I found these in my shed along with some trophies. I threw away the trophies immediately, but the numbers I had to scan (or at least some of them). They’re crumpled because you would crumple your number before pinning it on your jersey to keep it from flapping in the wind.
The most cherished are my Lehigh County Velodrome numbers. They were made of a vinyl material because you reused them every week. You can even see the multiple pin holes in the corners.
Next up were the ones where I had my result written on the back. These results were to prove the accumulation of points, with which one climbs the categories (from “Cat 5” to “Cat 1”). The trophies also indicated results, but I liked how these showed the field size as well.
The mountain bike race numbers got dirty!
Ski Roundtop was a ski resort in Pennsylvania that held mountain bike races in the summer. These were the really early days of mountain bike racing. We didn’t have any suspension at all. In the pro field at this race I saw Rockshox for the first time.
Then there were the big races…
One summer–I think it was between my junior and senior years in college–I moved to Bethlehem, PA, to live with my godparents and focus on my track racing at the velodrome. I did some road races as well. Bethlehem still holds a special place in my heart.
The WEEU race series was a “citizens” race–you didn’t need a racing license to participate–and were some of my first races. The date on this one indicates I was probably between the 10th and 11th grades at this race (I think I started racing the year prior).
I also like the regional ones:
