KBC Century

Bicyclists lined up at Cork Lane in Kalamazoo at the start of the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club's first century tour.

KBC's origins were already lost in the mists of time when I became the club's president in 1975. A group of cyclists who'd already been riding together informally started publishing a ride schedule sometime in 1971, and made their first publicity splash with a century (100 mile) tour late in the season. The label on this battered photograph doesn't mention the ride's length, but the starting place and the turnout make it likely this was that tour.

I've a number of old KBC photographs in my collection, and will likely post them from time to time. Several, including this one, were used in club publicity displays in the late 1970s, which wasn't good for the prints. Many of the pix are nonetheless worth publishing.

Kalamazoo Gazette photo by John Lacko
October 16, 1971