A Little Ride Down Memory Lane: 1986 Sandpoint Cycling Classic

Northwest cycling fans may get a kick out of this bit of memorabilia recently dug up by the Cycling Action research department, which is hard at work on the fifth floor of one of the more nondescript buildings at our vast world headquarters campus.

This dusty old article details the 1986 Sandpoint Cycling Classic, featuring international cycling star Phil Anderson along with a cast of legendary Oregon riders.

Maybe you've heard of Michael Sylvester? How about David Auker? Or maybe you remember little Kirk Willett, terror of the Junior 14-15 class? They're all here and more.

This bit of history will take you back to the days when Greg Lemond was preparing to win his first Tour de France, the newly required hardshell helmets resembled scaled down Styrofoam coolers, shifters were on frames and brake cables still proudly burst skyward from their levers like a downtown fountain trying to cool off kids in a heatwave.

Read on ...(click images for larger versions):



If you look closely at that picture, you'll see a fresh-faced neophyte racer from Missoula, Mont., by the name of Patrick Malach. If you look really, really, really closely, you can almost see some muscle tone in those legs ... almost!