A color postcard of participants in La Vuelta de Bisbee. The back caption on the upper left reads: “Dexter Press West Nyack, New York Richard Byrd The Latent Image Gallery”. The postcard is unused and was published by the Dexter Press West Nyack, New York Richard Byrd The Latent Image Gallery. Nick Pavlovich Collection.
The La Vuelta de Bisbee was a bicycle race that began in 1976 and ran until 1996, after a brief hiatus from 1997 through 1999, the race returned in 2000 and the last La Vuelta was held in 2010 . The race would be anywhere from three to five days and bicyclists from as far as Europe came to compete. Among the American winners were Marc Thompson, Bob Cook, Greg LeMond, Linda Brenneman, and Carolyn Donnelly. The international winners included Rory Sutherland of Australia, Darren Lill of South Africa, Gregorio Ladino of Columbia, Bernardo Colex of Mexico, Lisa Brambani of England and Marianne Berglund of Sweden.
Bicycling has a long history in Bisbee. R.C. Raub ran a shop in Tombstone Canyon both renting and repairing bicycles, along with offering firearm, lock, and sewing machine repair. One notable Bisbee biking excursion was one taken by George E. Kohler, Mrs Tabell, Mrs Baron, and Mrs. Kane when they set out from Tombstone on their bicycles to travel to Bisbee in 1895. This was the height of the 1890s bicycling craze and in an era before paved roads. They biked along the wagon wheel rutted dirt roads and had a wonderful time.
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