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cover story | redlands bicycle classic
The
big
A poster and an idea
get the wheels turning
for Redlands event
By KEVIN TRUDGEON
On March 26, the Redlands Bicycle Classic
will celebrate 25 years of success.
The brainchild of former Redlands
Mayor Carole Beswick, former City Councilman
Dick Larsen and racing aficionado Peter Brandt, the
annual competition came to be through hard work,
determination and just a little bit of luck.
While attending a main street conference in
1984, Beswick was looking for something to help
rejuvenate downtown Redlands and bring people
and business into the city.
“I was attending this conference at the same time
the 1984 Olympics were going on and I remember
watching some of the road races,” Beswick recalled.
“One day we were in a conference about how to
save old downtowns and I saw a poster that said,
‘Inland Empire Cycling Classic.’
12 | inlandlivingmagazine.com | april 09
spin
“I hadn’t heard of it, so I went up to the guy who was
talking and asked him about it,” she added. “It turned out
that the poster was for Spokane, Washington, where they
have an area they call the Inland Empire.”
Intrigued, Beswick asked questions about the cycling
event and began formulating an idea.
“On the plane ride back home, I wrote up a proposal
and when I got back to Redlands I talked to Dick (Larsen)
and John Holmes and they thought it was a great idea.”
There was one problem, though. Nobody knew
anything about bicycle racing.
Enter Peter Brandt.