Cycling 4: Post-War Revival
After World War II, the bicycle was used almost exclusively by youngsters. The few Americans who were seriously interested in racing had to go to Europe to find top-level competition.
In 1950, Ted Smith became the first American to compete for the world professional road championship. Jack Heid also competed in the world track championship that year. Nancy Neiman Baranet went to Europe to race in 1955. The following year, she became the first American of either sex to take part in a European stage race, finishing 14th in the Women's Criterium from Lyonnaise to Auvergne, France.
More adults began riding bikes for recreation in the late 1950s, mainly because cycling, along with jogging, was being promoted as healthful exercise. Some of them naturally became involved in racing. Increased interest in the Olympics also helped spur competitive cycling in the United States.
The ABLA began adding more races to its national championship program during the late 1960s. Membership grew dramatically, from about 3,000 in 1968 to more than 8,000 five years later. The number of local and regional races, leading up to the national championships, grew right along with membership.
The increase in competition was especially beneficial to women cyclists. Audrey McElmury became the first American woman to win a world championship in 1968, when she took the road racing title. Sheila Young won the world match sprint championship in 1973 and Sue Novara won it in 1975. The following year, Young finished first and Novara was second in the event.
With the reorganization of the U. S. Olympic Committee in 1976, the U. S. Cycling Federation (USCF) was founded, with the ABLA as a subsidiary to oversee racing. More development money began to come in from corporations, increasing the USCF budget more than 600 percent, from $38,500 to $235,000.
Eddie Borysewicz was hired as the federation's first full-time coach, working at the Olympic Training Center. Among his top pupils was Greg LeMond, who went on to become the first American to win the world's most prestigious race, the Tour de France, in 1986, 1989, and 1990.
The development program also paid off at the Olympics. In 1984, four U. S. cyclists won gold: Connie Carpenter-Phinney in the women's road race, Alexia Grewal in the men's road race, Steve Hegg in the individual pursuit, and Mark Gorski in the sprint.
Success bred success, as it often does. In 1988, there were more than 1,600 sanctioned races in the U. S., and USCF membership had grown to more than 1,000 clubs and 30,000 licensed riders. More and more corporate got involved with cycling, on the local, regional, and national levels.
Two new kinds of cycling, BMX racing and mountain biking, accounted for further growth during the 1990s. The National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA), the original governing body for mountain biking, became a member of the USCF in 1989. The federation took over the National Bicycle League (NBL), which governs BMX racing, in 1997, giving it control of all three major forms of competition.