School House Hill -1992

Bisbee was the first “real” bike race I had ever been to, and I instantly fell in love with the speed, color, and electricity that is the blood of the sport. Although the race had multiple stages (if I remember there was a Team Time Trial, Road Race, etc.), the reason to travel to Bisbee was the famous Criterium. The crowd was big, Brewery Gulch was rockin’, and School House Hill  was lined with fans cheering the riders up the quad busting climb.

I’m unsure if LVDB was on the NRC in ‘92, but I do know I met my first Pro riders there. And not being bashful, gladly took some of the Coors Light Cycling Team’s bling. Looking back at the names now brings back a lot of memories from the era when cycling in the U.S.  was starting to really catch on…

Coors Light Cycling Team 1992 Trading Cards

 The Crit started in front of the Old Stock Exchange in Brewery Gulch and made a hard, steep left up Taylor Ave., just past the park. I have no idea what gears they used, but a mere mortal would have trouble even getting up this little bend, let alone at speed and in the middle of a group of riders. But this was just the little “sting” that would lead to Clawson Ave. and the climb past the school house. The climb isn’t long, maybe 100 meters or so, but it’s a killer, and especially so after a dozen laps of serious racing.  You can see the hill as soon as you take the right turn onto Clawson, giving you a couple hundred meters to think about it. You could see riders zig-zagging switchback style to make it over. You could see some riders try stopping on the hill (unsuccessfully of course) leading to all kinds of excitement. But as always, you could really appreciate the “Big Boys” tapping out a steady beat and almost effortlessly gliding over the top, or even putting in an attack where others just wheezed and wobbled.