Cycling Memorabilia
 

There are some moments that stand out in your life and one of those for me was when the Tour de France came to England. Last time was in 2007 and it was the day after I had bought Boreas. It was going to be local so a good chance for me to try out the new bike. It was going within 40 miles of where I live and Martyn and I decided to go to the KOM at Goudhurst so up early- drive to within comfortable cycling distance and then ride in. Well we got there early and picked out spot at the top of the hill---well long slope if the truth is known but the Town of Goudhurst was going to make a day of it and treated it as Carnival-Jubilee-Fete- massive street party all rolled into one. It was set up for the locals with all the shops open and doing good trade. Food was provided by the local organisations and was not the inflated prices you get at other events. The whole day was fantastic and I even managed to buy one of the TDF Musets with the T Shirt- Cap and other trinkets so I was happy.

One thing I wished I had managed to get though was one of the street signs that Informed you that the roads were closed. There were enough of them about but we did not have a cutter to get through the Zip ties that were holding them in place. Plus on top of that- The police were arresting anyone trying to take them down. Why I don't know as they would be scrapped after the event.

Well today I have had something fall into my hands. Someone I know- No names mentioned- Went to a house that had one of these hanging on the wall. How he managed to get it from them I do not know but he got it. These posters are rarer than Rocking horse S**t and have been going on E-Bay for some respectable money. These things are rare and 5 years after the event I am now the proud owner of one.

http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/.../TDFPOSTER.jpg

May not seem to be much to any of you but for me it is a momento of one of the best days spent cycling that I have spent.

So what have any of you managed to gain that reminds you of outstanding moments of your cycling pastime

Pretty neat souvenir!

My collection of memorabilia is just bicycles that have been ridden and wrenched on by ME!

Nice. I have a Greg LeMond poster that my LBS owner used to have in his shop. He gave it to me after he discovered that I was a LeMond fan. It lives in my workshop. Alongside it is a Carl Fogarty WSB Ducati poster.

I have a small collection of team jersey's that are presently folded up and put away pending framing and hanging in the workshop some day.

I presently have a wonderful, but incomplete, collection of bike parts, punctured innertubes, old cables, chains, old tyres and assorted screws, washers and nuts from my bike habit. I'll autograph any thing someone buys, price list available on request.

Nice keep sake, Stapfam, I imagine that one will gain value over the years. Glad your mate saw fit to give it to you.

Bill

I have a program for the first Core State Championship in Philadelphia signed by the winner - Eric Heiden..... a classy guy, to say the least.

This thread reminded me that I used to have some posters from the old "Winning" bike racing magazine. If I recall correctly, I had a Lemond, a Phinney and a Bauer. Wonder what happened to them? Alas, all I have any longer are memories, and they're fading. For example, I can't remember which 7-Eleven rider asked me to watch his bike when he went into a shop during a break in the Superweek races in Wisconsin back in the '80s. I want to say it was Roy Knickman, but I could be wrong. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure any longer if Knickman rode for 7-Eleven.

I have a 1964 US Olympic Team pin given to me by a "kid" I grew up with in Hackensack, NJ. He and I were on the same LL baseball team and went through school together. My friend, Alan Grieco, was one of two track cyclists on the Olympic Team. The other was Jack Simes, Jr. The three of us also spent one year at Rockland Community College in NY.

My son gave me this when he was in the 4th grade. I wouldn't trade it for a truckload of CF bikes!

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...c/IMG_0347.jpg

Found out more about these road signs. Those that really wanted them were cyclists and most of them on the route were on bikes. The Police were stopping any car that stopped to take one and making them move on so very few were put into circulation amongst the public as the road crews took them down by the following morning. That is why so few of them are about and why they are so rare.

My other momento is a lump of Rock from the top of Ventoux. The largest bit I could fit in my jersey pocket. Got back to the car and found the wife had been out collecting aswell. She had about 100lbs of the stuff till I told her it either rocks or Wine going back to the UK. The wine won but I still have my bit of Ventoux.

Good stuff. My fondest memories have to do with the good times I've had associated with bicycling.

Pictures taken during a break from a bicycle ride near Lisse, NL during tulip harvest 1989. The 7 YO twins and just started to ride two wheelers , their 9 YO sister had been riding awhile. Bikes gave us close up access to the sights and smells of the tulips and hyacinth of the region.

These, among a few:

No memorabilia, but a memory, related to the post above referencing Ducatis. Hope it's acceptable, in the spirit of memories, if not pedal cycling or objects

Goodwood Festival of Speed, 1997. Rode my Ducati 750 sport. Agostini tricolore helmet.


Wandered into the pit lane. Was offered a cup of tea by Paul Smart who was sitting by his no 16 Imola winning machine (a very significant win for those m.bikes). Chat chat - he's a very nice fellow

Announcement ' - 'Will all those...' "oh blimey, I'd better get my leathers on - these guys'll give you a push, start my bike and warm it up, will you?"

Happy.

A friend of mine has a PBP route arrow (for "Paris ->"). Evidently, after the ride, they were taken down and just dumped into garbage cans! That's her story and she's sticking to it! At least they had the decency to wait until everyone had finished before taking down the signs, although I would imagine that any "Brest ->" signs would be fair game after the Brest controle had closed. Who cares if anybody gets lost after the controle has closed anyway?

The best mementos I've got? Probably a participant medal from the 1984 LA Olympics (I covered it in my capacity as a part-time journalist for a Canadian cycling publication). I saw Alexi Grewal beat Steve Bauer in the final sprint in the men's road race, a sprint that Bauer should never have lost. I was going to use the then-popular business strategy book, "Go-Rin-No-Sho" (A Book of Five Rings - how appropriate for the Olympics) by the famous Japanese samurai Miyamoto Musashi as an analogy for the race. Especially the part where Musashi says, "once you have the enemy down, finish him off! Otherwise he may get back up and kill you!" This is what Bauer failed to do to Grewal.

Next May, I'll be in Italy in the Abruzzo region. The plan is to see the Giro stage finish in Pescara, so I'm hoping to pick up some swag while I'm there.

Luis

I made it up Mt Ventoux for the first time just this September; a day I shall not soon forget.

WOW! That's awesome.

My old riding partner ended up with one of the long promotional banners after the 2003 event, then toted it all around France, Spain and England before getting it home to Australia. I was jealous as hell about it.

My most prized memento is my bike itself, which I bought in 1996 after a long hiatus from cycling. It has carried me across thousands of miles through several states and all types of terrain. Someday, when the solder joints rust and it's no longer rideable, I will make some type of art deco piece out of it.