Reflections on bike racing in the 1970s and 80s: A blog by Calvin Trampleasure
12-03-21, 11:47 PM
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Reflections on bike racing in the 1970s and 80s: A blog by Calvin Trampleasure
Calvin Trampleasure ? Reflections on bike racing in the 1970s and '80s.
A friend and colleague of mine, Calvin Trampleasure, created a website with his reflections on bike racing during the 1970s and 80s. Calvin was an accomplished racer in the 70s and 80s, a multiple-time CA state champion, who raced professionally in the U.S. and Europe. He raced against a young Lemond, and was Berkeley Bicycle Club teammates with Bob Roll, Gavin Chilcott, and George Mount, among others. Calvin told me about the website he created. I mentioned that a number of people here on this forum would sure enjoy reading his stories, so he gave me the okay to share the link here. (Sadly, he mentioned that the comments feature is not working on the site, but hopefully he'll see some positive feedback here in this thread.) I found the stories to be eloquent and thoughtful, and a fun romp through this classic era of bicycle racing. There are currently about a half dozen different narratives, with some terrific race photos, plus some background info on the humble author. Hope you enjoy!
Again, here's the link: Calvin Trampleasure ? Reflections on bike racing in the 1970s and '80s.
A friend and colleague of mine, Calvin Trampleasure, created a website with his reflections on bike racing during the 1970s and 80s. Calvin was an accomplished racer in the 70s and 80s, a multiple-time CA state champion, who raced professionally in the U.S. and Europe. He raced against a young Lemond, and was Berkeley Bicycle Club teammates with Bob Roll, Gavin Chilcott, and George Mount, among others. Calvin told me about the website he created. I mentioned that a number of people here on this forum would sure enjoy reading his stories, so he gave me the okay to share the link here. (Sadly, he mentioned that the comments feature is not working on the site, but hopefully he'll see some positive feedback here in this thread.) I found the stories to be eloquent and thoughtful, and a fun romp through this classic era of bicycle racing. There are currently about a half dozen different narratives, with some terrific race photos, plus some background info on the humble author. Hope you enjoy!
Again, here's the link: Calvin Trampleasure ? Reflections on bike racing in the 1970s and '80s.
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12-04-21, 03:39 AM
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Your friend writes well, and I am enjoying the reading. In one article he mentions Velo Club - Berkeley and it brought back a memory of meeting them on a ride up Grizzly. I had no clue who they were, and I thought I was climbing the hill quite well until they came alongside with encouraging words and quickly went up the road. Not much of a meeting, but it inspired me to get into racing, which I did for many years after that. Never won a thing, but those days when the feeling of being "ON" and unstoppable came, those were the days that kept me pursuing the racers dream of beating the competition. Looking forward to more reading.
12-04-21, 07:41 AM
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Good reads - thanks for posting!
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12-07-21, 12:12 AM
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Gratuitous bump to add a recent photo of Calvin on one of his vintage bikes, newly restored & repainted by Ed Litton in Berkeley Bicycle Club/Velo Sport livery.
Glad to see some positive comments above. Thanks for taking the time to read through some of the entries. I think my personal favorite narrative is "Czeslaw and the Six Little Pills"--a story about riding clean in an era of unchecked doping with a great ending. I also enjoyed all his stories with mentions of Greg Lemond, since I was definitely a Lemond fanboy growing up. Lots of rare photos of Lemon in his story about the birth of the BBC and the Perrier Classic here.
Glad to see some positive comments above. Thanks for taking the time to read through some of the entries. I think my personal favorite narrative is "Czeslaw and the Six Little Pills"--a story about riding clean in an era of unchecked doping with a great ending. I also enjoyed all his stories with mentions of Greg Lemond, since I was definitely a Lemond fanboy growing up. Lots of rare photos of Lemon in his story about the birth of the BBC and the Perrier Classic here.
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