certain level of fame. On the other hand, you see the names of Average Joe's like me that are still see fighting the good fight on the weekends.
Then there are the guys that were just getting started like Dan Schmatz as Cat 4.
And check out these results. That's right, Steve Ward finished 5th and 10th. Just kidding. The obvious names are a couple future professionals, Saxo Bank's Jason McCartney and Garmin's Christian Vandevelde, racing as younsters. McCartney was about 19 1/2 yrs old Vandevelde was just shy of his 18th birthday.
Maybe the most striking fact was that there even was paperwork to sift through and reminisce. This was a time when there was no internet for the general public. You did not go to websites for race information. Online registration was non-existant. Races were publicized through snail mail and flyers in bike shops. Also, in this part of the country, when you became a member the USCF (there was no USA Cycling) you began to receive a small magazine called Midwest Flyers.
Calling Midwest Flyers a magazine is being generous, but it did not set out to be anything fancy like Architectural Digest. The first two years I raced, it consisted of approximately 20 pages of black print on white paper.
Then in 1996, the paper became more like a newspaper and color cover photos were added.
Inside was a handful of small ads but the bulk of pages were just what the name advertised... race flyers.
One of the striking things was entry fees. Most entries were around $15-$20, with some of the higher categories paying a bit more at some races. This was also the time of late fees if you did not mail your money about 1 - 1.5 weeks ahead of time. Thank goodness that indidious little $5 or $6 charge has gone the way of the Dodo bird.
Midwest Flyers was not just race flyers. Several races sent in a few pages of race results. Old race results are sometimes interesting because of the names that moved on to bigger things and reached a certain level of fame. On the other hand, you see the names of Average Joe's like me that are still see fighting the good fight on the weekends.
Then there are the guys that were just getting started like Dan Schmatz as Cat 4.
And check out these results. That's right, Steve Ward finished 5th and 10th. Just kidding. The obvious names are a couple future professionals, Saxo Bank's Jason McCartney and Garmin's Christian Vandevelde, racing as younsters. McCartney was about 19 1/2 yrs old Vandevelde was just shy of his 18th birthday.
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